Emission norms, not technology need to be specified

The Bhure Lal committee should have specified the emission norms to be met by diesel vehicles plying on the road rather than making CNG conversion as the only option to check emissions. R. Prasad looks into the contentious issue.

CONTROLLING AIR pollution whether from vehicles, industries or other sources is the need of the day. The various steps taken by the Supreme Court and the central government to reduce air pollution have started yielding positive results. The Bhure Lal Committee recommendation made in 1998 to control pollution from diesel vehicles in Delhi is yet another attempt to clean up the air.

However, the committee in its fervour to curtail emissions recommended compressed natural gas (CNG) to be used in diesel vehicles. Yet, by doing so it did not give the option of using any other technology that could help retain diesel and yet reduce pollution to the desired level. The purpose of the entire exercise should have been only to lay down emission norms and not suggest ways of achieving it. Insisting on a switch from diesel to CNG does just that. The Kyoto treaty on global warming does not specify any technology to reduce greenhouse gases. Even the Euro norms do not specify the technology to be used to conform to the stipulated emission levels.

The three-year period given by it to achieve the transition is understandable as the number of vehicles involved is huge. But therein lies a problem.

Technology develops fast. What may be the best technology today may become obsolete within a couple of years. CNG may have been the best fuel option when the committee recommended it in 1998. What appears as the best technology in 1998 may not be so in 2001.

While Euro norms are applicable only for new vehicles, the Bhure Lal committee's recommendations could have acted as a norm for the existing vehicles and provided a time frame for achieving it. The three years since 1998 could have been best utilised for meeting the stiff emission norms for diesel vehicles. This could have given an opportunity for everybody, the vehicle manufacturers included, to develop newer technologies or source them from abroad for retrofitting.

India was able to indigenously develop cutting edge technologies in the field of space and nuclear energy when the developed countries denied the same to us. With diesel emission control not facing such hurdles, sourcing it from other countries would not have been difficult even if we had not been able to develop it ourselves. The Mahindra & Mahindra group is all set to launch a battery-powered three-wheeler by the end of this month or in May. This is yet another example of how not to underestimate the capability of Indian industry or scientists to come out with solutions.

Slews of technology are already available which help reduce diesel emission. Reducing sulphur content is one of them. Turbocharger a very old technology, helps reduce emission. Tata trucks with turbocharger have been able to meet Bharat Stage 2 norms. Retrofitting it is not a difficult task. Similarly, particulate traps with regeneration facility and pilot injection system help reduce emission. Microwave electronic catalytic converter produced by Chennai based Hydrodrive Systems and Controls Pvt Ltd has been able to reduce emission both from petrol and diesel fuel. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board had tested it on government buses and recommended it as an emission control device in 1999. Retrofitting Hydrodrive's converter is also a very simple procedure.

Ideally, the Bhure Lal committee should have recommended CNG as an alternative subject to satisfactory results from test runs. This would have given the much-needed time to test the fuel under Indian conditions, streamline the procurement, impart training to handle the fuel and, test and retrofit the kits. Test runs become imperative as the number of vehicles to be converted is huge and CNG kits are to be retrofitted in petrol driven three-wheelers too.

Finally, converting to CNG as done now may have its problems. The recent accident involving a CNG vehicle in Delhi shows that the possibility of cheap spurious conversion kits being fitted in vehicles cannot be ruled out. Also, the possibility of used CNG kits finding their way to the Indian market cannot be ruled out. Already, a Karachi based company has advertised in the Internet for procuring used CNG kits from Italy (www.worldbid.com).

Diesel has many advantages and per se is not a bad fuel. Toyota Qualis and Tata Indica have been able to meet Bharat Stage 2 norms with better technology to burn the same diesel. Regular maintenance helps in keeping emissions under control. Call of the day is to make government buses comply with emission norms. Delhi is not an isolated case.Many cities have acute vehicular pollution problems. Replacing the existing bus fleets in all these cities would pose a financial burden on the respective state governments. Can India afford it?

However, all is not lost with the Supreme Court asking the committee to reassess its recommendations. The committee may use this opportunity to rectify its mistakes and come out with emission norms to be met within a particular time and not specify any particular technology or fuel to achieve it. Let the manufacturers and scientists share the onus of developing a technology to meet the norms. If they succeed it may not only help curb the pollution problem but also even earn foreign exchange through technology transfer.

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