Why in News?

• Delhi will be the first city in the country to roll out hydrogen-enriched compressed natural gas (HCNG) buses for public transport from November 2020.

Highlights:

• It will start as a pilot project with 50 CNG buses retrofitted with HCNG.
  Also, the Delhi government along with Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) began work to set up India’s first semi-commercial HCNG station.

HCNG:

• The blending of hydrogen with CNG provides a blended gas termed as HCNG.
  HCNG stands for hydrogen-enriched compressed natural gas and it combines the advantages of both hydrogen and methane.
• HCNG allows customers early hydrogen deployment with nearly commercial technology. It is being treated as a first step towards a future hydrogen economy.
• Hydrogen has been regarded as a future secondary fuel for power system due to carbon-free operation.
• The rapid increase in the emission of greenhouse gases and very strict environmental legislation are major motivating factors for the usage of hydrogen in fuel cells and internal combustion engines.
• Hydrogen is an excellent additive to improve the combustion of hydrocarbon fuel due to its low ignition energy, high reactivity, diffusivity and burning velocity.