Sustainable mobility, not surprisingly, was the theme of the first plenary session on day one of the Symposium on International Automotive Technology (SIAT 2021) organized by ARAI, in association with SAEINDIA and SAE International.

The event started with an address by Alan Gemmell, British Deputy High Commissioner for Western India and Her Majesty's Trade Commissioner for South Asia, British High Commission India on the Role of UK Trade in fostering India- UK partnership in Automotive Sector.

Other plenary speakers include Dr SSV Ramakumar, Director, (R&D) and (Planning & Business Development), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. He spoke on the ‘Emerging Fuel Paradigm for Mobility Sector’. Dr Camilo Adas, President, SAE Brazil discussed ‘The Ethanol Mobility Scenario in Brazil’. The rapporteur is N V Marathe, ARAI and the Chairman was Dr R K Malhotra, Director General, FIPI (Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry).

 The 17^th edition of the event (September 29-October 1) is being held virtually for the first time. The overall theme of ‘Redefining Mobility for the future’ is in line with the latest trends and futuristic mobility challenges.  The event will see over 170 papers, including keynotes, being presented in the symposium, which will witness participation of about 2000 delegates all over the world. 

Indian Oil Corporation’s Dr SSV Ramakumar said, “The per capita energy consumption for oil is lower compared to the world average and the natural gas is much lower in India. The two conventional energy sources like coal and oil will continue to rule until 2030. Also, the number of outlets for petrol stations in the last 7-8 years increased from 50,000 to 77,000 outlets.”

Despite being the largest refiner of the country Indian Oil Corporation’s total carbon footprint is much lesser at 19.3 mmt and they are adopting a host of emission mitigation technologies. “We are on the right path,” he added. “Automobile industry also made favorable remarks to make e-20 blending in the reduced emissions by 2025. The other biofuel is the blending of methanol. A lot of studies are going on in these areas,” he said.

Also, IOC has begun experimenting with hydrogen in CNG (H-CNG) which is being tested in 50 buses in Delhi. The results have been submitted to the Supreme Court as directed. “We are planning to scale up this commercial,” Ramakumar mentioned. IOC is also part of many pilots. It has recently bought 15 fuel cell buses from Tata Motors for Delhi-NCR.

Speaking about the future, he said, “When it comes to two- and four-wheelers in 2025, all MS would be blended with a minimum of 10% of ethanol. CNG and others will also be an option. Diesel and biodiesel will be options for commercial vehicles.”