Analysis of the key hydrogen fuel vehicles adoption barriers to reduce carbon emissions under net zero target in emerging market

Abstract

The environmental impact of the transport sector has a significant contribution in the carbon emissions. To reduce fossil fuel consumption and promote clean fuel, many countries are considering hydrogen as an alternative fuel and a bridge to sustainable development and achieve net zero target. Indian government has taken multiple policy initiatives to promote hydrogen fuel adoption in India. But nevertheless, the major presence of the multiple barriers limits the mass adoption of hydrogen as a preferred fuel. Therefore, identification and assessment of the key internal and external barriers of the hydrogen fuel vehicles adoption is required to mitigate the climate change issues. This study has identified and analyzed the barriers. The criticality assessment of the barriers is done by fuzzy based hybrid approach analytic hierarchy process. Later, sensitivity experiments are conducted to verify the robustness of the model. The findings of the study show that technical barriers are most critical barriers in the adoption of hydrogen fuel vehicles in India. The result of the study also indicates that India would require to build the hydrogen supply network and infrastructure, improve consumer awareness, favourable policies and develop efficient production technology for the mass adoption of hydrogen as a fuel.