Electrification is a key solution to growing levels of vehicle pollution in metropolises and is of particular importance to India today. The automotive industry is already feeling the effects of electrification, both globally and in India. As environmental regulations become more binding, many fleets have started to recognize the need for electrification. Integrating electric or hybrid electric vehicles into the fleet portfolio helps address sustainability and environmental goals.

Batteries are commonly employed as energy storage systems for PV stand-alone microgrid. The instantaneous, diurnal, and seasonal variation in load and PV generation degrades the battery rapidly. This affects the life cycle cost of the system. This paper aims to combine battery storage with supercapacitor (short term) and hydrogen storage (long term) and investigate and compare the reliability and annualised life cycle cost of the system with manufacturers given life and by incorporating battery degradation. 

The deluge of recent calamities including Cyclone Amphan, floods in Assam, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, and the wildfires in California and Oregon bears testimony to the recurrence of climate crises in rapid succession. In fact, the year 2020 has underscored the uncertainty and unpredictability of such catastrophes. The regularity of such incidents calls for the immediate application of resilience thinking.

With cities gradually exiting from COVID-19 restrictions and economic activities resuming, travel in cities has also resumed. However, in view of the contagion risks that public transport (PT) might pose, our travel patterns are undergoing a sea change. The new 'normal' in terms of travel is being redefined by factors, such as vehicle ownership, distance to the destination, accessibility to PT, work-from-home policies of organisations, online classes for students, temporary relocation to native places, and government travel guidelines.

Think tanks play a critical role in influencing policy discourses through evidence-based analysis and ideation. Since 2005, the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP) has been working with various governments to address long-term issues in key areas such as energy, climate, and health. CSTEP has developed a wide range of computational tools using inter-disciplinary methods to assist governments in examining and improving the efficacy of policies, especially in the energy sector.

Global warming due to the greenhouse effect mostly stems from increased fossil-fuel consumption, and the resultant CO2 emissions. This is a matter of global concern, making it difficult for India to follow the fossil fuel-heavy development path adopted by the developed world. Historically, industrialization and development have been driven by the power sector. Adopting a new development model will be a challenge for India.

A comprehensive energy policy is vital to India meeting its developmental goals; however, it has fallen short. India's extant Integrated Energy Policy (IEP), which was prepared in 2006 by the Planning Commission, is dated. Renewable power, electric vehicles, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) goals, etc., have meant that a fundamental rework of the energy policy is warranted. 
 

Electric bus (e-bus) technology hit the Indian market in recent years as a solution to the environmental concerns posed by conventional fuel buses. However, large-scale adoption of e-buses is a non-starter due to the lack of an enabling ecosystem. Planning and technology selection are crucial to maximise the utilisation of e-buses, which will in turn lower upfront capital costs, while minimising the adverse effects on existing public transport operations.

The present study evaluates the performance of NASA's Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications Aerosol Reanalysis (MERRAero) over Indian cities by validating its PM2.5 concentrations (reconstructed using individual species concentrations) against that of the real-time hourly observations. The study period of the present analysis is between 2013 and 2015. Several performance statistics (mean bias, mean absolute bias, mean fraction, correlation coefficient, FAC2) are derived for the assessment, which was carried out on various temporal scales.