Er. Mandeep Barman
“Ethanol Blending Policy is a big leap in the direction
of cooperative sector,
environmental improvement, doubling of farmers' income, increasing of India's
foreign exchange reserves and combating global warming challenges which are significant part of Prime Minister
Modi's multidimensional campaign,"
India has been focusing on
production of Ethanol since the last five years and it has come a long way in
terms of both quality and quantity. Sugar Mills/Distilleries are supplying raw
materials, which are usually Cane Molasses and Juice of rice, damaged grains,
maize and millets to the Oil companies.
“The
Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme was launched in 2003 with an aim to promote
the use of renewable and environmentally friendly fuels and reduce India's
import dependence for energy security. Starting with 5% blending, the
government has set a target of 10% ethanol blending by 2022 and 20% blending
(E20) by 2025.”
v
What is Ethanol Blending?
·
Ethanol is a type of Alcohol produced from agricultural products having
high starch content like sugarcane and corn.
·
It is usually blended with petrol and used as fuel for vehicles.
·
Ethanol is basically 99.9% pure alcohol that can be blended with petrol.
v
Benefits of Ethanol
Blending:
1. Makes the fuel cleaner-
Since Ethanol contains Oxygen it’s blending with Petrol helps in complete
combustion and thus reduces emission of CO and unburnt Carbons.
2. Reduce import of crude
oil- India heavily depends on import of crude oil to meet its petroleum needs. Ethanol
blending will reduce the import volume and thus will save foreign exchange of
India.
3. Income support for
farmers- Since Ethanol is mostly extracted from agricultural products, more
usage of ethanol will help farmers to generate revenue.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the G20 Energy, Ministers’ meet on
(July 22) said that India has rolled out 20% ethanol-blended petrol and aims to
“cover the entire country by 2025”.
E-20 Petrol
means blending 20 percent ethanol with petrol by the year 2025.
v
Progress of Ethanol Blending
so far in India
So far until 2023 Average
Ethanol Blending is at 11.75% in India, which the Government is aiming to reach
20% by 2025.
So far until 2023 Average
Ethanol Blending is at 11.75% in India, which the Government is aiming to reach
20% by 2025.
v
Impacts of Ethanol Blending:
● A passenger vehicle,
originally designed for E0 (0% Ethanol) engine, can lose fuel efficiency to the
extent of 6-7% when using E20 fuel.
● Currently two wheeler and
passenger vehicles are mostly designed for E5 (5% Ethanol) fuel and these
engines can be calibrated for E10 fuel for optimal performance.
● But the 4 wheelers will
have to be upgraded to avoid loss of fuel efficiency for E20 fuel.
v
Concerns regarding Ethanol
Blending:
1.
Ethanol is hygroscopic and has a tendency to absorb moisture, making it difficult
to store in pure form. Its affinity to attract moisture at the base of the fuel
tank and contaminating the engine is a major concern. This can be avoided by
proper blending of Ethanol.
2.
This policy aimed at making E10 available across the country by 2022.
3.
According to the Government, all vehicles manufactured since 2008 are
E10 compatible but not optimized.
4.
E100 Ethanol will be sold at lower price from ethanol pumps.
5.
At present there are no flex-fuel-powered engines or vehicles with the
exception of a limited-edition TVS apache RTR motorcycle.
v
Production of Ethanol
Raw
materials for Ethanol production can be classified as:
1.
First Generation (1G) raw
material:
The first generation of raw materials are those that can be consumed by humans
as food such as sugar cane, wheat, corn, barley etc. Using these resources to
produce is not a sensible thing to do as it compromises with our nutritional
and food security. For our country it is even more dangerous as Hunger Index of
India is already very high, 107 out of 121 countries.
2.
Second Generation (2G) raw
material:
Non-food sources such as rice husk, bamboo, wood, straw, grass are used as raw
materials for production of Ethanol. This is a safer and more preferable raw
material as compared to 1G raw material.
3.
Third Generation (3G) raw
material:
Algae is used for production of Ethanol. This is a very good source for Ethanol
production as Algae also produces Oxygen.
4.
Fourth Generation (4G) raw
material:
Waste materials are used as raw materials for production of Ethanol. Pyrolysis
is used as method for this purpose. Thus using 4G raw materials as source is good for our Environment and it is
the most preferable way of Ethanol production.
So far in India mostly 1st
Generation raw materials are used for Ethanol Production and usage of 2nd
Generation raw materials has only begun. Usage of 3rd Generation and
4th Generation raw material for production of Ethanol has not been
made possible in commercial scale in India so far. This is a very concerning
matter, as along with decreased efficiency of fuel, we should not compromise
with our food security.
v The
roadmap proposed by the Government:
· Raise pan-India ethanol production capacity from the
current 700 to 1500 crore litres.
· Phased rollout of E10 fuel by April 2022.
· Phased rollout of E20 from April 2023, its
availability by April 2025.
· Rollout of E20 material-compliant and E10 engine-tuned
vehicles from April 2023.
· Production of E20-tuned engine vehicles from April
2025.
· Encourage use of water-sparing crops, such as maize,
to produce ethanol.
· Promote technology for the production of ethanol from
non-food feedstock.
v
Steps taken by Assam
Government to promote Ethanol Blending:
1. Ethanol Promotion Policy:
·
Assam has recently come up with an Ethanol Promotion Policy which
provides number of fiscal incentives like capital subsidy, interest subvention,
tax incentives etc. for investment in ethanol production.
·
It is expected that a number of new companies/cooperates will come
forward for investment in production of ethanol in the State of Assam
2. Ethanol
plant at Numaligarh refinery:
·
A new Ethanol plant has been set-up in Numaligarh refinery in Assam. It
will be 2G plant and Bamboo will be used as raw material.
·
This is the 1st Bio-refinery
of India.
·
This Bio-refinery will use “Chempolis’
Formicobio Technology” from Finland.
Process of
Ethanol blending
“Biofuels can power India's growth in 21st century”-PM MODI
The Author Mr. Mandeep Barman is Jr. Asstt. of Assam Engineering Institute