ETHANOL BLENDING
Ethanol is an agricultural by-product which is mainly obtained from the processing of sugar from sugarcane, but also from other sources such as rice husk or maize.
Blending of ethanol with petrol to burn less fossil fuel while running vehicles is called ethanol blending . Currently, 10% of the petrol that powers vehicles in India, is ethanol.
India aimed to increase this ratio to 20% by 2030 but in 2021, NITI Aayog put out the ethanol roadmap, under which the deadline was advanced to 2025.
WHY ETHANOL BLENDING ?
Ethanol blending is expected to reduce the share of oil imports, which is a largest compulsory import for the country and it is draining our foreign exchange reserves rapidly. The NITI Aayog report of June 2021 says, “India’s net import of petroleum was 185 million tonnes at a cost of $55 billion in 2020-21,” and ethanol blending programme can save the country $4 billion per annum.
Secondly, more ethanol output is expected to help increase farmers’ incomes.
The production of second generation ethanol from residual products in will reduce the pollution due to burning of stubble.
Ethanol burns more completely than petrol, so it avoids emissions such as carbon monoxide.
However, it does not reduce the emission of nitrous oxide.The unregulated carbonyl emissions, such as acetaldehyde emission were, however, higher with E10 & E20 compared to normal petrol.
The blended fuel burns more efficiently with a more homogenous mixture, which leads to a decrease in CO2 emissions compared with pure petrol. According to the US Department of Energy’s alternative fuel data centre, the emission benefit varies depending on the feedstock used in producing ethanol.
India is producing 426 crore litres of ethanol from molasses-based distilleries & 258 crore litres of ethanol from grain-based distilleries.
This is expected to increase to 760 crore litres & 740 crore litres respectively and would suffice to produce 1016 crore litres of ethanol required for Ethanol Blending Programme and 334 crore litres for other uses.
This is estimated to require six million tonnes of sugar and 16.5 million tonnes of grains per annum in the year 2025.
The government has allowed procurement of ethanol produced from other sources besides molasses, which is first generation ethanol or 1G. Other than molasses, ethanol can be extracted from materials such as rice straw, wheat straw, corn cobs, corn stover, bagasse, bamboo & woody biomass, which are second generation ethanol sources or 2G.
Countries like U.S., China, Canada and Brazil all have ethanol blending programmes. Brazil had legislated that the ethanol content in petrol should be in the 18-27.5% range, and currently it touched the 27% target in 2021.
European countries are using biofuels instead of ethanol to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, as biofuels are recognised as CO2- neutral fuels. CO2 emissions from blended fuel are lower than that for petrol since ethanol contains less carbon than petrol and produces less CO2.
HISTORY OF ETHANOL BLENDING IN INDIA
Since 2001, in India 5% ethanol blended petrol was supplied to retail outlets. In 2002, the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme was launched by selling 5% ethanol blended petrol in nine States & four Union Territories.
In 2006 sell of 5% ethanol blended petroleum that was extended to twenty States & four UTs in 2006. Until 2013-14, however, the percentage of blending never crossed 1.5%.
In 2008 guidelines issued to make the rubber & plastic components in gasoline vehicles be compatible with the E10 (10%) fuel.
In 2015, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways issued notifications for blending of 5% ethanol with 95% gasoline petrol.
In 2019, the Ministry notified the blending 10% ethanol with 90% gasoline (E10). The rubber and plastic components used in petrol vehicles are currently compatible with 10%blending fuel (E10).
Financial incentives & policy support for distilleries has seen average blending for 5%.
Standards for E20, E85 and even E100 fuel have already been laid.
This includes standards for ethanol blended diesel.
Since 2020, India has been announcing its intent to achieve 10% blending by the end of 2022 and 20% blending by 2030. The Centre has also targeted 5% blending of biodiesel with diesel by 2030.
IS ETHANOL BLENDING GREEN ?
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), sugar mills & distilleries, are among the 18 most polluting industries in India. Sugar mills rank third after pulp / paper & chemicals factories, based on wastewater generated.
Sugarcane is a water intensive crop. It requires 150 to 250 cm of precipitation during the growing season.
Water is used at every step of sugar processing: From growing sugarcane to releasing effluents from sugar mills. Groundwater is severely depleted by the process, with serious implications for human health, livelihoods and the ecology of local water bodies. India is the world’s second-largest producer of sugarcane. Nearly 50 per cent of the cane is cultivated in Uttar Pradesh, followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Haryana and Punjab.
Uttar Pradesh, called as 'sugar bowl of India', has the highest output of the sugarcane and has 155 sugar mills. Of them, around 56 major ones discharge up to 85.7 million litres of wastewater into the rivers every day, which is 32 % of the state's total volume.
Effluents from the mills increase the organic content in water bodies, which are then decomposed by microorganisms , which resulting in the increased biological oxygen demand (BOD).
India's environmental regulations state that industrial discharges in freshwater streams should not exceed 30 milligrams per litre (mg/l), while the limit for land disposal is 100 mg/l.
Untreated effluents from sugar mills typically have 1,000-1,500 mg/l BOD.
THE AUTO-INDUSTRY COMPLIANCE
The auto industry committed to the government to make the petrol points, plastics, rubber, steel & other components in vehicles would need to be compliant to hold/store fuel that is 20% ethanol. This change is essential to avoid rusting.
The auto industry preferred the use of biofuels over other alternatives such as electric vehicles (EV), hydrogen power & compressed natural gas. Because biofuels demand the least incremental investment for manufacturers.
Brazil sold 80% of vehicles enabled with the Flex Fuel Engine technology (FFE) in 2019, it means, they run entirely on ethanol. The cost of a flex fuel four-wheelers vehicle could cost about ₹17,000 to ₹25,000 more than the current generation of vehicles. The two-wheeler flex fuel vehicles would be costlier by ₹5,000 to ₹12,000 compared to regular petrol vehicles.
The production average growth of 4% year per year during the last decade. The U.S. & Brazil make up 92 billion litres, or 84% of the global share, followed by European Union (EU), China, India, Canada & Thailand. The production cost of ethanol produced in India are higher compared to U.S. & Brazil, because of the minimum support prices that the government provides.
The Centre announced an additional duty of ₹2 per litre on unblended fuels starting October 2022 to incentivise blending.
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. blends ethanol at its terminals at Tiruchi, Coimbatore, Salem and Madurai.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd blends the bio-fuel with petrol at its terminal in Chennai, while Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. in terminals in Chennai and Karur. Petrol requires extra processing to reduce evaporative emissions before blending with ethanol.
THE OTHER SIDE
Charles Worringham in his report of the Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis (IEEFA), proposed a sustainable use of land by generating renewable power for EV batteries.
According to him, one hectare land under the solar energy project, through EVs recharged engine, can get the annual travel output equivalent to maize-derived ethanol from 187 hectares of land .
So even when there are losses associated with electricity transmission, battery charging and grid storage, it is in a better position in comparison with other alternatives.
The water needed to grow crops for ethanol is another debating point. Sugarcane is the cheapest source of ethanol, when a tonne of sugarcane can produce 100 kg of sugar and 70 litres of ethanol, it means, a litre of ethanol from sugar requires 2,860 litres of water. According to Niti Aayog the ethanol production from domestic grains will increase fourfold by 2025. The increased production in agriculture is due to the better monsoon conditions in couple of years but according to International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), this growth won’t be sustainable .
According to the planning , the 12 planned farm waste distilleries can produce only 5% of the total requirement of ethanol. Because of the uncertainty in production , it won’t be easy to simultaneously strengthen domestic food supply systems as well as maintaining export operations .
Union Cabinet recently approved amendments to the National Policy on Biofuels, 2018, to advance the date by which fuel companies have to increase the percentage of ethanol in petrol to 20%, from 2030 to 2025. The policy of introducing 20% ethanol is expected to take effect from April 1, 2023.
Government records suggest about 75% of India’s 220 million vehicles are two wheelers and 12% four wheelers It takes much more ethanol to power a vehicle’s engine than petrol. It also leaves residual by-products that can corrode and damage the vehicle which is why, while vehicles can be run on ethanol, they need to be tuned accordingly so that they don’t compromise on efficiency and usability.
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