Ethanol Blending Programme in India

In News

• Recently, the level of ethanol blending in petrol in India has reached 9.99 per cent. 

Targets for India

• India had targeted 10 per cent ethanol blending in petrol by the end of 2022 and 20 per cent blending by 2030. 
• In December 2020, the government advanced its target of achieving 20% blending (E20) from 2030 to 2025.
• Also, there is a target of 5 per cent blending of biodiesel with diesel by 2030.

Ethanol blending programme (EBP) in India: A Timeline

• About
  • The Centre had “launched pilot projects wherein 5 per cent ethanol-blended petrol was supplied to retail outlets”.
  • The success of field trials paved the way for the launching of the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme in 2003.
    • It aimed to popularise 5 percent ethanol-blended petrol in 9 States and 4 UTs.
    • Ethanol is blended through a separate pumping and BIO-metering mechanism.
• Aim: 
  • Reducing the country’s dependence on crude oil imports, cutting carbon emissions and boosting farmers’ incomes. 
• Targets:

• India had targeted 10 percent ethanol blending in petrol by the end of 2022 and 20 percent blending by 2030. 
• In December 2020, the government advanced its target of achieving 20% blending (E20) from 2030 to 2025.
• Also there is a target of 5 percent blending of biodiesel with diesel by 2030.

• The Centre has also announced an additional duty of Rs.2 per litre on unblended fuels starting October to incentivise blending.

Significance

• Energy Security:
  • India is the third-largest consumer of energy in the world after China and the US.
  • Ethanol will promote AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan by ensuring energy self-dependency to some extent.
• Reduction in import dependency:
  • India is dependent on imports for about 82.1% of its crude oil requirement and to the extent of about 44.4% in the case of natural gas.
  • EBP will reduce oil import bills and can save precious USD 4 billion (Rs. 300 Billion) per year.
• Entrepreneurial Opportunity:
  • India is expected to need 10 billion litres of ethanol annually to meet the 20% blending target in 2030 if petrol consumption continues to grow at the current pace.
  • At present, the capacity stands at 1.55 billion litres a year.
• Support for the agricultural sector: 
  • It will help the sugar mill owner to pay farmers their pending FRP for sugarcane.
  • It will also mitigate the problem of low sugar prices in the international market.
• Additional income to farmers:
  • It is in line with the vision of the Prime Minister regarding Doubling the Farmer’s Income
• Environmental friendly fuel:
  • It will decrease emissions of CO, Hydrocarbons, NOx, etc as it burns more smoothly due to the presence of Oxygen in the molecule itself.
• Decreasing pollution:
  • Use of ethanol-blended petrol decreases emissions such as carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Higher reductions in CO emissions were observed with E20 fuel – 50 percent lower in two-wheelers and 30 percent lower in four-wheelers.
• SDG targets:
  • Relatively low Emissions will help achieve SDG targets and mitigate climate change.
• Swachh Bharat Mission: 
  • Contributing to Swachh Bharat Mission by supporting the aggregation of non­food biofuel feedstocks such as waste biomass and urban waste.

Challenges 

• Making efficient vehicles: There is an estimated loss of six-seven per cent fuel efficiency for four-wheelers and three-four per cent for two-wheelers when using E20. These vehicles are originally designed for E20 and calibrated for E10. 
• Unregulated emissions: The unregulated carbonyl emissions, such as acetaldehyde emission were higher with E10 and E20 compared to normal petrol. No reduction in NOx is seen even after the use of ethanol-blended fuel.
• Expensive: These fuels although are cleaner and complete combustion take place in them but have higher evaporative emissions from fuel tanks and dispensing equipment. Thereby making them costly.
• Regulatory clearance: This procedure takes time and delays the implementation of the Policy. At present, Ethanol production plants/distilleries fall under the “Red category” and require environmental clearance under the Air and Water Acts for new and expansion projects.
• Feedstock availability: Availability of sufficient feedstock on a sustainable basis viz., sugarcane, and food grains are a major challenge. States like Chattisgarh have raised the issue of permitting rice procured by the state government to be allowed for the production of ethanol. The list of feedstocks allowed for the production of ethanol needs to be expanded.
• Inter-state movement of ethanol: While an amendment has been made to the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act which legislates exclusive control of denatured ethanol by the central government for smooth movement of ethanol across the country, the same has not been implemented by states thereby restricting this movement of ethanol.
• Capacity Expansion: A majority of the ethanol units are concentrated in 4 to 5 states where sugar production is high but food grain-based distilleries should be increased in number and be set up across India along with modern tech-based plants to make ethanol from agricultural waste.

Way Ahead

• Shift Focus from 1G to next-generation Biofuels: It will counter the most genuine fear of loss of food security.
• Making Vehicle manufacturers future-ready: The industry and petrol pump should be made ready for next pushes like E85 and E100.
• India has a real opportunity here to become a global leader in sustainable biofuels policy if it chooses to refocus on ethanol made from waste.

Source: IE