ETHANOL BLENDING PROGRAM

Why in the News?

• India is on track to meet its goal of 2025–2026 of blending 20% ethanol with gasoline.

However, questions about how fuel-efficient current cars are and the fuel vs. food argument continue to cast a shadow over the ethanol economy.

About Ethanol (C2H5OH) and Blending of Ethanol:

• A byproduct of agriculture, ethanol is mostly obtained by the refining of sugar from sugarcane, however, it can also be obtained from other sources like maize or rice husk.
• Ethanol is regarded as a renewable fuel since it is made from plants that use solar energy.
• Sugarcane molasses is the primary raw material used in India’s fermentation process to make ethanol.
• Ethanol can be mixed with gasoline because it is 99.9% pure alcohol.
• The Indian government has approved the purchase of first-generation, or 1G, ethanol—ethanol made from sources other than molasses—to augment the country’s ethanol supply.
• In addition to molasses, second-generation (or 2G) ethanol sources include rice straw, wheat straw, corn stover, bagasse, bamboo, and woody biomass.

ETHANOL BLENDED PROGRAMME :

• It was introduced in 2003 to encourage the use of environmentally friendly and alternative fuels by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
• This initiative, which allows Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to sell gasoline blended with up to 10% ethanol, has been expanded to include all of India (except the Union Territories of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands) as of April 1, 2019.
• The average percentage of ethanol blended with petrol throughout the country increased from 1.6% in 2013–14 to 11.8% in 2022–2023.
  India had planned to increase this ratio to 20% by 2030, but that target was moved to 2025 when the NITI Aayog published the ethanol strategy in 2021.
• Achieving 20% by 2025–2026 would need producing 1,000 crore litres of ethanol for gasoline mixing.

SIGNIFICANCE OF ETHANOL BLENDING PROGRAMME :

• The EBP scheme will lower India’s import bill, among other benefits.
• It will lessen pollutants in the environment.
• It will boost farm revenue.
• Manufacturers need to invest the least additional money in biofuels.

CHALLENGES WITH THE ETHANOL BLENDED PROGRAMME :

• Engines would need to be adjusted to handle gasoline blended with 20% ethanol. When ethanol burns entirely, it releases no CO2. It does not, however, lessen the release of nitrous oxide, another significant pollutant.
• Inefficient land use for ethanol production and the quantity of water needed to grow crops for ethanol are further points of criticism.
  Concerns about food security, considering the unpredictability of future production.

Benefits of Utilizing EBP :

• Long-term energy security is achieved by varying the fuel mix.
• Limit your reliance on fossil fuels.
• Decrease reliance on imports and increase fuel production’s self-sustainability.
• Increasing by twofold Farm diversification increases farmers’ income (Ashok Dalwai Committee).
• Optimum use of damaged vegetables and extra food grains.
• Decrease in pollutants because EBP is cleaner and more efficient than regular gasoline.
  creation of jobs through the use of new infrastructure and technologies.
• Some wastes can be used as animal feed, and byproducts like potash can be used as fertilizers.
• India’s current capacity to produce ethanol is as follows:
  According to NITI Aayog’s roadmap, sugarcane-based distilleries’ capacity will have to rise from 426 crore liters in 2021 to 760 crore liters in 2026.
  However, the capacity of grain-based distilleries ought to rise from 258 to 740 crore liters.
  Two interest-subvention schemes for the construction of new distilleries have made it easier to increase the capacity of ethanol production.

Issues Beneath India’s Ethanol Economy:

Food vs Fuel :

• First-generation (1G) ethanol, which is produced directly from food grains and sugarcane, has received all the attention in India.
• For instance, in decreasing order of sugar concentration, sugarcane produces three primary related products: sugarcane juice and syrup, B-heavy molasses, and C-heavy molasses.
• Normally, the first two are used to produce sugar, and the third is utilized to produce ethanol.
• The government had begun allowing the first two to be diverted from the manufacture of sugar to fuel ethanol to increase the production of fuel ethanol.
• Apprehensions regarding agricultural sustainability: Growing the production of sugarcane will divert irrigation water away from vital food-grain crops, intensifying worries regarding agricultural sustainability.

1. Growing import bill: India is one of the world’s top producers of maize, but domestic consumption regularly exceeds output.

• Another reason for this is that maize has been utilized to make more gasoline-ethanol to make up for limitations on the usage of sugarcane goods.
• As a result, the import of maize has increased over the previous year (from April to June 2024, the import is already valued at $103 million).
• More cultivation is required to reach the 20% target: According to NITI Aayog’s calculations, an additional 4.8 million hectares, or nearly half of the average amount of maize production area, will be needed to reach the 20% target.

1. Fuel efficiency in current vehicles: According to the NITI Aayog assessment, ethanol reduced fuel economy in cars that weren’t designed for it.
2. Performance across states:
3. States set the price for Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA), which is used to make liquor for consumption and other purposes, while fuel ethanol prices are uniform throughout India.
4. The UP government reserves about 25% of its ethanol for the ENA and is completely in line with the goals of the federal government on ethanol.
5. Fuel ethanol has not gained as much traction in Tamil Nadu, where distilleries find the liquor industry to be quite lucrative.

Way Forward :

It is for the government to diversify and switch to 2G and 3G ethanol, which have less of an impact on the food security of India.
• It could be necessary to retune the engines in existing vehicles and switch to E20-compatible materials.
• Since alcohol sales account for a significant portion of most state governments’ revenue, many in the sector are calling for an increase in the price of ethanol.

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