Paving the way for the transformation of the fossil fuel ecosystem in the country, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued a draft notification for facilitating use of a blend of 12 percent and 15 percent ethanol in gasoline as automotive fuels. Comments have been invited from stakeholders within a period of 30 days.
“The newly manufactured gasoline vehicles fitted with spark ignition engine compatible to run on ethanol gasoline blends of E-12 and E-15 shall be type approved as per prevailing gasoline emission norms,” the draft notification said.
Recently, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had said the government will take a decision over flex-fuel engines, as it is considering making these mandatory for the automobile industry.
The government last year had set a target of reaching 10 percent ethanol blending in petrol by 2022. Image: Doug Peters via Pixabay
“I am going to issue an order to the industry that only petrol engines will not be there, there will be flex-fuel engines, where there will be choice for the people that they can use 100 percent crude oil or 100 percent ethanol,” he had said.
“I am going to take a decision within eight to ten days, and we will make it (flex-fuel engine) mandatory for the automobile industry,” he had further said.
Gadkari had mentioned that automobile makers are producing flex-fuel engines in Brazil, Canada and the US providing an alternative to customers to use 100 percent petrol or 100 percent bio-ethanol.
Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the target date for achieving 20 percent ethanol-blending with petrol has been advanced by five years to 2025 to cut pollution and reduce import dependence.
The government last year had set a target of reaching 10 percent ethanol blending in petrol by 2022 and 20 percent doping by 2030.
Gadkari had said ethanol is a better fuel than petrol, and it is an import substitute, cost effective, pollution-free and indigenous.
“It (making flex-fuel engines mandatory) is going to boost the Indian economy because we are a corn surplus, we are a sugar surplus, and a wheat surplus country. We don’t have places to stock all these food grains,” he had noted.
