New Delhi: The government is mulling over the idea of increasing the consumption of ethanol blending in petrol for vehicles meant to use higher ethanol blends as it tries to increase flex-fuel vehicles.
Chief of the Government Adviser to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tarun Kapoor said there was little likelihood that the Government will increase ethanol blending for current vehicles over 20%, and any increase would be considered alongside availability of a suitable flex-fuel vehicle.
Speaking virtually at a programme organised by the Indian Sugar & Bio-energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA), Kapoor said the E20 programme has been a success and hinted at flex-fuel vehicles and boosted blending of ethanol in the coming years.
“Now, our focus is on flex-fuel vehicles and allowing blending at a percentage higher than E20,” Kapoor said, according to a report by The Times of India.
Flex-fuel vehicles are designed to operate on petrol containing significantly higher proportions of ethanol. According to Kapoor, several automobile manufacturers have announced plans for vehicles capable of running on blends of up to 85% ethanol, and in some cases 100% ethanol.
He emphasised that higher ethanol blending would need to go hand in hand with the availability of flex-fuel vehicles capable of using such blends.
India has been expanding ethanol blending as part of its efforts to increase the use of domestic biofuels and reduce dependence on conventional petrol. With ethanol production capacity increasing, the government is also examining additional avenues for utilising the available supply.
Kapoor also rejected criticism of ethanol blending, attributing some of the concerns to what he described as misinformation or motivated reasons.
The government’s approach indicates that any move towards ethanol blends above E20 for road transport would be closely linked to the adoption and availability of compatible flex-fuel vehicles rather than being an immediate change for India’s existing vehicle fleet.
