Vehicular pollution is one of the biggest contributors to air pollution in urban areas of India. Car sales are projected to almost triple in quantity by the year 2025 and of the 15 most polluted cities in the world,13 are in northern India; the contribution of vehicle pollution to the toxicity of air cannot be undermined. Although steps have been taken by auto manufacturers to curb pollution such as changing the exhaust systems of internal combustion engines, switching to electric vehicles, bio fuels and to hydrogen powered vehicles in coming years. The technology however isn't ready, it isn't economically viable for mass production and it will not be affordable for the average consumers in India.
One way of curbing pollution is to replace or to substantially change the carbon rich fuel used in all of the vehicles, something that will work just fine with the engines and equipment designed for pure gasoline engines. India has standards for fuels like the previously used BS IV or the one currently in use BS VI. These standards are based on European standards, BS IV on Euro 4 and BS VI on Euro VI. These standards are based on the composition of Sulphur and Nitrogen components of the fuel to reduce the emission of Sulphur and Nitrogen oxides. Besides fuel, these standards also include change in different components of vehicles like efficient fuel delivery systems and better exhaust filtration systems. It is good but it’s nothing drastic or even significant, sure over the long term it will cut down a large chunk from carbon emission, but there’s one more thing that was in bureaucratic and technological pipelines for some time until the government finally put a timeline on it.
In the 2022-23 financial year budget, keeping in mind the sustainable development goals, the Indian government declared that it aims to achieve 20% ethanol blending in petrol between 2025 and 2030.A shift from pure petrol to blended petrol which results in less carbon emissions. Starting 1st October 2022, the non-blended petrol will have a differential additional excise duty of 2 rupees/litere in order to discourage consumers from buying pure petrol. Not only will this cut the carbon emissions and vehicular air pollution in the country, it will also help India bring down the cost of petroleum imports, according to a NITI Aayog report, 20% ethanol blending by 2025 could result in savings of Rs 30,000 crore of foreign exchange every year. In India, 98% of vehicular fuel requirements are met by fossil based fuel sources; only 2% are bio-fuels and India imports about 85% of its oil consumption.
Transport is one of the basic needs for a fast developing economy like India. Currently only 5% of the fuel in the country is blended, with 10% blending of ethanol. Ethanol blended petrol is less in supply and use because of the insufficient quantity of ethanol.To boost the production of ethanol, under the National Policy on Biofuels-2018, the central government has allowed sugarcane juice and other starch based food grains to be used as raw materials for ethanol production.
It is also good for the farming sector because it means getting paid for wasted food grains and also for the byproducts that are generated during refining of sugar. B-Molasses and C-Molasses which are the by-products of refining sugar, damaged grains, and surplus rice can be used for the production of ethanol which. They fall in line with the Indian government’s Waste to Wealth policy which aims at processing and utilizing waste for benefits.
On the technical side of things, Automotive Research Association of India and Indian Institute of Petroleum and Indian Oil Corporation conducted research during 2014-15 with 20% ethanol blended gasoline and found out that some polymers and plastics components of vehicle had a bad reaction to the 20% blended fuel, they broke down sooner and the average fuel efficiency of vehicles decreased by about 6%, but there was no severe damage done to the engine components and the engines of Indian vehicles, no cases of engine not starting or stalling while driving were reported and they worked just fine in cold and hot weather.
There were several tests done with different standards of blending 5% ethanol blending, 10% ethanol blending and 85% ethanol blending was notified in 2016, with four wheeler, three wheeler and two wheeler vehicles; another fuel combination that was tested is composed 95% of ethanol and 5% of solvents and corrosion inhibitors for normal ignition. All the tests have been conducted and reported. In 2018, the Bureau of Indian Standards cleared 20% ethanol blended fuel for use as commercial fuel in the country.
The study also reported a 50% decrease in carbon monoxide emission for two wheelers, and 30% lower for four wheelers with the current vehicles with a 20% blending of ethanol.
It is a great step in the direction of sustainability, and it’s a tested one. Many other countries are already operating at some percentage of ethanol blending despite the hurdles, like the production of ethanol in such large quantities is a problem for meeting such a high demand in such a short time.One more aspect that may affect this transition in India is the number of old vehicles on Indian roads, that will have issues running a mixture of ethanol and petrol. The decline in fuel efficiency of vehicles that are not designed for ethanol blended petrol will also cause some hiccups in the way of fully switching to ethanol.
Vivek is a writer who writes to explore. His interests include philosopy, psychology, poetry, cinema, mythology and international relations. Above all he’s interested in making sense of complex systems-how they work and influence each other. An alumnus of Calcutta University, he has a bachelor's degree in Physics.
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