After achieving a 20 percent ethanol blend in petrol, the focus is now on flex-fuel vehicles and increasing the ethanol blend in petrol beyond 20 percent, according to PMO advisor, Tarun Kapoor. Kapoor made the comments in his address at the India Sugar and Bio Energy Conference organised by the India Sugar Manufacturers Association.

He said the E20 programme has been successful, while acknowledging criticism over its impact on vehicles that are not compatible with E20. His comments come as the government looks to move towards higher ethanol blends through flex-fuel vehicles. “Up to E20 it’s been very successful. Now our focus is on going into flex-fuel vehicles and allowing blending at a percentage which should be higher than E20, and it has to be on flex-fuel vehicles.”

1. Ethanol production now exceeds blending needs
2. Isobutanol is being studied for potential diesel biofuel use
3. Government is exploring non-transport uses for ethanol

Automakers preparing flex-fuel vehicles

Kapoor said several motor vehicle manufacturers have announced plans to introduce flex-fuel vehicles soon, and their launch could help drive higher use of ethanol. “I am happy to learn that several motor vehicle companies have announced that they are going to come out with flexible vehicles very soon and so we should see good numbers in the market.”

He also said the availability of higher ethanol blends or pure ethanol at petrol stations would need to expand alongside the rollout of flex-fuel vehicles. Some stations already have such fuel, but Kapoor said its availability needs to expand. “Supply of pure ethanol or whatever, maybe some additive has to be added to it, should also happen quite soon. There are some petrol stations where it is already available, but it has to be expanded now, but it has to go hand in hand with availability of flexible vehicles.”

Kapoor said India also needs biofuel products that can be blended with diesel and pointed to experiments involving isobutanol as a potential route for deploying biofuels on a larger scale.

E20 compatibility remains a point of concern

While Kapoor called the E20 programme successful, he acknowledged criticism over vehicles that are not compatible with the blend. He said studies and experiments had found that E20 works well, although fuel efficiency may decline to some extent. “E20 is quite good and works very well, maybe a little bit of fuel efficiency declines somewhere, but it gets compensated with higher octane,” he said.

Ethanol production exceeds blending requirement

Kapoor said ethanol production has exceeded what is currently required for blending, prompting the government to explore additional uses for the fuel. Kapoor said, “Now the production is more than that, probably it’s more than what we actually need for blending, but then probably we have to look for more uses of ethanol in various forms.”

The government is looking at uses beyond transportation, including cooking and industrial applications, to expand demand for ethanol. “We are very keen that we are able to expand the market as much as possible so that this overcapacity issue is resolved at the earliest time,” he added.