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Ethanol

GS Paper 2:

Syllabus: Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors

 

Context:

Indian Prime Minister briefed, that India has achieved 10% ethanol blending ahead of the deadline.

 

What is Ethanol Blending Programme?

  • Ethanol is an agro-based product, mainly produced from a by-product of the sugar industry, namely molasses.
  • Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme was launched in January, 2003.
    • The programme sought to promote the use of alternative and environment-friendly fuels and to reduce import dependency for energy requirements.

 

Current Affairs

 

Need for Ethanol blending in India

  • Ethanol has become one of the major priorities of 21st Century India.
  • Mixing 20 percent ethanol in petrol holds multiple attractions for India.
    • First, it can potentially reduce the auto fuel import bill by a yearly $4 billion, or Rs30,000 crore.
    • Second, it also provides for farmers to earn extra income if they grow produce that helps in ethanol production.
    • Third, is the fact that ethanol is less polluting than other fuels and, per the NITI Aayog paper, “offers equivalent efficiency at a lower cost than petrol”.
  • Use of ethanol-blended petrol decreases emissions such as carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), and nitrogen oxides (NOx), the expert committee noted. Higher reductions in CO emissions were observed with E20 fuel — 50 per cent lower in two-wheelers and 30 percent lower in four-wheelers.

 

Recent related developments

  • The procedure of procurement of ethanol under the EBP has been simplified to streamline the entire ethanol supply chain and remunerative ex-depot price of ethanol has been fixed.
  • To facilitate achieving of new blending targets, a “grid” which networks distilleries to OMC depots and details quantities to be supplied has been worked out.
  • State-wise demand profile has also been projected, keeping in view distances, capacities, and other sectoral demands
  • Further, The Government of India has advanced the target for 20% ethanol blending in petrol (also called E20) to 2025 from 2030.

 

Instalinks

 Prelims Link

  1. What is Ethanol Blending Programme?
  2. Need for EBP
  3. Potential for EBP

Mains Link:

Discuss the need for Ethanol Blending Programme, highlighting how the measures could help address the related issues in India.

 

Sources: The Sources 

 

Q 2. Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding Ethanol Blending Programme?

  1. The Government of India has advanced the target for 20% ethanol blending in petrol (also called E20) to 2025 from 2030
  2. India has achieved the 10% ethanol blending ahead of the deadline.

Which of the above statements are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. None of the above