Adopt snuff ethanol to save billions of rupees spent on crude oil imports

- Hotline: Bhalchandra Jani

Adding 50% ethanol to petrol can save billions of rupees. Sugarcane-producing India can make ethanol and get relief from the huge food shortage of petrol

Over the years, there has been talk of finding alternative fuels to cope with rising petrol and diesel prices. But our scientists have not yet come up with an effective, sniffing option in this direction. Yes, there is an option and it can be easily adopted. This option means widespread consumption of ethanol. (Earlier we talked about driving with hydrogen but that technology) We will have to wait a few more years for it to be implemented.

You ask what is ethanol? To put it simply, ethanol is an alcohol made from sugarcane. The government now sells this 'alcohol' mixed in petrol.

The sale of ethanol blended petrol was started at more than 11,000 petrol pumps in nine states and four Union Territories, including Maharashtra, as per an order issued by Union Petroleum Minister Ramnaik in 2006. But due to the negligence of the government and the neglect of this new scheme, the Ethanol project fell into disarray. In fact, in today's world, the government needs to pay special attention to increasing ethanol consumption. Adding just five per cent ethanol to petrol would reduce the consumption of petrol by about 5 crore liters, resulting in billions of rupees in foreign exchange savings. Arrangements should be made to have ethanol blended in the supply of petrol to the petrol pump depots by the oil companies.

Is it possible to drive a vehicle with such fuel by mixing alcoholic liquids in petrol in this way? Yes, this experiment is new in India. But ethanol consumption is quite common in many countries of the world. Intensive research in this direction has been going on in India for the last 3 years. Now it is time to mix 5% ethanol which will gradually increase the proportion to 50%.

This recipe for driving a motor by mixing alcohol with petrol was being tried in Miraj a few years back, as well as in Manmad and Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh. The Petroleum Department had in 2008 considered testing a new fuel to satisfy India's petrol-diesel hunger. In a way, the use of alcohol as a fuel is not new. Because a small country like Brazil has been driving vehicles by mixing ethanol in petrol since 181. In Brazil, the government has issued a decree that petrol must contain at least five percent ethanol per liter. In the 19th century, another 20 million light vehicles (motorcars) in Brazil used 18 billion liters of ethanol as fuel. From this one thing one realizes how much petrol can be saved by consuming ethanol. Ethanol, an effective and simple alternative to petrol, was discovered a century ago but its consumption has not increased as much as it should.

As late as the 19th, Nicholas Auto implemented the idea of ​​using alcohol instead of petrol in the internal combustion of motors. Because alcohol, like gasoline, contains carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Since all three of these substances are combustible, ethyl alcohol is called ethanol for short. It can be used as a substitute for petrol. In the United States, gasoline is called gasoline, so if it contains ethanol, it is known as gashole. In India too, the new petrol will now be known by the same name.

Countries that have not yet adopted ethanol will start using it from tomorrow. Because the earth is running out of petroleum reserves. At present, there is about 500 billion barrels of petroleum left in Petal. In the next twenty to twenty five years this petrol will run out. Steamers and trains can be driven by other alternative energy but how can motors run without petrol? Alcohol is one of the best alternatives to petrol, where motors running on electric cells are not fully operational, and that is why good work has begun with ethanol. India was very serious about developing ethanol technology.

India's sugar industry, on the other hand, has more capacity than it needs to produce alcohol. The sugar industry can produce three and a half billion liters of alcohol this year but due to lack of demand it produces only one and a half billion liters of alcohol. If ethanol consumption in India, like in Brazil, USA, Japan, etc., starts to increase, then sugarcane growers can still grow alcohol in large quantities and increase the production of alcohol. If we make ethanol from this alcohol and start using it instead of petrol-diesel, the import bill of crude oil can be significantly reduced.

In 2020, the Government of India imported 18.3 million metric tonnes, or 127 million tonnes of crude. India spends more than Rs 8 lakh crore a year on crude oil imports. This step has been taken with the intention of reducing these costs.

If the government decides to mix 50 per cent ethanol in petrol, then India may have to reduce its sugar production. In India, the annual demand for sugar is 3 million tonnes per day. In contrast, last year's production in India alone was 21 million tonnes. Moreover, carry forward stock remains large. Every year 20 to 20 lakh tons of goods fall. There is no scope for export, as the price of sugar abroad is much lower than in India. So keep this extra stock as a reserve. Sugar mill experts say the decision to mix more ethanol is justified. As a result, the exchange rate of crude imports can be saved. But to save this, the production of sugar should be reduced from 210 lakh tonnes to 5 lakh tonnes. Doing so will directly use the sugar cane to make ethanol. In that case, instead of 3 lakh tonnes of sugar, additional ethanol will be produced. The revenue generated from it will significantly improve the economic mathematics of the sugar mill. Yes, it can have a direct effect on the supply of livestock if the residue of sugarcane used as livestock is diverted to ethanol. Animal husbandry is good in Gujarat. Therefore, it is necessary to take care that there is no shortage of food.

If the private sector does not come forward initially, the government should set up plants for ethanol production. Gradually increasing the consumption of ethanol as fuel in the country will automatically make this business profitable and also increase the competition.

At present, only ethanol made from sugarcane husk is being used to mix fuel in petrol. Decisions are being made after deliberations under the Ethanol Blending Program.

But the government has been active in making arrangements to generate extra income for farmers by making fuel from non-sugarcane husks i.e. corn, millet, fruit and vegetable wastes. Thus the government is planning to get extra fuel under the ethanol blending program.

In the national policy on biofuels, the National Biofuel Coordination Committee has decided to allow the use of surplus grains for the production of ethanol.

Under the Ethanol Bleeding Program, it has been decided to fully implement the plan to blend 80% ethanol in petrol by the year 2022. Sugar mills currently use only sea heavy molasses to make ethanol. According to data compiled by the Indian Sugar Mill Association, as on October 1, 2016, only 4.5 per cent ethanol was added to petrol in India on an average, so the government insisted that Sugar Mill also use heavy molasses to make ethanol.

Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari recently said that ethanol would be produced in about 50 closed sugar mills to meet fuel demand and save foreign exchange. They will be revived on the condition that the closed sugar factory will produce compulsory ethanol.

In addition to ethanol, the government is now considering methanol as an alternative to petrol. Recently, Nitin Gadkari said that methanol is made from coal, which costs only Rs. Is 3. This type of cheap methanol costs Rs. It will be mixed with petrol sold at the price of Rs. As a by-product of Chinese coal, Rs. Produces methanol at a price of 12. If methanol is added to petrol then petrol will be cheaper and air pollution will be reduced. In Mumbai, Deepak Fertilizers and Rashtriya Chemical & Fertilizers can produce methanol.

Swedish company Volvo has also developed an engine that can run on methanol. Vehicles with these engines also run on locally available methanol. 20 methanol-powered buses launched in Sweden The cost of building a petrol refinery is Rs. 30,000 crore, while the production of methanol is cheaper in all respects. In addition, various companies have to spend Rs. The government will also provide an investment opportunity of Rs 1.5 lakh crore.

Again, if we talk about ethanol, ethanol is a sweet product. It can be produced in abundance at home. Also it is eco friendly so it is better for the environment as compared to diesel petrol. Now a state-owned company like Bharat Petroleum Corporation has acquired 6,000 hectares of land in Brazil and started planting sugarcane. If all these aspects are in favor of ethanol, then the more we delay its use, the more we will suffer. India should get the vehicles running on ethanol or gashole as soon as possible.