Ethanol Blending in India
- Posted By
10Pointer
- Categories
Environment
- Published
11th May, 2022
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Context
The level of ethanol blending in petrol in India has reached 9.99 per cent.
India’s Target
- India had targeted 10 per cent ethanol blending in petrol by the end of 2022 and 20 per cent blending by 2030.
- The Centre has also targeted 5 per cent blending of biodiesel with diesel by 2030.
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What is Ethanol?
- Ethanol, an anhydrous ethyl alcohol can be produced from sugarcane, maize, wheat, etc which are having high starch content.
- Chemical formula: C2H5OH
- In India, ethanol is mainly produced from sugarcane molasses by fermentation process.
- Ethanol can be mixed with gasoline to form different blends.
Benefits
- As the ethanol molecule contains oxygen, it allows the engine to more completely combust the fuel, resulting in fewer emissions and thereby reducing the occurrence of environmental pollution.
- Use of ethanol-blended petrol decreases emissions such as carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx),
- Since ethanol is produced from plants that harness the power of the sun, ethanol is also considered as renewable fuel.
- Most importantly, it will reduce India’s dependence on other countries for oil import.
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India is the world's third biggest oil importer and relies on foreign suppliers to meet more than 80% of its demand.
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