Ethanol Blend: A big news is coming for the drivers across the country. Actually, the government is working towards implementing ‘supermarket-style choice’. Due to this, fuel stations can provide the option of petrol with different ethanol blends to the drivers, so that customers can choose the fuel based on the compatibility of their vehicle.

The Mint has informed in its report quoting sources that the government has advised oil companies to prepare dispensing infrastructure for E20, E22, E25 and E30 fuel variants. The move comes after the Bureau of Indian Standards promulgated rules for new ethanol blends and the government’s proposal in April to allow vehicles running solely on ethanol.

The government’s motive behind this

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is working rapidly towards implementing this rule. India has already achieved the target of 20% ethanol blending (E20) and now through this new policy, the government aims to increase the ethanol blending to 25% (E25) and 30% (E30) in the next 1-2 years (by 2027-2028). This will reduce India’s dependence on crude oil imports to a great extent. The more ethanol option is available at petrol pumps, the faster the oil import will decrease. This will save billions of dollars for the government.

Another advantage of this is that since ethanol is mainly made from sugarcane juice, corn and spoiled grains, when its demand increases at petrol pumps, the government will have to buy ethanol in huge quantities. This will directly benefit the farmers and sugar mills of the country. They will get the right price for their crops.

Benefits of ethanol

The biggest advantage of using ethanol is that it releases less harmful gases like carbon monoxide compared to petrol. Due to this, the government has also instructed the automobile companies to make such engines for cars and two-wheeler vehicles, which can handle fuel above E20 i.e. E25, E27 and E30 without any malfunction.

This step of using ethanol on a large scale will prove to be a game changer in the direction of reducing pollution in cities. However, this will still require investment in separate dispensing systems, storage infrastructure, blending controls and fuel quality monitoring mechanisms. Speaking to Mint, a source said, “The information about ethanol-blending petrol sold at fuel stations will have to be clearly displayed on the dispensing pumps, so that customers can easily identify which fuel they are buying. Retail outlets will have to label different types of fuel.”

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