India is advancing its commitment to a greater blending of ethanol in petrol to meet global sustainability targets and reduce the oil import bill. The Expert Committee report on the ‘Roadmap For Ethanol Blending In India 2020-25’ released by Niti Aayog and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoP&NG) details the path forward for accelerated use of blended ethanol fuels. The report suggests that MoP&NG should target nationwide adoption of 10% ethanol blending of petrol (E10) by April 2022. It also calls for a 20% blending of ethanol in petrol (E20) from April 2023 onwards.
The National Policy on Biofuels – 2018 (NPB–2018) notified the target to adopt E20 fuel by 2030, as laid out under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme. The date for E20 fuel adoption nationwide was advanced to 2025 by the government in November 2020. Along with the gradual rollout of E20 ethanol in the country, from April 2020, there would be pan-India availability of E10 fuels. BS-VI emission norms will be applicable for E20 vehicles, and standards have also been finalised for E5 (Ethanol 5%, Petrol 95%), E10 and E20 petrol.
The current level of average ethanol blending in India is 5% (Ethanol Supply Year 2019-20) and is planned to be increased to 10%. E10 fuels are available in India, but with an insufficient quantity; it makes up around 50% of the fuel sold at pumps while the remaining is E0. India’s net petroleum imports in 2020-2021 stood at 185 Mt, costing the exchequer INR 3,960,000 crore ($ 551 billion). Fossil fuels meet 98% of India’s road transportation and biofuels the rest. A successful E20 programme could result in savings to the tune of INR 30,000 crore ($4 billion) annually.
Regulations aiding the adoption of biofuels
Not only is ethanol less polluting, but India’s agricultural and industrial base can deliver surplus quantities of plant-based fuel. Keeping this in mind, clear government intent and policy decisions are driving change, with various agencies now moving rapidly to put in place a favourable regulatory and retail ecosystem for effective use of ethanol-blended petrol. In late June, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRT&H) issued a draft notification notifying mass emission standards for E12 & E15 fuels. MoRT&H announced on March 8 and May 25, respectively, to adopt E20 as automotive fuel and issued mass emission standards for it and safety standards for blended ethanol fuels based on Automotive Industry Standard (AIS 171). The safety standards laid down the requirements for type approval of pure ethanol, flex-fuel & ethanol-gasoline blended vehicles in India.
Some regulatory stipulations remain eased to provide a single-window service for setting new ethanol distilleries and easing the interstate movement of denatured ethanol. Other issues are related to the pricing of ethanol, matching the pace of the automobile industry to manufacture vehicles with new ethanol compatible engines, vehicle pricing and fuel efficiency. All these will need to be resolved before the successful rollout of blended ethanol fuels nationwide.
Speeding change
Calibration and certification standards for automotive engines operating on E20 fuel will be another area where clarity is needed. When using E20 to power 4-wheelers originally designed to run on E0 and calibrated for E10, there is an estimated fuel efficiency loss of 6-7%. The fuel efficiency loss for two-wheelers for the same standards is approximately 3-4%. However, for 4-wheelers designed to work with E10 and calibrated for E20, the fuel efficiency reduction is negligible at 1-2%. According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the impact of blended fuel on fuel efficiency can be reduced by hardware modifications and engine tuning. For the transition to E10 fuels, rubber and plastic engine components will also need to be fuel compatible.
Ethanol blending can increase the Research Octane Number (RON) of the fuel blend, fuel embedded oxygen and higher flame speed. However, the calorific value of ethanol is around 2/3rd of gasoline which means increased ethanol content will decrease the heating value of the ethanol-gasoline blend, requiring more fuel to achieve the same engine power output. This is offset by the ethanol’s higher octane number, which allows engines to be operated with a higher compression ratio (without knocking), thus increasing fuel efficiency. Ethanol also offers complete combustion within the engine and reduces vehicular emissions such as hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter.
Two/four-wheelers sold in India today are designed to run on petrol but can also be tuned to run on up to E5 depending on the vehicle type. However, with the target for the adoption of E20 now being advanced, vehicles will need to be made compatible and tuned for this fuel to meet BS-VI norms. SIAM has committed to gear up for the supply of compatible vehicles once MoP&NG issues the roadmap for the availability of ethanol-blended fuel. Tax incentives on E10 and E20 could also be considered to compensate customers for a drop in fuel efficiency using ethanol-blended fuels.
NB: Photo is representational.