Ethanol Blended Fuel in India: An Overview: July 2010

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Ethanol Blended Fuel in India: An Overview
Article · July 2010

DOI: 10.5958/j.0976-3015.1.2.026
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Journal of Biofuels Vol.1 No.2, July - December, 2010 pp.209-219
Mahesh K. Saini, Neelima Garg, Anil K. Singh, Ajay K. Tyagi, Utpal K. Niyogi and
Rakesh K. Khandal*
Shriram Institute for Industrial Research, 19 University Road, Delhi, India
*Email ID: rkhandal@shriraminstitute.org
ABSTRACT
Ethanol produced from renewable resources is being considered globally as the most prominent and possible
substitute for fossil fuel. It is being produced by fermentation of raw materials obtained from various renewable
resources like Sugarcane, Corn and Sweet Sorghum all over the world. Ethanol is mainly blended with gasoline
in different ratios and commonly known as ‘Gasohol’. This special use has escalated the global production of
ethanol by 85% in 2006 from 2002. Oil embargo of 1973 forced Brazil to initiate and implement the Bio-ethanol
for mandatory use in automotive fuel upto the extent of 100%. For this to happen, the flexi-fuel vehicles were also
introduced that can run both on petrol and E100 (Bio-ethanol). Other countries like US, Europe and India followed
this successful model to achieve the objectives of self reliance in fuel. At present in India ethanol is blended @ 5%
in petrol. Ethanol in fuel increases its oxygen content and has replaced the use of MTBE and ETBE. Various
studies conducted all over the world have revealed that ethanol blending in petrol at different ratios has remarkably
reduced the emission of GHG from vehicles. Ethanol has also been used along with diesel, but comparatively
ethanol blended petrol is more acceptable than with diesel because later requires the admixture of surfactants to
keep the blend stable, which increases the cost of the fuel. Even, having so much benefits of ethanol blending, its
use is limited by various technical factors like, degradation of non-metallic components of engine, decrease in
fuel lubricity, viscosity and calorific value of the fuel, etc. The other Non-technical factors also plays major role,
which are elaborately discussed in this paper. Government of India in the year 2002 issued the first national
Biofuel policy, in order to use bio-ethanol and bio-diesel as a fuel for transport. However, certain factors hindered
the successful execution of ethanol use as a transport fuel. This paper present the studies conducted to find out
the reasons for limited success of especially ethanol blended fuel in India. The outcome of this study would serve
as the base reference for the policy makers to devise strategies to achieve the indicative target of recent Biofuel
Policy released on September 11, 2008 mandating 20 % blending of biofuels by 2017.
Keywords: MTBE, ETBE, GHG, Gasohol, Flexi-Fuel

1. INTRODUCTION
Inflating crude oil prices, specifically in the recent times, have been responsible for forcing various developed
as well as developing nations to devise plans and policies so that the fuel from alternative and renewable
resources become a reality. As a result, action plans are being formulated by every country across the
globe, including India, to develop and use biofuels in transportation sector. Through out the world, ethanol
and biodiesel are already being blended in different ratios in transportation fuel of petroleum origin as eco-
friendly and sustainable alternative. For the first time, Brazil started with blending of 5% ethanol in petrol
and called it as ‘Gasohol’ [1]. Later on, US termed Gasohol as fuel with the 10% blend of ethanol in
petrol.
Now, in Brazil, for transport fuel, the average blend ratio of ethanol with petrol has been increased up to
25 %, which is known as E25. Infact in Brazil, 100% of ethanol called as E100 is also being popularly
used. Flexi-fuel vehicles to run on fuel with varying percentage of ethanol ranging from 0 % ethanol which
Indianjournals.com 209
is pure petrol i.e. E0 and 100 % or pure ethanol i.e. E100 are also common in Brazil. EU started blending
ethanol at 2 % of the transportation fuel, which will be increase to 5.75 % by 2010 [2]. In China, since
2001, use of denatured fuel ethanol and ethanol-petrol blend in motor vehicle is allowed as a result of
which blending of 10% of ethanol in petrol has already become a practice. [3]
In India, blending of ethanol to the extent of 5% in petrol was made mandatory in 2002. The policy came
into effect to raise the blending amount to 10% by the year 2008 which could not to implemented due to
several issues that need to be studied, analyzed and understood. The objective of the present study is to
review the present and past experiences of ethanol blending in petrol and diesel in India. The study also
reveals the possible effects or impacts of blending ethanol at different percentage levels on quality of
environment.
2. BIOFUEL POLICY OF INDIA: GENESIS OF ETHANOL BLENDING IN INDIA
In 1977, six technical committees and four study groups were set up to examine the issue of blending of
ethanol in petrol [4]. However, the findings of all the studies came into limelight only in the year 2000,
when the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas took up the pilot project in three locations of Maharashtra
and Uttar Pradesh to study the blending potential of ethanol in petrol and in diesel. These projects were
implemented during the year 2001 at Miraj and Manmad in Maharashtra and Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh.
Under these projects, ethanol blended petrol was sold through 300 retail outlets. During the year 2002, six
more such projects were commissioned in Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. Simultaneously,
Research and Development studies were also carried out on the effect of ethanol blended petrol on
automobiles. After successful trials of pilot projects and the recommendations of Research and Development
studies, Government of India proposed to implement this program to sell petroleum fuel blended with 5 %
ethanol from January 2003 in nine states and four union territories. The combined demand was estimated
to be 363 million litre/ year, whereas the oil companies could only purchase 196 million litre of ethanol.
Difficulties in ethanol procurement were reported in the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh
and Karnataka. The required demand of ethanol for blending with petrol could not be achieved due to
several factors, which are highlighted in this paper.
2.1. FACTORS AFFECTING THE BIOFUEL POLICY AND EXPERIENCES SO FAR
Before discussing further on the Biofuel policy of India, it will be worthwhile to have a look at the following
facts, which directly and indirectly influence the implementation of Biofuel policy of ethanol blending in
petrol.
A) SHORTAGE OF ETHANOL SUPPLY FOR BLENDING
During the year 2003-2004, the total ethanol production of 1280 million litre was achieved in India, whereas,
the consumption figure was recorded as 1283 million litre. Out of the total consumption, 51% is preferably
used for potable purpose [5] mainly because of high revenue generation by ethanol producing states [6].
The second major share of consumption i.e. 43 % is used for industrial purposes. In chemical industries,
it is used as the basic raw material for the synthesis of acetic acid, acid anhydride, acetaldehyde and the
highly versatile and value added chemical called ethylene oxide which is utilized for the production of a
whole range of products called surfactants. Besides, ethanol is an industrially important solvent and base
material for various other organic chemicals. The balance 6% of ethanol produced for the year (about 76
million litre) was used for Ethanol Blending Program (EBP) and the rest 120 million litre of ethanol was
made available by the distilleries as a carryover quantity of previous year. In view of the shortage in supply
of ethanol from distilleries for Ethanol Blending Program (EBP) for transport fuel, the Government of
Vol 1, No. 2, July - December, 2010 210

Mahesh K. Saini, Neelima Garg, Anil K. Singh, Ajay K. Tyagi, Utpal K. Niyogi and Rakesh K. Khandal
India decided to implement 5% ethanol blending only in four states - Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab
and Uttar Pradesh from January 2003. The other five states -Gujarat, Haryana, Goa, Karnataka and Tamil
Nadu and four union territories- Daman and Diu, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Pondicherry
were to be covered in future depending on the availability of the ethanol for 5% blending in petrol. [7]
During the present study, the data were collected from various distilleries located in different parts of the
country. Almost 90% of the ethanol producer were covered by having first hand opinion about the subject,
in addition to compile the data base about the production capacities (Installed as well as operational) in the
country. The present requirement of ethanol in various sectors of applications like potable, industrial and
transport was worked out, by having the interactions with the user industries (mainly the prominent ones
viz. M/s Jubilant Organosys, M/s India Glycols, M/s Reliance Industries) as well as with various associations.
From the study, certain interesting facts have emerged;
(i) The data about the availability of the resources i.e. molasses for the production of ethanol vary
drastically depending upon the mandate and the interests of the agencies having such data for example,
for the year 2006-07, India Sugar Mills Associations (ISMA) has one figure of 12.98 million ton which
is different from the data available from All India Distillers Association (AIDA) i.e. 11.36 million ton,
the data collected from the sources like Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Department of Excise
etc. were also found to be in great variance.
This is an important aspect that needs to be authenticated immediately without any further delay to
be able to make the biofuel policy practically implementable without any problem
(ii) The figures on available quantities of ethanol for various outlets is also not as straight forward as one
would expect it to be; Different stakeholders like producers of molasses, ethanol and ethanol based
chemicals have different views for different sources about availability of ethanol depending upon the
interest of a given sector.
(iii) The two essential players for success of EBP i.e. suppliers of ethanol and the producers of petrol
appear to have poor co-ordination and claim differently about ethanol demand and supply gap. This
should be taken as the point of reference to correct the wrongs in the path of EBP in India.
(iv) Due to cyclic nature of sugarcane production, sugar availability varies and in almost every third or
fourth year shortfall is experienced. In meeting demand of domestic sugar consumption during these
lean years, the surplus sugarcane would not be available for direct conversion of sugarcane juice to
ethanol by distilleries. This is one of the most critical aspects which, policy makers must keep in
mind while making any decision concerning direct ethanol production from sugarcane juice.
All the above findings would require to be reviewed thoroughly to identify the success or risk factors of
EBP.
B) FALL IN SUGARCANE PRODUCTION
In India, ethanol is mainly produced by the fermentation of molasses, which is a by-product of sugar
producing industries using sugarcane as a raw material and hence the availability of molasses is directly
linked to the production of sugarcane crop and thus to ethanol. Table 1 shows the sugarcane, molasses
and ethanol production from the year 2002 to 2007.
Journal of Biofuels 211

Table 1: Production of Sugarcane, Molasses and Ethanol in India [7,8]

Year Sugarcane (metric ton) Molasses (metric ton) Ethanol (million litre)
2002-2003 287.4 7.68 1316.02
2003-2004 233.9 5.36 1280.51
2004-2005 237.1 5.56 1130.53
2005-2006 281.2 8.44 1574.88
2006-2007 355.5 12.55 2393.30
During the year 2003-04 and 2004-05, there was a significant drop in the sugarcane production, which
affected directly the availability of molasses required to produce ethanol. Therefore, to fulfill the domestic
needs, India had to import molasses and ethanol during these years and thus due to the non-availability of
feedstock resulting in variation in ethanol price and thus, the ethanol-blending program could not be
implemented successfully and finally suspended in Nov-2004.
C) PRICING OF ETHANOL
During the year 2004, pricing became a major constraint in selling of bio-ethanol blended petrol in India.
The ethanol industry originally claimed that it could provide ethanol at Rs. 19 per litre, which was less
than that of MTBE, which was costing Rs. 24-26 per litre. The oil marketing companies (OMCs), however,
were seeking parity between the price of ethanol and petrol on an ex-refinery basis. Implementation of
the Central Excise duty exemption for ethanol was delayed until February 2003 due to the opposition from
the chemical industry in the fear of higher prices and shortage of ethanol. So in June 2003, issue of ethanol
pricing got complicated due to differences in excise duty and sales tax across different states, which still
persists. Moreover, ethanol production cost in a particular year depends on the availability of molasses in
that year and if it is in short supply then prices of molasses shoots up even upto Rs. 7000/-per ton leading
to rise in cost of ethanol production and accordingly the base price, during that period.
During present study, while interacting with various stakeholders who would be responsible for the success
of EBP in India, following facts emerged:
(i) The price of ethanol is determined by the degree of value addition for the user industries of ethanol
for example, if the industrial chemicals derived from the petroleum resources become expensive, then
the industries would be eager to adopt the ethanol-route for producing these chemicals. The use of
ethanol to produce ethylene oxide followed by a whole range of surfactants demonstrates one of the
most appropriate cases of industrial application of ethanol. Before 2002, the production of ethylene
oxide from ethanol was commercially viable to a limited extent as compared with the petroleum route;
however, this has changed a lot during the last couple of years. The rise in the prices of crude oil has
changed the scenario more in favour of ethanol route of production of industrial chemicals. As a result,
the industrial uses of ethanol have been growing up that is leading to the rise in the ethanol prices.
The EBP would thus be affected adversely because the higher ethanol price would not be acceptable
to the petrol marketing companies.
(ii) Sugar industries and the distilleries have their own issues related to the pricing policy of ethanol as
well as molasses. The competition between the potable use and industrial use of ethanol further
complicates the situation related to the availability of ethanol at an acceptable price. Thus, the main

issue is the acceptable price; what is acceptable to the suppliers of the petrol must also be amenable
to the ethanol producers.
(iii) Unless the factors affecting the pricing of ethanol are not sorted out jointly and in an amicable manner
to ensure sustainable supply season after season. The EBP in India would always be a doubtful starter.
Thus, for any policy to be framed for EBP, this must be kept in mind.
D) PRODUCTION CAPACITY OF ETHANOL AND ITS UTILIZATION
For availability of ethanol as per the requirement of EBP and at a price viable for the success of EBP in
India, it is essential that the following aspects should be assessed thoroughly:
(i) Installed capacity vis-à-vis Operational capacity for production of sugar
(ii) Installed capacity vis-à-vis Operational capacity of ethanol production
(iii) Installed capacity vis-à-vis Operational capacity of anhydrous ethanol production
(iv) Areas under the cultivation of Sugarcane in different states.
During the study conducted by the authors, it became evident that the process of production of ethanol
from molasses (a by-product from the sugar industry) has been well established. The whole chain starting
from the sugarcane production to alcohol production including the production of sugar and molasses has
been in existence for years and the efficiencies at each level can be considered at par with the best in the
world. However, the existing capabilities appear to be falling short of the requirement of ethanol necessary
to meet the demand of EBP in India. Here are a few notable points to ponder over for policy makers:
a) The installed capacity of 1306 million liter per year [5] of production of dehydrated ethanol from the
hydrated alcohol (95% by volume in water) is much more than the operational capacity. This means
that as far as the conversion of the ethanol into dehydrated ethanol for EBP is concerned, there exists
sufficient capacity in the country. Why the capacity remains under utilized is the question that needs
to be addressed. This capacity utilization would be possible only when the distilleries dedicate their
production to EBP instead of giving it to potable or industrial uses.
b) The capacity generation of 12 million MT/ year of molasses [8] suffices the requirement of distilleries
for all outlets of ethanol including EBP. However, the availability of molasses falls short of the demand
not due to the lack of capacity of production but due to the profitability of sugar industries
c) An assessment of the available cultivable land that can be brought under cultivation of sugarcane in
India brings out the fact that there is hardly any possibility of growth as far as the production of
sugarcane is concerned. Taking the food security into account, any change in the land use pattern
would adversely affect the availability of food and hence would not be advisable.
d) The other possibility of increasing the availability of ethanol is by way of directly converting sugarcane
juice into ethanol like it is done extensively in Brazil. The option, however, does not appear commercially
attractive besides the fact that it would affect sugar production. Therefore, to restrict the excessive
diversion of sugarcane for direct conversion into ethanol, the notification issued by the Govt. of India
[9] clearly limits conversion of sugarcane juice to ethanol in the hands of integrated units which are
having crushing facility for sugar manufacturing. As per the notification, no standalone distillery in
India can directly convert sugarcane juice to ethanol.

e) Importing ethanol instead of crude oil to meet the requirement is another way out, but this is also not
commercially attractive preposition even with the prevailing high price of crude.
3. PRESENT STATUS OF EXPERIENCES SO FAR
Due to rise in sugarcane production in the year 2005-06, ethanol industry has revived with a total ethanol
output of 2187 million litre, out of which, 1365 million litre were used in potable and industrial use and 742
million litre was available for blending with petrol. Consequently, in September 2006, oil-marketing companies
were directed by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to sell 5% ethanol blended petrol in 20 states
viz. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand,
Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh,
Uttaranchal and West Bengal and four union territories, Daman and Diu, Dadar and Nagar Haveli,
Chandigarh and Pondicherry.
The requirement of ethanol by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) for a period of 3 years (2006-2009)
was estimated to be 1800 million litre, out of which OMCs were able to contract only 1404 million litre
(78 % of requirement) by bidding process through a tender. However, total ethanol procured as on April
2008 by OMCs was only 322 million litre, which constitutes 23 % of total contracted quantity and just
17 % of total required ethanol for 5 % blending in petrol. In the next phase, supply of 5% ethanol blended
petrol is to be extended to the whole country.
On successful implementation of above ethanol blending program (EBP), there was a plan to increase
ethanol blending from 5% to 10% by the end of year 2008. However, due to unavailability of ethanol under
the tagged price of Rs 21.50/-per litre as well as the concerns raised by automotive associations about the
compatibility of engine parts with 10% ethanol blended petrol, the plan was deferred by Government of
India. Moreover, the Ethanol Blending Program (EBP) is not being made mandatory and allowed OMCs
to relate blending with the availability of anhydrous ethanol. In recent National Biofuel Policy – 2008 minimum
purchase price (MPP) of bioethanol for (OMCs) would be based on the actual cost of production and
import price of thanol.
4. ETHANOL BLENDED DIESEL
In view of the fact that 80% the of transport fuel consumed in India is diesel, the Government of India is
planning to promote ethanol-blended diesel, if found technically feasible under Indian climatic conditions.
At present, the Research and Development work on several trial projects [10] of using ethanol blended
diesel as transport fuel is in advanced stage of completion. Similarly, trials are also under way to establish
the sustainability of bio-diesel as an alternative fuel derived from renewable resources.
4.1. IMPACT OF ETHANOL BLENDING ON ENVIRONMENT
Ethanol blended with petrol and diesel would act as an oxygenator, which is more sustainable, and
environment friendly as compared to MTBE (Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether) and ETBE (Ethyl Tertiary Butyl
Ether) [12]. Several studies conducted by various researchers also support ethanol as a more feasible and
eco-friendly option for blending in both petrol and diesel as an oxygenator than the existing oxygenators in
use. Since, the impact on environment of any new activity be studied thoroughly it would be essential to
have a look at the studies done so far on ethanol blending into petrol and diesel as transportation fuel.

5. EMISSION STUDIES
5.1 Ethanol-Petrol Blend
Ethanol introduces more oxygen to the fuel mixture and thus it is expected to have an improvement in the
efficiency of combustion. However, it is required to establish and authenticate this with necessary data
based on scientific studies on emissions of vehicle (and other engines) as well as based on the life cycle
analysis of the fuel. The studies conducted world over on this aspect of fuels blending with ethanol indicates
that:
 In most of the cases a Gasohol containing 10% anhydrous ethanol and 90% petrol E10 generally
produced tail pipe emissions with lower content of total hydrocarbon (T.H.C) and carbon monoxide
(CO) than what was produced by the neat petrol [13]. Introduction of Ethanol as a fuel in Brazil, CO
emission from automobiles decreased from 50 g/Km to 5.8 g/Km
 Use of E10 caused substantial increase in emissions of acetaldehyde with levels increasing by about
100-200% and in some cases upto by 700% [14]. However, other study indicated emissions of aldehydes
as lower with E10, but higher with E15 [15]. Acetaldehyde is a less hazardous compound as compared
to formaldehyde produced from the petrol or E0. [16,17]. It is also a precursor of PAN (Peroxy Acetyl
Nitrate) a respiratory irritant with acute toxicity, and a known plant toxin. Thus, use of ethanol reduces
the hazards involved due to emissions of petrol or E0.
 In E10 fuel, it was found to have reduction in 1,3 butadiene, benzene, toluene and xylene emission
with slight increase in ethanol, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde emission level even in the presence of
catalytic converter [18].
 Tests on the emission of a two-stroke chain saw engine using E15 fuel confirmed a slight increase in
T.H.C and CO [19]. Surprisingly, test of two stroke and four stroke outboard engines with E20 fuel
exhibited lower hydrocarbons and CO, but higher NOx especially four-stroke engine [11].
[11, 20].
Emissions studies conducted with reference to the content of Green House Gases (G.H.G) in emission,
showed significant reduction in G.H.G depending upon the percentage of blending [21] as summarized in
Table 2.
Table 2: G.H.G emission of fuel-blends with varying percentage of ethanol
Blend G.H.G emission (in Kg. / liter) G.H.G reduction (%) as compared to E0
E0 2.3 0% *
E10 2.27-2.18 1-5%
E20 2.25-2.04 2-11%
E85 or E100 1.86-0.69 19-70%
*G.H.G emission of vehicles mainly consist of CO 2 @ 94-95% and rest 5-6% consist of other G.H.G like CH 4, N 2 O and HFC’s,
1 liter of petrol releases 2.3 Kg of CO 2 out of total 2.4 Kg of GHG[29].

Theoretically, net CO2 produced by burning a biofuel like ethanol is zero [22]. The CO2 produced/emitted
during the combustion of ethanol as a fuel is absorbed by the biofuel producing plants during photosynthesis
as illustrated in equations given below:
a) Photosynthesis
6 CO2 + 6 H2O  C6H12O6 + 6O2
b) Hydrolysis and Fermentation
C6H12O6 + 3 H2O  3C2H5OH + 3 O2
c) Combustion of Ethanol
3C2H5OH + O2  6 CO2 + 9 H2O
However, practical Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of various automotive fuels showed less CO2 emissions in
case of biofuels, ethanol and biodiesel, as compare to other conventional fuels. Figure 1 shows the values
of CO2 emissions from various fuels.
250
CO2 Emission (g/Kg.)
200
150
100
50
0
Gasoline Diesel CNG Ethanol Biodies el
Figure 1: CO2 emissions of different automotive fuels [23]
Even though there are several advantages of blending ethanol with petrol, the only disadvantage is the
high vapour pressure of ethanol. Some of the major drawbacks are as summarized below.
 In addition to tail pipe emissions, losses due to evaporation of the fuel are the major concerns. E10
and E20 blends have higher Reid Vapour Pressure (RVP) than E0. Temperature above 16°C increases
losses due to evaporation by 20-80% compared with the case of E0.
 A study conducted in the year 2001 on ambient air at Sao Paulo, Brazil, showed that the levels of
ethanol in ambient air were 23-78 times higher than those observed in Los Angeles, Similarly, the levels
of propanol and various n-aldehydes (butanal to nonanal) were about 10 times higher [24] in Sao Paulo
than in Los Angeles.
5.2 Ethanol-Diesel Blend
Using blend of ethanol and diesel resulted in the substantial reduction in particulate matter (PM). Increased
oxygen content, due to the presence of ethanol certainly affected the quality of exhaust emission. The
effect on emission of CO, total hydrocarbon (THC), and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) are less clear [25]. A
summary of the emission tests performed on blends of ethanol and diesel [25-27] is presented in Table 3
which is showing a consistent reduction in PM, NOx and CO.

Table 3: Quality of emission of 10% and 15% ethanol-diesel blends

Test fuel (%vol.)
Ethanol 10 15 10 15
a a b
Additive 2.35 PEC 2.35 PEC 2 GE 2 GEb
Diesel 87.65 82.65 88 83
Avg. percentage emissions of blend w.r.t. reference fuel (i.e. Diesel)
PM 73 59 27-159 25-157
NOx 96 95 80-125 40-125
CO 80 73 - -
THC 171 210 - -
PECa––Pure Energy Corporation additive.

GEb ––GE Betz additive.
Percentage fraction of ethanol added in diesel is directly proportional to reduction in sulfur content (SO2)
in emissions [28].
6. CONCLUSION
Ethanol blended petrol and diesel have enormous growth potential in India for use as fuels in transport
sector. Apart from lucrative promises of ethanol as an alternate fuel, it provides cleaner and greener
environment and less dependency on import of crude oil. In order to implement ethanol blending program
(EBP) throughout the country, all the concerned stakeholders i.e policy makers, regulators, producers and
OMCs must agree on the point that while allocating ethanol as transport fuel we should not neglect its
huge demand in chemical industries and its revenue potential in potable sector. Distilleries in India are not
lagging behind in technology as well as capacity to produce the required ethanol to meet its demand in
India, instead they struggles between the availability of raw material i.e. molasses and assured market for
its product i.e. ethanol for fuel at right price. In addition, the present purchasing mechanism of ethanol by
OMCs discourage distilleries to supply their product on lower bid price. Infact, the price of ethanol is
fixed and relate to ex-works price of petrol, which are having different route of origin and thus based on
all together different feed stocks, molasses for ethanol and petroleum crude for petrol. Thus, the price
correlation of ethanol with petrol can never be acceptable on sustainable basis neither for supplier nor for
purchaser.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors are highly indebted to Shriram Institute for Industrial Research (SRI) for giving an opportunity
to work the project of Biofuel sponsored by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). We are
also thankful to the Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Chemical and Petrochemicals, All India Distillers
Association for providing us required data and information.
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Ethanol Blended Fuel in India: An Overview

Article · July 2010

Mahesh Saini ANIL KUMAR SINGH

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Journal of Biofuels Vol.1 No.2, July - December, 2010 pp.209-219

Ethanol Blended Fuel in India: An Overview

Keywords: MTBE, ETBE, GHG, Gasohol, Flexi-Fuel

Ethanol Blended Fuel in India: An Overview

Vol 1, No. 2, July - December, 2010 210

Journal of Biofuels 211

Ethanol Blended Fuel in India: An Overview

Table 1: Production of Sugarcane, Molasses and Ethanol in India [7,8]

Vol 1, No. 2, July - December, 2010 212

Journal of Biofuels 213

Ethanol Blended Fuel in India: An Overview

Vol 1, No. 2, July - December, 2010 214

Journal of Biofuels 215

Ethanol Blended Fuel in India: An Overview

Figure 1: CO2 emissions of different automotive fuels [23]

Vol 1, No. 2, July - December, 2010 216

Table 3: Quality of emission of 10% and 15% ethanol-diesel blends

PECa––Pure Energy Corporation additive.

Journal of Biofuels 217

Ethanol Blended Fuel in India: An Overview

Vol 1, No. 2, July - December, 2010 218

REFERENCES 20 MISSING FOR TEXT MENTIONED

Journal of Biofuels 219

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