With a view to achieve the target of 10 percent ethanol blending, Indian government is adopting policies to encourage investment in second generation biofuels that are made from lignocellulosic biomass such as woody crops, agricultural residues or waste, etc.
On February 11, 2016, while speaking at a seminar on ‘Lignocellulose to ethanol: Roadmap for India’ in New Delhi, aimed at accelerating the ethanol blending programme in the country, Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas said: There is a demand for ethanol for blending with petrol but there are technological and financial challenges which needs to be overcome. Molasses to ethanol conversion is already going on and the Government has taken up second generation of lignocelluloses to ethanol production to utilise agricultural residues/wastes, and achieve the target of 10 percent ethanol blending”.
Oil marketing companies have already invited bids for 120 crore litre of ethanol for blending in petrol for sugar year 2015-16 which would be 5 percent (approximately) of the country’s total petrol consumption.
“Ethanol blended petrol was introduced in 2003 but the process got impetus only in 2014-15 when new government took policy decisions to incentivise petrol blending. The government is committed for time bound execution of initiatives to introduce ethanol blended petrol and bio diesel in the country” informed Pradhan.
Listing out the benefits of using ethanol blended petrol, Pradhan said, “It will not only help in value addition for the farmer’s produce but will also reduce foreign exchange expenditure. Benefits of blended petrol will be in the form of employment generation, entrepreneurship promotion and environment protection”.
