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Flex fuel policy of government to curb pollution worries automakers

India can soon expect a policy on flexible-fuel cars, cars that can run on bio-ethanol and petrol, or a blend of both.

The move to flex-fuels will decrease pollution and encourage a diversion in the sugar industry’s output away from sugar and towards ethanol.

Biofuel production would help farmers by supporting the diversification of agriculture into energy, power and bio-plastics.

Flexible-fuel vehicle:

A flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV) or dual-fuel vehicle (called a flex-fuel vehicle) is an alternative fuel vehicle with an internal combustion engine designed to run on more than one fuel, usually gasoline blended with either ethanol or methanol fuel, and both fuels are stored in the same common tank.

Flex-fuel vehicles are distinguished from bi-fuel vehicles, where two fuels are stored in separate tanks and the engine runs on one fuel at a time, for example, compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), or hydrogen.

The most common commercially available FFV in the world market is the ethanol flexible-fuel vehicle.

Flex-fuels are widely used in several countries,Brazil (29.5 million by mid 2015), the United States (17.4 million by the end of 2014), Canada (more than 600,000), and Europe, led by Sweden (243,100).

Impacts:

  • A policy on flex-fuel vehicles is likely to affect the automotive industry in several ways.

  • Policy will give manufacturers who are already in flex-fuel markets an advantage over indigenous producers.

  • A regular vehicle not especially made for biofuels could run on these fuels for a few years, this is not a feasible strategy in the medium to long-term for several reasons.

  • Ethanol, unlike petrol, is prone to oxidation and this can cause gum-like sediments to accumulate in various engine parts.

  • Ethanol also reacts with other materials in the car, such as rubber, and this causes degradation.

  • If flex fuels are to be rolled out, engines will have to be built for them and this will mean an additional variant for manufacturers’ production plants.

  • The most obvious and reliable source of bio-ethanol in India is sugarcane. The world’s second largest sugar market, India produces some Rs.800 billion of sugar and supports approximately 40 million people.

  • Ethanol Blending Policy mandates five per cent blending of ethanol with petrol, though in reality the average ethanol blending achieved has been just two per cent. The government wishes to achieve 10 per cent blending.

  • The sugar industry has an excess supply problem and consequently sugar prices are depressed. Mills are mired in debt to cane farmers.

  • They are cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels.

  • An increase in bio-ethanol production has also raised concerns about food security, farmers’ livelihoods and the environment, including water usage.

Sugarcane farms constitute 6 per cent of land use but consume 70 per cent of the irrigation water in the State.

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