By R. Sasankan

Domestically produced ethanol is a potential opportunity to reduce reliance on oil imports by blending it with conventional fossil fuels for consumption.

-The Ethanol Growth Story, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
(https://mopng.gov.in/files/Whatsnew/ethenol-groth-story.pdf)

The Fault In Our Ethanol Fuel Blends

Decision-making in India is often capricious and based on unfounded hypothesis.

Back in 2001, India started blending ethanol in petrol on a pilot basis. The ethanol came as a by-product during the process of making sugar out after crushing sugar cane. Ethanol blended petrol was launched in January 2003. Three years later, the government asked the public sector oil marketing companies to sell 5 per cent ethanol blended petrol (EBP) in 20 states and four Union territories.

"Even though the programme started early it faced multiple inherent challenges leading to slow adoption and growth. But the programme did not meet success," the ministry of petroleum and natural gas admits in a 48-page document on its website titled Ethanol Growth Story.

The EBP plan has jolted from one crisis to another, principally because of the problems in sourcing ethanol. A number of measures have been taken since to turn the programme into a viable proposition but it has continued to stutter. In 2018-19, the government allowed conversion of B heavy molasses, sugarcane juice and damaged food grain to ethanol. It even allowed differentiated pricing of ethanol based on the raw material utilised for its production.

The big surprise now is the plan to explore the possibility of blending ethanol in diesel as well - which will magnify the ethanol-sourcing problem considering the huge amount of diesel consumption in the country.

On August 12, the Indian media carried a news report stating that "the government is exploring a new initiative to blend 5% ethanol in diesel, following its progress towards 20% ethanol blending in petrol. With ethanol blending in petrol at 15%, further trials are necessary for diesel, especially for BS-VI vehicles, to ensure vehicle performance, emissions, and fuel efficiency".

The authenticity of this report cannot be doubted; the idea did emanate from the top echelons in government. Sources say that the government is quite sincere and serious in extending ethanol blending to diesel.

The haste with which the government seems to be pursuing this plan prompts me to ask the crucial question: has the government thought through the consequences of implementing a proposal that looks shaky and vulnerable.

Ethanol is an agro-based product, mainly produced from a by-product of the sugar industry, namely molasses. It is an acknowledged fact that in years of surplus production of sugarcane, when prices are depressed, the sugar industry is unable to make timely payments to sugarcane farmers.

This reality has to be kept in mind while examining the ethanol blending issue. Except for Dr Surya P. Sethi, most energy experts in the country are silent on this issue. Why can't we have a debate on this topic now, especially at a time when there is a growing perception in certain quarters that the government is trying to promote the interests of rich farmers who supply ethanol?

This is the right time for such as debate. Ethanol blending with petrol program, which has had a tormented history, touched 15.9 per cent for the first time in June. According to official figures, State-run Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) blended 637 million litres of ethanol with petrol in June to achieve an average blending of 15.9 per cent.

 As on July 1, only 14,476 PSU outlets out of the 81,963 PSU retail outlets - just over 17 per cent -- are dispensing E20 ethanol-blended petrol. The government has set a target of achieving 20 per cent ethanol blending by 2025.

The credit for this should go to the Modi government which has been consistently trying to promote the level of blending. Let us not forget the fact that Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme was launched 22 years ago, in 2003 to be precise. The blending percentage has consistently missed targets by a huge margin for many years.

This situation throws up several other questions on which there have never been satisfactory answers. What really prompted the government to launch the programme for blending ethanol with petrol? Was it to reduce the quantum of crude imports? The epigraph to this article - drawn from the Ethanol Growth Story - seems to suggest that this indeed was the raison d'etre for the programme. But before such a momentous decision was taken, shouldn't there have been a debate among energy pundits. The records do not show that such an extensive discussion on the plan ever took place.

I am not an expert on this issue. But as journalist covering the petroleum industry, I have been interacting with experts who question the enthusiasm with which successive governments at the Centre have embraced the idea of promoting ethanol-blended petrol.

The key question in my mind remains the energy balance of ethanol produced in India. A formal analysis will show that for sugarcane-based ethanol, a unit of ethanol contains less energy than the energy used to produce that unit of ethanol. This is definitely true in water-scarce states such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, old Andhra and Haryana. Initially, almost the total production of ethanol was sugarcane-based. This has now been reduced to 50 per cent.

Grain-based ethanol is a more recent development. It is possible that this is wasted or rotten grain that has no other use and, hence, the energy used in producing, transporting and storing the grain or its land-use impacts are excluded from considerations of calculating the energy balance. There was also talk of using sweet sorghum (a crop that requires less water and land) as an alternative to sugarcane in order to ensure a positive energy balance for ethanol in India.

It is this negative energy balance which raises deep concerns about the viability of the blending program and kindles the suspicion that this is just an effort to please a farmer vote bank. I do not subscribe to this view but cannot dismiss it as totally baseless either.

This brings us to the wisdom of extending the ethanol blending programme to diesel. It is true that blending ethanol with diesel reduces particulate emissions from diesel engines (up to 30% reduction for a 20% blend). But its impact on reducing carbon emissions is less clear. Further, it poses some technical issues including safety concerns.

Brazil is often touted as the most successful model in this sphere. My understanding is that Brazil has a program of blending bio-diesel with diesel and not ethanol. Brazil produces bio-diesel from soya bean. Even the US does not have a mandate yet for blending ethanol with diesel.

So, why are we so eager to embark on a perilous course without thinking this through?