KEEPING UP WITH BRAZIL

If India wants to become a biofuel superpower like Brazil, it needs to get its ethanol 2.0 policies right

- S DINAKAR

Ethanol-a combination of two carE bon, six hydrogen, and one oxygen atoms is arguably India's favourite. When blended with fermented grapes or barley, it drives your spirits higher; when mixed with petrol, it powers your Dzire or Innova.

Along the way, over the last decade, the fuel has cleaned the air, saved ₹1.1 trillion in foreign exchange by substituting imported crude oil, and created a new revenue stream for farmers, the government says. The fuel has also saved 50 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in emissions in the decade to 2024.

But it has been a somewhat rough ride for distillers and investors. A new policy to expand ethanol use intends to alleviate the bumps, with the government hearing out the industry.

India's top oil official told Business Standard recently that an inter-ministerial committee will discuss taking ethanol forward- beyond a 2025 blending target.

"Beyond 20 per cent, what are the hard constraints we should factor in" to "increase the share of ethanol in the blending mix?" said Petroleum Secretary Pankaj Jain at the Global Biofuel Alliance's pavilion in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The committee will evaluate feedstock, costs, weather, and food securitybefore setting a new blending target and paving appropriate pathways for getting there.

In Brazil's footsteps

Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme 2.0 is essential because the International Energy Agency forecasts India to be the biggest contributor to global oil demand in the years ahead, even as the country houses some of the world's most polluted cities. Nearly all the crude oil is imported. That makes ethanol attractive from the perspective of energy security and emission mitigation, and it enhances farmers' incomes.