With ethanol sector making significant progress, industry experts are now focusing on utilising surplus ethanol for producing isobutanol.
During The India Sugar & Bio-Energy Conference, currently underway in New Delhi and organized by the Indian Sugar & Bio-Energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA), Dr. Reji Mathai, Director of the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), said, “Surplus ethanol can be used to produce Isobutanol, which can be blended with diesel. This will help in using surplus ethanol and also check pollution.”
Yesterday, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, while addressing the conference, emphasised that India is working on a plan to blend diesel with isobutanol, following unsatisfactory results from initial ethanol–diesel trials. He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to expanding biofuel adoption as part of its broader clean energy strategy and efforts to enhance farmers’ income.
Panels speaking on the session Decarbonisation of road transport with ethanol shared their perspectives:
Anoop Bhat, Executive Officer, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, said, “Flex-fuel vehicles, if promoted, can help utilize excess ethanol without impacting the existing fleet of vehicles.”
Aditya Jhunjhunwala, MD, KM Sugar Mills Ltd, stated that there is a need for a roadmap beyond E20, which will help producers gain clarity.
Vedang Pittie, Executive, Harinagar Sugar Mills, said there is a need to increase ethanol production from molasses. “We should increase ethanol blending to E30 in a phased manner. The current controversy regarding E20 is just a roadblock. Brazil is a case in point of how well the programme is working.”
Sanjay Desai of Regreen Excel said that India will soon become a low-cost ethanol producer.
P.S. Ravi, Director (Downstream) at the Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry, said, “To determine the price of FFVs, we need to develop a marker. For that, the market has to mature.”
