E20: Sustainability vs. Feasibility
The Government notified the National policy on Bio-fuels on June 4, 2018, under which it stated the target of 20% ethanol blending in petrol by 2030. However, the government achieved its target 5 years ahead of its time, which is in itself a commendable political achievement. It was stated with a view to make petrol eco-friendly, both economically and ecologically. Ecologically, in the sense, as ethanol is a cleaner fuel and emits less carbon emissions and economically, as in the sense, that India has to import approx. 90% of its crude oil from foreign nations and has to face major price hikes due to the volatile environment. Thus, to cut down that fuel dependency on foreign nations, India decided to move towards a more sustainable option – Ethanol, whose major feed stocks are – Maize, Rice and Sugarcane.
And this is where the food vs. fuel paradox comes into view. Earlier, India used to be a major supplier of corn and sugarcane and has historically been the world’s largest exporter of rice, accounting for roughly around 40% of the world’s supply. However, after E20, the tables have turned. India is now maintaining a strict cap on exports of rice and sugarcane by putting 50% export duty on rice; and the nation is now even forced to import 1-1.5 million tonnes of maize annually due to shortage of animal feed. THIS is the economic paradox! While India is saving foreign exchange by cutting down its imports of crude oil, it is also losing foreign exchange due to imports of maize and substantial cut of major exports of rice and sugarcane.
In addition to, there is another dimension to it. Around 80% of the petrol vehicles on Indian streets are not natively adaptable to E20, which is causing the abnormal wear & tear of the vehicle engines. This has caused massive public unrest as vehicles manufactured before 2023 are only adaptable to E5 or E10, which is also clearly stated in the user manuals of Audi Q3 and caution sticker of Mahindra Scorpio SUV. However, the Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has stated that the damage to the vehicles has nothing to do with E20. However, enough evidences have not been stated to back up his statement. Companies like Maruti and Toyota Motors have also not come forward to give an unequivocal statement.
Additionally, people are aggravated that they can’t get insurance for the damage to their vehicle engines due to E20, because as per the Insurance policy, only accidental damage could be indemnified and not the wear & tear due to fuel, which is termed as negligence on part of the user and leads to claim rejection as stated by the ICICI Lombard. However, this statement was later reversed and put to interpretation.
Moreover, this has led to an economic burden on the ultimate user as there is a drop in per drop fuel efficiency by 3 to 6% and up to 10% in older vehicles as ethanol is 33% less energy dense than gasoline. Also, the higher ethanol content leads to fuel residue build up in carburettors which reduce performance and require more frequent cleaning, thus increasing servicing costs. This has led to an indirect price hike for the customers.
Furthermore, there is another dimension which is quite often overlooked. Ethanol is in itself a cleaner fuel; however, its production process is not that much of ‘eco-friendly’. Producing just 1 litre of ethanol from sugarcane juice requires around 2860 litres of water. Additionally, the carbon footprints which are formed during its production process heavily cancels out a significant portion of the carbon emissions saved at the tailpipe emissions, which concludes that ethanol is that much of an ‘eco-friendly fuel’ that the government makes it look like.
Conclusively, Ethanol has a huge economic, energy and environmental costs. The possible solutions for a smooth transition to E20 could be – a) to initially provide it as an alternative choice for adaptable vehicles, b) to find ways of producing it through non-agricultural products, c) to provide cost incentive to consumers to shift to E20, d) to find strategies to minimise water consumption, e) to find eco-friendly ways to produce ethanol.
Till then, the question isn’t – “Is E20 a sustainable option or not?”
The question is – “Is it a feasible option or not?”
-Muskan
REFERENCES –
ICRIER Policy Brief – “Food vs. Fuel: Recalibrating India’s Ethanol Blending Strategy” by Dr. Ashok Gulati
NITI Aayog Official Report – “Roadmap for Ethanol Blending in India 2020-2025”
Reuters Investigation – “Backlash on ethanol-blend fuel intensifies in India”
BBC News Analysis – “E20 is adding ethanol to petrol – but many drivers are unhappy”
