Indian driving of biofuels saves billions but also causes concerns

India’s desire to mix more biofuels with gasoline has helped the country reduce millions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions and save precious reserves in dollars.

But it has also caused concerns among vehicle owners and food policy experts about its potential impact on combustion and food security.

Last month, India achieved its goal of mixing 20% ​​ethanol with oil known as the E20, five years ahead of its goal.

The government views this as a change of game to reduce carbon emissions and import oil pruning. Since 2014, the mixing of ethanol has helped India reduce 69.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and save $ 1.36 trillion ($ 1.5 billion; $ 1.1 billion) in currency.

A study of Delhi -based advice on cerebral energy, environment and water (CEEW) tuft (CEEW) shows that Carbon dioxide emissions From road transport in India it will almost double by 2050.

“Fuel demand will only increase and the transition to gasoline gasoline mixed with ethanol is absolutely necessary to reduce emissions,” said Sandeep Theng of the Green Energy Indian Federation, an organization that promotes Green Energy over the BBC.

But many vehicles in India are not compatible with E20, which makes its owners skeptical of the benefits of politics.

Hormazd Sorabjee, editor of Autocar India magazine, said that ethanol has “a lower energy density than gasoline and is more corrosive”. This leads to a lower mileage and exposes certain parts of the vehicle to a greater risk of wear.

G -n Sorabjee added that some manufacturers, like Honda, have been using E20 -compatible 2009 materials, but much more Indian vehicles are not compatible with E20.

Although there is no official data on E20 fuel impact on engines, users regularly share anecdotes about the deteriorating mileage of their car on social media.

Many standard insurance policies in India also do not provide damage coverage due to the use of non -compliant fuel, the top CEO of the online insurance platform Policybazaar, which wanted to remain anonymous in front of the BBC.

“Consumers have to take supplements policies, but even these claims can be denied or reduced based on a fine policy print,” he added.

The Federal Ministry of Petroleum has described these concerns as “to a large extent unfounded”.

In a publication by the X, the ministry said that the engine settings and the E20 -compatible materials can minimize the drop in mileage. He also advised to replace certain parts in the older vehicles, saying that the process is cheap and “easy to do during regular service of the vehicle.”

D -Sorabjee told the BBC that although Milage’s concerns are real, they are “not always as bad as they are made to be.”

The greater care, he said, was the potential damage to the materials of vehicles due to the corrosive properties of E20.

Some vehicle manufacturers offer ways to mitigate this.

Maruti Suzuki is reported, the largest four-wheel manufacturer in India is likely to submit E20 Material Kit This could cost up to 6,000 rupees ($ 69; £ 51). The kit has been reported to replace components such as fuel lines, seals and seals. Bajaj, a leading Indian producer of two wheels, advised the use of a Fuel cleaning This can cost about 100 rupees ($ 1.15; £ 0.85) for a full tank with gasoline.

But not all vehicle owners are convinced. Amit Pandy, who owns a Maruti Suzuki car in Delhi in 2017, is unhappy that gasoline pumps do not offer the choice to choose a mixture other than E20.

“Why should I be forced to buy gasoline, which offers a little mileage and then spend more to make compatible materials?” he asked.

In 2021, a document on the transition of India to E20, published by Niti Aayog, a cerebral tank, emphasized some of these problems. He recommended tax breaks for the purchase of E20 vehicles, together with a lower retail price for the fuel.

The government defended its decision not to submit the recommendations, stating that at the time of returning the report, ethanol was more cheaper than gasoline.

“Over time The Ministry of Petroleum said earlier this monthS

This is not only consumers – the mixed impulse of the government of the government has also caused concern among climate researchers and food policy experts.

Ethanol is produced from crops such as sugar cane and corn, and expanding its use means to deviate the production of farms in the production of more fuel.

In 2025, India would need 10 billion liters of ethanol to meet its E20 requirements, according to government forecasts. The demand will balloon up to 20 billion liters by 2050, according to the Bengaluru Brain Trust Center for the Study of Science, Technology and Politics (CSTEP).

Currently, sugar cane is used to produce about 40% of ethanol in India.

This puts India in bonding. He has to choose between continuing his relying on sugar cane – which has a higher yield for ethanol, but is water – or the use of food crops such as corn and rice to produce fuel.

But the change comes with its own challenges.

In 2024, for the first time in decades, India became a net importer of corn using large quantities of the harvest to make ethanol.

Ramya Natarajan, a CSTEP researcher, said the diversion of production has a significant impact on the home sector, which now has to spend more to buy corn for raw materials.

In addition, this year, Food Corporation of India (FCI) approved an unprecedented distribution of 5.2 million tonnes of rice for the production of ethanol. The rice in the FCI shares is intended to be given to the poor of India with a subsidized rate.

Politics can lead to a “disaster in agriculture in a few years,” said Devinder Sharma, an agricultural sector expert.

“In a country like India, where 250 million people are hungry, we cannot use food to feed cars,” said Sharma.

In order to respond to the demand for ethanol through corn and sugar cane in a ratio of 50-50 – as indicated by Niti Aayog – India will have to import an additional eight million hectares of land when cultivating corn by 2030, unless there is a drastic increase in yield, according to CSTEP.

But even this can lead to problems.

“If farmers replace the cultivation of rice or wheat with corn, it would be sustainable because we have enough excess of these crops. But we need other crops such as oil seeds and impulses,” said Gia Natarajan.

D -Ja Natarajan added that continuing the mixture E10 – gasoline mixed with 10% ethanol – would be more ideal.

However, India plans to go even beyond the E20.

“The country will now be gradually scale to the E25, E27 and E30 in a gradual, calibrated way,” Petri Minister Hardip Puri recently said.

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