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New Delhi: Following the nationwide rollout of E20 (20% ethanol blended) petrol, the government is officially aiming to expand on this by blending biofuels with diesel. Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari is now aiming to introduce a 15% blend of isobutanol in diesel.
While petrol remains a highly important fuel for two wheelers and cars, diesel accounts for almost 40% of India’s petroleum consumption, with heavy commercial vehicles and cars in hilly regions preferring the fuel for its higher horsepower.
Ethanol-blended petrol has been widely used in India, and most consumers have no idea that their fuel comes blended with this biofuel as their vehicles work just fine, though some have complained about lower mileage from the fuel.
“Ethanol can’t be blended directly with diesel, so we’re producing isobutanol from ethanol,” Gadkari said at an event.
“Isobutanol can serve as an alternative to diesel.” he added.
Pilot demonstrations of the technology have already shown positive results, and the government is now looking to push for self reliance in energy and to reduce its ever increasing oil import bill. As ethanol cannot be directly blended with diesel, the government is looking at isobutanol as an alternative biofuel.
While standard ethanol works well when mixed into petrol, isobutonol is a more complex alcohol derivative that can be manufactured from sugarcane molasses, corn starch or agricultural biomass. Isubutanol remains highly energy dense, and could work well with diesel, minimizing the mileage drop that fleet operators fear with biofuel blends. However, existing vehicles will need a retrofit to run on diesel blended with isobutanol, remaining a concern that the government is yet to address.
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