The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has published a draft notification GSR 757(E) on 11th December 2020, seeking comments from the public for adoption of E20 fuel as an automotive fuel and for the adoption of mass emission standards for this fuel.
- The E20 fuel is blend of 20% of ethanol with gasoline.
- The notification facilitates the development of E20 compliant vehicles.
- It will also help in reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, etc.
- It will help reduce the oil import bill, thereby saving foreign exchange and boosting energy security.
- The compatibility of the vehicle to the percentage of ethanol in the blend of ethanol and gasoline shall be defined by the vehicle manufacturer and the same shall be displayed on the vehicle by putting a clearly visible sticker.
What are the sources of Ethanol?
- Ethanol is a renewable biofuel because it is made from biomass.
- Fuel ethanol feedstocks include grains and crops with high starch and sugar content such as corn, sorghum, barley, sugar cane, and sugar beets. Ethanol can also be made from grasses, trees, and agricultural and forestry residues such as corn cobs and stocks, rice straw, sawdust, and wood chips.
- The most common ethanol production processes today use yeast to ferment the starch and sugars in corn, sugar cane, and sugar beets.
(References: PIB- https://bit.ly/3paLhCb and US Energy- https://bit.ly/2LQqt4N)
