India imports nearly 70% of its annual crude petroleum requirement,
which is approximately 110 million tons. The prices are in the range
of US$ 50-70 per barrel, and the expenditure on crude purchase
is in the range of Rs.1600 billion per year, impacting in
a big way, the country's foreign exchange reserves.
The petroleum industry now looks very committed to the use
of ethanol as fuel, as it is expected to benefit sugarcane
farmers as well as the oil industry in the long run. Ethanol
(FUEL ETHANOL) can also be produced from wheat, corn, beet,
sweet sorghum etc. Ethanol is one of the best tools to fight
vehicular pollution, contains 35% oxygen that helps complete
combustion of fuel and thus reduces harmful tailpipe emissions.
It also reduces particulate emissions that pose a health hazard.
This website with an aim to promote the production of ethanol
brings together all the information required
(ETHANOL PLANT MACHINERY & TECHNOLOGY, PROJECT FINANCE,
GOVT SCHEMES & APPROVALS FOR FUEL ETHANOL PLANTS , ETHANOL
DISTILLATION, ETHANOL PRODUCTION, FERMENTATION, MOLECULAR
SIEVE TECHNOLOGY , FUEL ETHANOL PLANTS COMMISSIONED.)
for the ethanol producer. Plans to set up an online ethanol
marketplace connecting buyers and suppliers.
In
the first phase of the project, ethanol- blended petrol is
being supplied through retail outlets in nine States and four
Union Territories. These states are Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat,
Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Uttar
Pradesh. The four Union Territories include Chandigarh, Dadra
and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Pondicherry. Petrol blended
with 5 per cent ethanol would be supplied by petrol pumps
all over the country under the second phase towards the end
of the year. The content of ethanol blending would be increased
to 10 per cent in the third phase of the programme scheduled
for 2005.
Ethanol is used as an automotive fuel
by itself and can be mixed with gasoline to form what has
been called "gasohol" Fuel Ethanol- the most
common blends contain 10% ethanol and 85% ethanol mixed with
gasoline. Over 1 billion gallons of ethanol are blended with
gasoline every year in the United States. Because the ethanol
molecule contains oxygen, it allows the engine to more completely
combust the fuel, resulting in fewer emissions. Since ethanol
is produced from plants that harness the power of the sun,
ethanol is also considered a renewable fuel. Therefore, ethanol
has many advantages as an automotive fuel.
Most industrial ethanol is denatured
to prevent its use as a beverage. Denatured ethanol contains
small amounts, 1 or 2 percent each, of several different unpleasant
or poisonous substances. The removal of all these substances
would involve a series of treatments more expensive than the
federal excise tax on alcoholic beverages (currently about
$20 per gallon). These denaturants render ethanol unfit for
some industrial uses. In such industries un denatured ethanol
is used under close federal supervision.
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