Ethanol will reach the kitchen!
After ethanol blending in petrol, now the central government is going to take another big step on the front of energy security and clean fuel. Ethanol may soon enter Indian kitchens as cooking fuel. If this scheme comes to fruition, it will not only reduce the dependence of the general public on traditional LPG cylinders, but can also provide major relief to the household kitchen budget. According to industry officials with knowledge of the matter, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry is working on a policy framework to introduce ethanol as the main cooking fuel. To promote the use of ethanol, this policy will consider the conditions for providing subsidy and creating a supply chain. It is being said that industry organizations representing fuel suppliers are also in talks with the government on this framework.
The policy will be ready by September
In the ET report, an official, on condition of anonymity, said that work is underway on an alternative clean fuel policy for cooking, which will allow households to adopt LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) as well as ethanol as cooking fuel. He said that this policy can be ready by September. Ethanol is a green fuel made from the fermentation of sugar and grains. In April, media reports said that at the behest of the government, ethanol-based cooking stoves were being tested to provide households with a clean fuel option for cooking. Using ethanol as cooking fuel will help India reduce its dependence on LPG and save rising fuel bills.
Too much supply of ethanol
Another industry official said that to promote cooking with ethanol, the government can also introduce a subsidy scheme, which can be either capital-based (one-time investment support) or on-going financial assistance. Efforts are being made to promote ethanol as cooking fuel because the supply of ethanol in India is very high. According to a May report by CareEdge Ratings, the country’s ethanol production capacity has crossed 20 billion liters annually and another 4 billion liters of capacity is going to be added this financial year.
How much ethanol does the industry use?
Of the approximately 11 billion liters of ethanol used annually for the government’s E20 blending programme, breweries, pharmaceutical companies and chemical manufacturing companies use around 3-3.5 billion liters of ethanol, leaving around 7 billion liters of unused capacity. With this additional capacity, India can also consider exporting ethanol to neighboring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh and Indonesia, which have a target of 10 per cent ethanol blending but do not have adequate feedstock and distilling capacity.
atm for ethanol
It is being said that oil marketing companies are also working on this issue and have done research and development on ethanol-based stoves, and are also looking for partnership or acquisition opportunities for ethanol cooking technology. Industry officials said that to start the scheme, oil marketing companies may be asked to install ethanol automated teller machines (ATMs) so that users can collect ethanol in canisters for stoves. These ATMs can be installed at the fuel retail outlets of oil companies. Another industry official said that we all saw what impact the war in West Asia had on India’s LPG supply. Using more ethanol capacity as an alternative to LPG and reducing fuel imports is a good option.
government planning
Although India has diversified LPG sourcing since the war in West Asia began on February 28, the country is still heavily dependent on Gulf countries for LPG imports, a large portion of which comes through the Strait of Hormuz. State-run oil marketing companies are preparing a strategic LPG storage plan of about 30 days to strengthen energy security, as the Iran war exposed the risks to India’s supply through the vital waterway. A February report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development titled ‘India’s Clean Cooking Shift: Scaling Non-Fossil Fuel Solutions’ said that by adopting e-cooking and biogas, India could save a total of more than Rs 2 lakh crore ($24 billion) in LPG subsidy by 2050.
