The Times of India News Service
Task force to study
gasohol as fuel
June 2001, New Delhi: The government has decided to set up a task force to study greater use of ‘gasohol’ (petrol blended with ethanol) in India, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik said.
The task force, headed by the additional secretary in the oil ministry, Naresh Narad, would have officials from the petroleum, surface transport, agriculture, food and consumer affairs, environment and finance ministries. It would look into the safety factors, environmental aspects and percentage of ethanol to be mixed with petrol.
Naik, who was in Brazil to study the use of gasohol in that country, said India was considering signing an MOU with Brazil for technology for blending petrol with ethanol, which is extracted from sugarcane. He said the possibility of blending ethanol with diesel would also be jointly explored.
"Research for using 5% ethanol in diesel is in an advanced stage. Its success would prove to be a boon for India since we use 80% diesel as auto fuel," Naik said.
Naik said that a pilot project has been commissioned in Sangli district of Maharashtra. Two more pilot project would be commissioned in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra by June 30, he added.
Blending petrol with ethanol would save India foreign exchange in addition to giving a supplementary price to sugarcane-growers, he said. Ethanol has the added advantage of being an eco-friendly renewable source of energy.
If 5% ethanol was blended with petrol, at current consumption levels it would require half a million tons of ethanol, outgoing Petroleum Secretary P Shankar said. On the US roadshows to promote coalbed methane (CBM) blocks being offered for exploration, Naik said the response was encouraging.
International News
Thailand to Begin Ethanol
Use in 2002
The Thai government’s National Committee announced plans to start the commercial use of ethanol for vehicles in Bangkok beginning in 2002. In Thailand, ethanol is produced from many crops, including cassava, maize and sugarcane.
The W Alton Jones Foundation
The W Alton Jones Foundation was established in 1944 by W Alton Jones “to promote the well-being and general good of mankind throughout the world.”
The goals of the foundation are:
...to build a sustainable world by developing new ways for humanity to interact sustainably with the planet’s ecological systems and,
...to build a secure world by eliminating the possibility of nuclear war and by providing alternative methods of resolving conflicts and promoting security.
For further information, contact:
The W Alton Jones Foundation, 232 East High Street
Charlottesville, Virginia 22902-5718, USA
Tel: 1.804.295.2134; Fax: 1.804.295.1648
Web: www.wajones.org
Back