Ethanol 2002 Conference

Winrock International India (WII) organized the "Ethanol 2002: International Conference on Policy, Financing & Market Development Issues" on 18-19 April 2002 at New Delhi, sponsored by the W Alton Jones Foundation, Winrock International, the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. and Lubrizol India. The objective was to bring together key stakeholders associated with the sector, and address the policy, financing, and market development issues to develop ethanol as a viable fuel for the Indian transport sector.

Inauguration
Shri Kannappan, Hon. Minister of State for Non-conventional Energy Sources, in his inaugural address emphasized the benefits of using ethanol-blended petrol as a transport fuel in India, and as to how Brazil, USA and Europe have profited from large-scale utilization of this blended fuel. He presented the road map drawn by the Indian Government to operationalize ethanol use in the transport sector. For achieving set targets, he said the market barriers and acceptance of the blended fuel by vehicle manufacturers should be addressed and removed.

Technical Session
Dr Prodipto Ghosh, Additional Secretary, PM Office, in his opening remarks said that ethanol production from damaged grains unfit for consumption is a possible solution for meeting the ethanol demand. Tree- and crop-based biofuels should be considered for crop diversification to mitigate agricultural risks. He stressed the need for R&D to develop technical solutions for the use of biofuels, a legal and regulatory framework to endorse them for dissemination, and to identify and remove fiscal distortions. He concluded by saying that a multidisciplinary, multiple institution policy study, encouraged by PMO, and others coordinated by MNES are currently underway.

Mr Ashok Goel, President, Indian Sugar Mills Association, welcomed the government’s decision on ethanol and said the incentives offered would encourage the oil companies to promote ethanol blends with petrol (for details, refer page 4).

This was followed by Mr NP Singh, Adviser, MNES, presenting the Indian scenario with respect to installed capacity, consumption and surplus availability of ethanol for the transport sector. He said the strategy should be for commercialization of engines for vehicles through indigenous development, as well as JV companies with suitable foreign manufacturers for utilization of neat ethanol.

Mr NR Raje, Executive Director, R&D, IOC gave details of the three pilot projects at Miraj, Manmad (Maharashtra) and Bareilly (UP), highlighting the success of blending and transporting the fuel. He presented international experiences with 10% and higher ethanol in gasoline. He concluded with national and international experiences in the areas of bio-diesel and ethanol-diesel blends for the transport sector.

Mr RP Sharma, SIAM, briefed participants on emission regulations in India and the recommendations of the Inter-ministerial Task Force in March 2001. He discussed technical problems encountered in the pilot projects and the concerns of the automobile industry with regard to availability, emission benefits with new generation vehicles, the price of blended fuel, and corrosion of certain engine parts. He concluded by adding that additional tests and studies were required for 10% gasoline-ethanol and ethanol-diesel blends.

Dr B Bhanot, Director, the Automotive Research Institute of India (ARAI), presented the advantages and limitations of ethanol as an automotive fuel, engine modifications required for higher blends and the ARAI experience with alcohol. He further deliberated on certification issues, test procedures for measuring emissions and recommended standards/procedures for testing and evaluation/certification yet to be framed.

Mr RK Malhotra, R&D, IOC, focused on vehicle performance profiles while using fuel ethanol, vehicle pollution control strategy, improving ambient air quality, advantages of ethanol blending, environmental benefits of ethanol use, international experiences (US, Brazil, and India), pilot project issues, and ethanol-diesel blending in India.

Mr Arun Mishra, Secretary, Sugar, Government of UP, emphasized state-related issues for adopting fuel ethanol with special reference to UP. He presented the figures on availability of molasses in UP, its price, pattern of alcohol production, present capacities, capacity utilization and the estimated requirements of fuel ethanol. He concluded by adding that the tax and cess system in the state of UP on alcohol and molasses is reasonable. He recommended that the state would need to constantly update and strike a balance between the production of sugar and gasohol. Mr Jai Uppal, Consultant, All India Distillers’ Association, talked on innovative initiatives and solutions for ensuring adequate ethanol availability, the role of the industry, the role of government and the oil companies, strategies for removal of barriers to growth, streamlining business processes, and setting up an institutional framework.

Financing & Technology
Mr Shanker Lal, Deputy Manager (EEC), presented IREDA’s financing schemes for fuel ethanol projects, and the terms and conditions. He presented the financial/economic indicators of Renuka Sugars, a greenfield distillery in an existing 2,500 TCD sugar plant, the first fuel ethanol project financed by IREDA.

Mr Girish Mahajan, ICICI Bank Ltd, spoke about the innovative financing options for environmentally friendly projects.

Mr Sandeep Sood, Praj Industries Limited, highlighted various technologies including azeotropic distillation, molecular sieve and membrane for fuel ethanol production, their merits and demerits.

Mr Prasad, Alfa Laval made a presentation on ethanol production technology (for details, refer pg 10).

International Experiences Madame Machado, Ambassador of Brazil, talked about PROALCOHOL - an innovative experience that called worldwide attention, a national effort since it also included auto owners. PROALCOHOL helped decrease the rural exodus, created employment, and helped stabilize international sugar prices. She also spoke of the bilateral co-operation between India and Brazil and their willingness to make available their expertise in the area of blending technologies.

Jeffery Clarke, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), USA while elaborating the benefits of ethanol use said that blending ethanol with gasoline lowered emissions, and created rural jobs besides an additional farm income of $4.5 billion. In the US, corn is the principal feedstock for ethanol production. If 10% of the total corn stover is used for alcohol, then the US could produce 16 billion gallons of ethanol, 10% of total US gasoline consumption! 13 states in the US have already enacted a legislation to ban MTBE. Also, Congress is considering a nationwide ban on MTBE, which would double the ethanol market in the next two to three years.

Prof. Jose Roberto Moreira, CENBIO, Brazil mentioned that the use of 100% ethanol in Brazil showed an increase in power, torque and maximum speed obtained when compared to vehicles using 100% gasoline and 22% gasohol. But the consumption of 100% ethanol in vehicles was much higher, and exhaust emissions were comparatively very less when compared to the other two fuels. He said the government had strongly supported the sugarcane industry, mainly with subsidies, and had liberated fuel prices, excluded alcohol subsidies and created a strong contact with alcohol producers and distributors, leading to reduced prices and increased consumption.

Mr Jaime Finguerut of Copersucar, Brazil highlighted the ethanol production trends in Brazil and dealt at length with fermentation and distillation processes as practised in Brazil.

Caption:
Shri Kannappan, Dr V Bakthavatsalam, Managing Director, IREDA, and Dr Abeyratne, President, WII, inaugurating the conference.

Shri Annasaheb MK Patil, Hon’ble Minister of State, Ministry of Rural Development, giving the Inaugural Address on Day II of the conference (19 April 2002).

Courtesy: Mr PRK Sobhanbanu, Program Officer, WII (The complete Proceedings of this conference is available with WII’s Outreach Cell)