India’s Ailing Sugar Units see Savior in Ethanol
August 19, 2002, Reuters News Service
India’s sugar industry, the largest after Brazil, sees a big opportunity to revitalize itself after a government directive to oil firms to sell ethanol-doped petrol in several states from January. Industry officials expect several new units to open up, while existing distilleries could also expand production. About 25 millers, which were sitting on licenses for new distilleries in the state, are now expected to go ahead with their projects.
"More than 50% of the sugar mills are facing acute financial stress," said SL Jain, Secretary General, Indian Sugar Mills Association, adding millers owed about Rs 27 billion to farmers for sugarcane bought over the past year. India has stocks of about 18 million tons of sugar - almost equal to its annual output.
Ethanol-Blended Petrol Made Mandatory
August 13, 2002, Press Information Bureau, Govt of India
The Government of India has made the sale of 5% ethanol-doped petrol mandatory in nine States (Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu) and four Union Territories (Chandigarh, Damman & Diu, Dadara & Nagar Haveli and Pondicherry) from January 1, 2003.With about 70% of the country’s oil requirement being met through imports, the decision would help reduce oil dependency, said Petroleum Minister, Mr Ram Naik. This is the first phase of introducing ethanol-doped petrol (gasohol) throughout India.
Brown Cloud Disrupting Weather in Asia
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm
A hazy brown cloud covering South Asia to a depth of 3 km is disrupting seasonal monsoon weather patterns, and damaging agriculture, scientists working with a UN study said. The pollution that is forming the haze could be leading to "several hundreds of thousands" of premature deaths as a result of respiratory diseases in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
"Asian Brown Cloud: Climate and Other Environmental Impacts" is an Assessment Report, issued by Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the UN Environment Program. "The haze is the result of forest fires, burning of agricultural wastes, dramatic increases in the burning of fossil fuels in vehicles, industries and power stations and emissions from millions of inefficient cookers burning wood, cow dung and other biofuels," warned Toepfer. Results from seven cities in India alone, including Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai, estimate that some kinds of air pollution were annually responsible for 24,000 premature fatalities in the early 1990s.
Driven To Alcohol
Sep 5, 2002, The Economist
One of the deals struck at the Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development was a pact between Brazil and Germany to develop a scheme in which German companies will subsidize Brazilians to buy cars that run on ethanol instead of petrol. That should reduce emissions of CO2, the principal greenhouse gas covered by the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement intended to curb global warming. The "credits" that the German firms earn from this will count towards their country’s targets under the protocol. Brazil thinks it will benefit by reducing its dependence on imported oil. The proposal is part of Brazil’s drive to revive its ethanol-fuel program, which was a huge, though brief, success in the mid-1980s.
No Polluting Trucks in Delhi
The latest Supreme Court ruling of July 15, 2002 stops entry of trucks and other heavy-duty goods vehicles from neighboring states into Delhi and mandates Euro II compliance for the city’s truck fleet. This move is estimated to reduce particulate emissions from these vehicles by as much as 55%.