Abstract
In India, a gradual shift from fossil fuels to renewable fuels is considered necessary in view of growing energy demands of road transportation sector and also addressing the environmental concerns. The national biofuel policies of the country mandate increased use of ethanol blended petrol. However, the present main raw material supply source is closely linked to the cyclical nature of sugarcane harvests and its prices. Further, there are limits as at present ethanol is only derived through the molasses route. Second-generation ethanol production utilizing lingo-cellulose wastes from sugarcane (unutilized bagasse and sugarcane trash) and other agricultural wastes has the potential to bridge the supply gaps. The pilot-scale studies initiated in 2009 have shown that such a conversion is economically viable, and conversion cost of sugarcane bagasse has come down from ₹ 68 (US$ 0.97) to ₹ 16.5 (US$ 0.24) per litre during 2011–2016. An analysis of ethanol blend initiative in Indian context that highlights the present scenario, future projections, emerging trends, technologies, policies and institutional framework required for improved availability of ethanol for road the transport sector is presented. It is realized that a dynamic policy that rationalizes taxation framework and accommodates the agricultural shifts is actually needed.
Graphical abstract
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Introduction
The concerns about the fossil fuels for their non-renewable nature and adverse environmental effects have led to a great deal of interest in biofuels world over. Bioethanol, a prosperous renewable energy carrier mainly produced from biomass fermentation, provides a promising method for hydrogen production through ethanol reforming and has a promise for its future fuel cell applications (Ni et al. 2007; Nanqui et al. 2011; Lukajhs et al. 2018; Kumar et al. 2018).
At present it may not be feasible to replace fossil fuels by the biofuels, greater use of biofuels is a step towards environmental conservation. Even a partial transition from oil to biofuels can stabilize the energy markets in a significant way without affecting food security (Farrell et al. 2006; Balat and Balat 2009; REPN 2016). India’s interest in improving its energy security is on account of its rapidly growing dependence on imported oil, over 84.5% of its requirement. As the country is one of the fastest growing economies, it is projected as the third largest consumer of transportation fuel in 2020, after the USA and China (Gunatilake et al. 2011). In India, the growth in energy consumption is estimated as 6.5% per annum and petroleum reserves are on a decline (Swain 2014).
Globally, more adoption of electrical vehicles (EV) in coming years is expected to reduce dependence on crude oil by 2040–2050. By 2040, global sale of EV is projected to the order of 41 million, representing 35% of new light duty vehicle sales, almost 90 times of the equivalent figure for 2015. Thus, 13 million barrels per day of crude oil is likely to be replaced by electricity (2700 TWh) (Diego and Poxon 2006). In India, automotive industry has a great potential for growth on demographic and economic considerations. The predicted increase in India’s working-age population is likely to help stimulate the burgeoning market for private vehicles. However, gradual legislative move towards greener fuel (bioethanol, etc.) and electrical vehicles (EVs) is game changing. The automotive manufacturers are placing greater thrusts in dual-fuel technologies than battery-powered alternatives because of cost considerations and also lack of necessary support infrastructure such as recharge stations. (KPMG 2010). Presently, the EV sale in India is less than 1% of total vehicle sale. With support and policies of the Indian government, the situation will definitely improve, but various estimates of automobile industry suggest that such sales are likely to remain at 4–11% by 2050 (Sharma et al. 2016). So in foreseeable future, heavy dependence on conventional fuels will continue and biofuels will help in augmentation of fuel supply that is more environment friendly.
Across the world, several crops like wheat, sugar beet, corn, maize and sugarcane have already emerged as the major feedstocks for ethyl alcohol production. In southern hemisphere, bioethanol industries mainly use sugarcane, while in northern hemisphere it is cereal grains and sugar beet. Bioethanol has emerged as a renewable energy resource and has already been introduced on a large scale in several countries like Brazil and the USA (RFA 2015). The estimates suggest that around 33% of the energy needs of Europe and USA for different transportation purposes will be through conversion of biomass to biofuels by 2030 (Gonealves et al. 2015; Puri et al. 2012). However, all these feedstocks have a direct competition with food sector (Ravindranath et al. 2011; Sharma et al. 2016). The long-term productivity and sustainability of energy crops, changing diet patterns, population growth, global markets for food and animal feed, advances in biomass conversion technology and growing demands of water and fertilizers for other non-energy uses of land and climate change are likely to favour allocation of land for biofuels in future (Rosillo-calle 2012).
India has already adopted the policy of ethanol blending in gasoline in order to reduce vehicular emissions and import burdens (GoI 2009). A great opportunity, therefore, lies in promoting use of ethanol as an automotive fuel. The main feedstock for ethanol in India is sugarcane through molasses, a by-product in the conversion of sugarcane juice to sugar. Although the practice of ethanol blending started in India in 2001, the national policy on biofuels came into existence in 2009 with the aim of selling petrol blended with minimum 5% ethanol with provisions to its increase in future (GoI 2009; Pohit et al. 2009). However, in reality, the targets were not achieved. Therefore, it is very important to develop an appropriate action-oriented policy framework that promotes and regulates ethanol production and its utilization as a biofuel.
Sugarcane is one of the important cash crops in this country, and there are many opportunities to utilize this resource for more ethanol production in view of technological advances and the infrastructure available at the sugar mills. This policy perspective is in the context of India that describes the present status of ethanol blending in vehicular transport, technologies and existing policies. Outline about an integrated policy framework that includes appropriate institutional mechanisms is described.
Ethanol as transport fuel
Although ethanol has been used as an alternative transport fuel as early as 1894, it was only after the oil crisis of 1970s, interest in ethanol increased because of economic as well as environmental considerations (Kintisch 2008; Balat and Balat 2009). It adds extra oxygen to petrol which helps in reducing of air pollution and harmful emissions (carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, un-burnt hydrocarbons, etc.) in tailpipe exhaust (Alleman et al. 2015). It is considered less toxic and is more effective in reducing emissions when compared to methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), a preferred oxygenate. Now it is replacing hydrocarbon octane sources such as MTBE and aromatics like benzene (RFA 2016). A comparison of the characteristics of MTBE and ethanol (EFOA 2002; EESI 2015) is shown in Table 1. It is evident that ethanol vaporizes faster and is highly miscible in groundwater. However, it degrades faster, preventing groundwater contamination.
With a global increase in the use of flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs), ethanol is being used in greater proportions by the consumers with access to E85 and other flex fuels. With options up to E85 being more widely available at fuel stations in the USA, bioethanol has increasingly begun to gain traction as a mainstream fuel option for consumers (Guarieiro 2013; RFA 2016). Also, it represents a sustainable source of energy. Toady a variety of grades of ethanol blended gasoline are used globally. The common low ethanol blends are E 5 to E 25 (containing 5% to 25% ethanol). High ethanol blends like E 85 (contain 85% ethanol) and flex fuel (ethanol ranges from 51% in winters to 83% in summers) are also available (RFA 2015). The gasoline vehicles in a particular country are designed accordingly. The governments of USA and Brazil support such blending programme with enormous subsidies (Gunatilake et al. 2011).
International scenario
Globally, about 10 million ha of land that is less than 1% of world’s arable land is used for ethanol. The USA (through maize) and Brazil (through sugarcane) account for over 80% of ethanol production (Zuurbier and Vooren 2008). In Brazil, the use of ethanol blended petrol started in vehicles as early as the 1920s but gained momentum after the oil shock of the 1970s. Now, this country offers the consumers a choice to use ethanol on competitive prices with added environmental benefits. The production of ethanol increased to 28.28 billion l in 2015–16 over 27.5 billion litres during 2013–14 (Voegele 2015). Since 2003, Brazil’s emissions of carbon dioxide reduced by more than 300 million tons that is equivalent to planting and maintaining 2.1 billion trees for 20 years (Miryala and Satana 2016). One of the reasons for such a success is that presently about 58% of sugarcane is diverted purely for ethanol production in Brazil. It could be even higher in coming years on account of need to have cash flow for the production units, drop in global sugar prices and changes that have occurred in that country’s domestic fuel ethanol market. Another trend is although the ethanol production is increasing, the exports (now about 1 billion litres only) are declining (Voegele 2015). Most of sugarcane ethanol in Brazil is based on first-generation technology, and there are currently two commercial plants producing cellulosic ethanol in Brazil: one from the GranBio group and the other one from Raizen, with production capacity of 82 and 40 million litres, respectively (Sugarcane.org 2016). Many factors and policies like (1) ideal climatic conditions for sugarcane crop, (2) cheap labour, (3) huge subsidies, (4) fully integrated industrial processing of sugarcane as a feedstock for sugar and ethanol, (5) laws forcing the oil marketing companies (OMCs) to blend ethanol, (6) stringent environmental laws, (7) flexibility to growers to divert sugarcane towards sugar or ethanol depending on the profitability (Amaral et al. 2008; Voegele 2015) contibute towards promotion and adoption of ethanol blends.
Situation in India
In India, ethanol is mainly produced from molasses through fermentation process. The enzymes from yeast change simple sugars into ethanol and carbon dioxide. About 90% of ethanol production is contributed by the sugar mills in India (GoI 2015a, b, c, d). The consideration of sugar industry for ethanol production is based on national policy, low costs involved, high efficiency and ease of fermentation. About one tonne of sugarcane produces 85–100 kg of sugar and 40 kg of molasses (Tsiropoulos et al. 2014). There are mainly three grades of molasses produced from the sugar industry based on content of total reducing sugar (TRS)—A grade (50% or above TRS); B grade (45–50% TRS); C grade (40–45% TRS). B grade is mostly used for ethanol production in India (Pohit et al. 2009). The diversion for fuel use takes place after meeting the requirements for industrial and potable purposes (Sindelar and Aradhey 2015). The other possible alternate raw materials to a limited extent could be sweet sorghum and maize (Reddy et al. 2005).
Ethanol production
Ethanol is a key by-product for integrated sugar mills in India. The sugarcane area has increased by nearly 2.5 to 3 times after independence of India (1950–51) (Pohit et al. 2009; GoI 2016a, b; Sugarcane.org 2016). However, there is a trend of stagnation in area expansion after 2013–14 (Fig. 1). At present, India is the fourth largest producer of ethanol (installed capacity 2.58 billion l; average production 2.21 billion l) (Fig. 2) in the world and the second largest in Asia (Chauhan and Dixit 2012; ISMA 2016). The main raw material for the distilleries in the country is sugarcane molasses, and use of starchy material is very limited. Although there are many sugar factories (around 526 operative mills) in the country, the mills have lower capacities in contrast to other sugar-growing countries where more emphasis is towards consolidation and larger capacity (KPMG 2007; Nande 2016).
Analysis of long-term data on area under sugarcane acreage and sugar production indicates a cyclic pattern, increasing for 3 to 4 years in a cycle of 5–7 years that leads to lower sugar prices and arrear payment to farmers increase (Ray et al. 2012; ISMA 2016). The acreage goes in next 2 to 3 years and sugar prices increase. Such variations largely determine the cost of ethanol production as well. Policy-based interventions, therefore, assume significance to overcome such scenarios (KPMG 2007; Ray et al. 2012). During 2017–18, high ethanol producing states were Uttar Pradesh (658 million l) and Maharashtra (606 million l). Other states include Karnataka (312 million l), Andhra Pradesh (148 million l), Tamil Nadu (96 million l) and Gujarat (79 million l).
Demands and supply scenario
The actual production of sugarcane molasses and alcohol in the country is presented in Table 2. The availability of ethanol for blending purposes is only about 20–30% of the statutory requirements in the recent years. The trend of petrol consumption and ethanol blends for the last few years is shown in Fig. 3. Projected demand of ethanol in near future for its blending with petrol at various levels in India is depicted in Table 3. The advance estimates suggest that domestic ethanol production will decline by 8% in the calendar year 2017 on account of second consecutive year of decreased sugarcane acreage and fuel ethanol will be little less than 2% national blending rate (Slelte and Aradhey 2016).
As the sugar mill’s capacity is not enough to supply the required ethanol for E10 targets, the government is looking for second-generation ethanol production. The oil marketing companies (OMCs) like Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), etc., are steadily working in placing orders for second ethanol plants. Also, some sugar companies are increasing their ethanol capacities to benefit from E10 blending.
Major pathways and feedstocks for ethanol conversion
There are two major pathways for conversion to ethanol (Fig. 4). In the former one, enzymatic hydrolysis or acid hydrolysis is followed by fermentation to produce alcohol, while the second one is a thermochemical process where biomass is gasified and the syngas is converted into ethanol and other co-products through a catalytic process.
The estimated theoretical yield in the former process is 415 l t−1 (if lignin is not converted), whereas in the latter process, it is about 640 l t−1 (if lignin is converted). However, the present experimental achievable yields are only in the range from 47 to 62% of the theoretical yields (Bharadwaj et al. 2007; El-Naggar et al. 2014; Galbe and Zacchi 2007; Somerville et al. 2010; Wi et al. 2015). The reasons for low recovery are many, viz. resistant nature of biomass to breakdown; the variety of sugars which are released when the hemicellulose and cellulose polymers are broken and the need to find or genetically engineer organisms to efficiently ferment these sugars; costs for collection and storage of low density ligno-cellulose materials, etc. (Cardona and Sanchez 2006; Garima et al. 2016). Recent advances in genetically engineered microorganisms are encouraging for higher alcohol tolerance and conversion efficiency. Thus, by combining such advanced systems supported by intensive additional research to eliminate current bottlenecks, conversion yield to about 92% of the theoretical yields may be achieved and second-generation bioethanol could surpass the traditional first-generation processes (Kang et al. 2014).
The feedstocks for first-generation (1G) ethanol are molasses and sugar. The second-generation (2G) biofuels can be manufactured from lingo-cellulosic biomass or woody crops, agricultural residues or waste like rice and wheat straw and cotton stalk (Singh et al. 2016) (Table 4).
More ethanol may be extracted via B-heavy molasses route to get higher yield of ethanol per ton of sugarcane. Presently, ethanol is derived from molasses after the third stage of sugar extraction, yielding 230–250 lt per MT of molasses. The B-H molasses may yield 300 lt per MT of molasses as in this route sugar production is stopped after the second stage. This route may make more availability of ethanol for blending purposes, on the one hand, and solve the issue of oversupply of sugar during the years of overproduction of sugarcane. However, at present, there is no policy in place to extract ethanol from B-heavy molasses. Also, the existing distilleries may require some modifications to process such molasses.
Achieving the targets
At present, the position of India in global biofuel map is not very significant, but the country has the political will to expand it many folds. So far the blending rate is around 4% (2017–18) of the total consumption in the country. However, indications are that it may reach 7–8% in near future mainly on account of better price offered by the OMCs (GoI 2018). Sugarcane is just enough for meeting demands of sugar, and diversion of sugar or cane juice towards ethanol production is neither affordable nor permitted in the country. The route through molasses has its own limits. The possibilities of commercial adoption of second-generation technologies in coming years are the hope (Badger 2002; Balan 2014). Already some beginning is there in India. Some potential feeds in context of sugarcane include bagasse and sugarcane trash. While most of the bagasse is effectively used by the Indian sugar mills in generating process heat and electricity, most of sugarcane trash may find its role in producing ethanol. The projected estimates suggest that if around 10–25% of the unutilized bagasse and about 34 million tonne sugarcane trash (at current levels) are effectively put to use for ethanol production (Wright and Aradhey 2016) using second-generation technology, it may be possible to meet national blend requirement at 10% level (Table 5). This assumption is based on the present sugarcane acreage and productivity and also requirements of other industries. With a little increase in area and improvement in productivity by 10–12%, it may be possible to almost meet the 15% blend requirement. The pilot-scale studies initiated in 2009 have shown that such a conversion is economically viable; conversion cost of sugarcane bagasse has come down from ₹ 68 (US$ 0.97) to ₹ 16.5 (US$ 0.24) per litre during 2011–2016 (Sheth 2016). There are reports of production of biohydrogen from sugarcane bagasse by integrating dark and photo-fermentation (Rai et al. 2013) and improvement of gaseous energy recovery by dark fermentation followed by biomethanation (Kumari and Das 2015).
However, in order to meet ethanol blending at the rate of 20% or above, other resources like rice stalk and husks, wheat stalk and husks, maize stalks and cobs, cotton stalks and husks and a number of other crop/forest residues in the country may be utilized. Estimates suggest that availability of such biomass residues is of the order of 125–183 billion tonnes in India and if converted into ethanol, availability of ethanol will be in the range from 34 to 50 billion litres (Shinoj et al. 2011; Basavaraj et al. 2012). The other important areas in future could be conversion of organic waste material (cooking oil, etc.) which can be used as an automotive fuel; pretreated industrial wastes (Prabakar et al. 2018); animal manure and organic household wastes into biogas; and with special strains of algae into ethanol. Such an approach also helps to diminish waste management problems (McKendry 2002; TERI 2015). In India, second-generation ethanol production from agricultural/forest residues (capacity 10 t of biomass per day) on pilot basis has started very recently (DBT 2016).
At present, first-generation ethanol as a biofuel is being promoted by several nations and the commercial viability of next-generation biofuel like lingo-cellulose biomass is under investigation. Such a technology has the advantage of limiting the direct competition between food and energy security. In view of serious limitations of production threshold of first-generation biofuel manufacture, the second-generation biofuel technologies are gaining importance. Although the second-generation fuels are considered more sustainable and environment friendly, technological development in this area needs standardization for attaining popularity (Rifffat et al. 2016). In a country like India where ethanol production is based almost wholly on molasses, a byproduct of sugar manufacturing; exploring possibilities of ethanol production using other feedstocks like cellulose and lignocellulose materials is an important area (Saon Ray 2011). Besides sugar-rich biomass primarily from sugarcane (some sugar beet), starch-rich biomass from grains, sorghum, cassava, etc., and cellulose-rich biomass from straw residues, corn cobs and stalks, grass, paper, etc., qualify for second-generation ethanol programme in India.
Policy implications
The important milestone(s) in the history of ethanol blending in India is depicted in Table 6. The concerns of energy security and environmental issues encouraged the Government of India to expand domestic biofuel industry since 2001.
In 2003, the first phase of Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme (EBPP) was launched, mandating 5% blending of ethanol in nine major sugarcane-growing states and four union territories. However, due to unavailability of ethanol in desired quantity, mandatory requirement was made optional in 2004. Subsequently in 2006, through EBPP II its scope was enlarged in 20 states and 8 union territories, except a few north-east states and Jammu and Kashmir. The requirement of ethanol at that time for this target was 1.05 billion litres against the supply of 440 million litres. Also, the directives were issued to oil marketing companies (OMCs) to have a target of 10% blending in most parts of India as soon as possible. The national policy on biofuels came into existence in 2009 with the objective to consume greener fuel via blending and setting the targets at 10 and 20% by 2017 and 2021, respectively (GoI 2009; Pohit et al. 2009; CSTEP 2016). The general policy barriers in sustainable marketing of biofuels in Indian context have been described by Srarvanann et al. (2018). In this section, we discuss the issues related to bioethanol, the major biofuel used in the country that is derived from sugarcane.
Although there are no quantitative restrictions on imports of biofuels, high duties make imports economically unviable. Similarly, government do not provide any financial assistance for biofuel exports (Gunatilake et al. 2011). During years of low sugar production and consequent shortage of molasses, alcohol is imported mainly for industrial and potable liquor production (CSTEP 2016).
Very recently, the country has announced a new bioethanol policy that aims to spur investments to the tune of ₹ 50,000 million (US $ 715 million) for setting up projects with a total production capacity of 1 billion litre of ethanol every year. The capacity installation may go higher if there is saving in budget amount for financial support. The policy is aimed at cutting down the country’s huge energy import dependence (Energy World 2017).
The scheme envisages setting up integrated bioethanol projects using lingo-cellulosic biomass and other renewable feedstock. Under this scheme, viability gap funding (VGF) is to be provided subject to a maximum of 20% of project cost or ₹ 50 million (US $ 0.71 million) for every 1 million summed to the biorefinery name plate capacity will be provided to make the projects commercially viable. Maximum VGF disbursement of ₹ 1500 million (US $ 22 million) is envisaged.
The framework
The present institutional framework in India to execute the EBPP is spread over many establishments of diverse nature, viz. government, industry and research organizations. Six ministries of central government and one apex planning body, NITI Aayog, are involved. They include Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MPNG), Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MRTH), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MAFW), Ministry of Environment and Forests (MEF) and Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (MCAFPD). Various state governments have also role in respect of their state policy. The industry part includes Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) and several oil marketing companies (OMCs). There are three major research organizations, viz. Sugarcane Breeding Institute (SBI), Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research (IISR) and The Energy Research Institute (TERI), that are connected in some or the other way with EBPP. Several state government research stations and universities also undertake studies in context of ethanol blending. The role of such multiple organizations in specific aspects of EBPP is depicted in Fig. 5.
It is evident that there is a lack of an integrated approach that limits the potential of EBP in the country (Basavaraj et al. 2012; GoI 2014). So the policy frame work should be consolidated in a way that objectives of various stakeholders are in line. Since agriculture is a state subject in India, the national and state objectives should complement each other for the EBPP.
In order to realize the advantages in context of ethanol blending in the country, a clear and consistent framework is necessary in implementation of programmes. The support from automobile industry for necessary engine modification for their compatibility with > E10 is important. Adoption of successful international experiences in light of prevailing emphasis on biofuels in the country is relevant. As there are many agencies involved in ethanol blending programme in the country, identification of a nodal agency will be desirable.
The recommendations need be based on in-depth quantitative and qualitative analysis. Identification of existing hurdles in programme implementation and approaches that have overcome such hurdles in other countries will be useful. Short-term focus on flexibility in procurement and production processes and a long-term plan of supporting expansion of domestic capacities and a mechanism of fair pricing for domestic suppliers are considered vital.
A well-formulated and integrated policy framework is the basic requirement for improving ethanol blending scenario in the country that accommodates certain key points like (1) EBPP is closely linked to agricultural policy and agricultural markets; (2) demand for ethanol from other sectors (non-blending) will continue to grow; (3) the nature of problems faced by the sector is often interlinked, such that they reinforce one another; (4) the centrally coordinated approach retains a limited flexibility at the state level. Therefore, meeting the EBP targets will require revamping of its production and procurement policies and practices, which limit access to raw material essential for blending (CSTEP 2016; Naylor et al. 2007; TERI 2015).
While the present price of ₹ 43.70 (US $ 0.62) for ethanol delivered at OMC depot is attractive for sugar mill given that average retail price of petrol is on a little higher side (GoI 2015a), however, any procedural delay in EBP could encourage them to divert ethanol to chemical and potable industries. Additionally, mills could divert molasses as cattle feed or for exports if their prices are competitive (Sindelar and Aradhey 2015; Slelte and Aradhey 2016). Now, most of the sugar companies in India are well integrated and diversified into distillery, ethanol and power. The biofuel policy of government has provided a good opportunity to the sugar mills to implement forward integration (CSTEP 2016; GoI 2015a, b, c, 2016a; KPMG 2007).
The road map
An ideal road map will envisage support coming in from public sector for next-generation ethanol production and stabilization of the existing value chain. The focus on a flexible logistics for transportation and storage of ethanol for blending, addressing issues in interstate movement of ethanol, vigorous creation of market for hybrid and flex-fuel vehicles by the automobile manufacturers and a desirable shift in favour of biofuels among the consumers are important.
A dynamic pricing mechanism that is linked to market conditions is required in context of biofuels and ethanol as the current pricing mechanism of ethanol for blending results in supply shortfalls. Price setting should account for shifts in agricultural markets, transportation and transaction costs. Rationalization of the taxation framework for blending is also required.
The road map for achieving the EBP targets should be planned for short-term (up to 2 years) and medium-to-long-term (2–5 and 5–7 years) basis (Table 7). The short-term areas include (1) encouraging increased production of ethanol from intermediate (B molasses); (2) rationalization of excise duty on ethanol; (3) concessional loans for distilleries supplying to OMCs; (4) interest-free loans to standalone mills to establish distilleries; (5) adopt improved sugarcane cultivation technologies and water management; (6) setting procurement targets for OMCs and production targets for suppliers; (7) single-window online certification system for interstate ethanol movement. Similarly, the medium-to-long-term targets should include (1) scaling up the next-generation technologies and fix targets to meet the growing demands; (2) developing indigenous vehicle manufacturing that support higher blends; (3) easing the regulatory provisions to ensure competitiveness with the global markets; (4) using GIS-enabled decision management system for location, transport and storage decisions.
Recently, the Government of India has revised national policy on biofuels 2018 (GoI 2018) on considerations of required funding, forex savings and OMC capex (Table 8). Success of such measures is expected to lead a structural change in Indian sugar industry change, making it comparatively non-cyclical as well. Several other initiatives are now in operation to boost the ethanol blending and save the import bill on crude imports. This includes introducing new vehicles supporting higher blending, and even on cent percent ethanol. It is now realized that if there is a stable ethanol demand with stable prices, it will stabilize the sugar industry to great extent. Also, if there will be stable on-time export of sugar during times of overproduction, it can help stabilize the sugar prices.
With recent rise in crude prices, it makes more sense to increase the blending of fuel with biofuels and to save on higher crude prices. Blending ethanol with petrol raises the octane number of petrol. The standard octane number of petrol in India is 91. The costs of additives required to achieve this rating is already built into price of petrol. The splash blending (without changing the octane level at refinery) actually increases the costing by ₹ 1.60 (US$ 0.022) per litre of petrol. Thus, implementing E10 blend mandate is expected to translate into a savings of ₹ 2.60–2.90 (US$ 0.037–0.041) per litre of petrol. However, in the very unlikely scenario where crude oil prices dropping significantly from the current levels, ethanol blending will not be as remunerative but will address the environmental concerns. In the current scenario of overproduction of sugar in India and internationally, such initiatives offer a win–win situation to produce as much of ethanol as possible and simultaneously lower the production of sugar.
Conclusion
The demographic and economic growth in India is putting a great pressure on energy requirements of the road transport sector. Since 2009, significant initiatives have been taken for improving ethanol blending ratios in India. However, maintaining adequate supplies has become very challenging. However, this country is in a unique position to meet its blend requirement as sugarcane a major crop. There is availability of vase agricultural (ligno-cellulose fibres) residues or wastes and necessary infrastrucure in form of sugar mills and other distilleries to convert them into fermentable sugar. Significant progress has been made in innovation of enzymes for hydrolysis of various types of biomass from pilot to demonstration, now even commercial facility. There is positive momentum in the country, and a few pilot project cellulose ethanol plant supported by government as well as few private sector facilities has come up. Transforming all sugar mills into energy hubs for second-generation alcohol production utilizing sugarcane bagasse, trash and other available biomass in a well-designed and an integrated manner will gear up ethanol availability in the country.
However, much more is needed in form of a stable and coherent policy framework for speeding up such initiatives. The analysis in this paper suggests that the aspects related to biomass collection, storage, transport and supply to plants at reasonable prices, infrastructure such as pipelines, etc., private/public co-financing, loan guarantees, etc., will require in-depth analysis and institutional support. Investments in sugarcane research on improving crop yields and its water usage in combination with appropriate measures to tap potential of lingo-cellulose wastes from sugarcane and other agricultural residues will definitely bring a significant positive change in ethanol blending scenario in India.
References
Alleman TL, McCormick RL, Yanowitz J (2015) Properties of ethanol fuel blends made with natural gasoline. Energy Fuels 29:5095–5102
Amaral WAND, Marinho JP, Tarasantchi R, Beber A, Giuliani E (2008) Environmental sustainability of sugarcane ethanol in Brazil. In: Zuurbier P, Vooren JVD (eds) Sugarcane ethanol—contributions to climate change mitigation and the environment. Wageningen Academic Publishers, Wageningen, pp 113–138
Badger PC (2002) Ethanol from cellulose: a general review. In: Janick J, Whipkey A (eds) Trends in new crops and new uses. ASHS Press, Alexandria, pp 17–21
Balan V (2014) Current challenges in commercially producing biofuels from lingo-cellulosic biomass. In: ISRN Biotechnology, Hindsawi Publishing Corporation, London, pp 1-31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/463074 Accessed on 12 December 2017
Balat M, Balat H (2009) Recent trends in global production and utilization of bioethanol fuel in the world. Appl Energy 86:2273–2282
Basavaraj G,Rao PP, Reddy CR, Kumar AA, Rao PS, Reddy BVS (2012) A review of the national biofuel policy in India: A critique of the need to promote alternative feed-stocks. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Acrid Tropics, Patancheru, Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh).http://oar.icrisat.org/ 6520/1/WPS_34.pdf. Accessed on 12 Dec 2017
Bharadwaj A, Tongia A, Arunachalam VS (2007) Scoping technological options for India’s oil security: part I – ethanol for petrol. Curr Sci 92:1071–1077
Cardona ACA, Sanchez TOJ (2006) Energy consumption analysis of integrated flow sheets for production of fuel ethanol fromligno-cellulosic biomass. Energy 31:2447–2459
Chauhan MS, Dixit AK (2012) Indian distillery industry: problems and prospects of decolourisation of spent-wash. IPCBEE 28:119–123
CSTEP (2016) Fuel blending in India: Leanings and way forward. Centre for Study of Science, Technology and Policy, Bangalore
DBT (2016) India’s first cellulosic alcohol technology plant inaugurated. http://www.dbtindia.nic.in/ india%E2%80%99 s. Accessed 12 June 2017
Diego SR, Poxon J (2006) Hybrid electric vehicles: current concepts and future market trends. Rama de Estudiantesdel IEEE de Barcelana 23:5–30
EESI (2015) Fact sheet: High octane fuels: Challenges and Opportunities. Environmental and Energy Study Institute, Washington DC. http://www.eesi.org/papers/ view/fact-sheet-high-octane-fuels-challenges-opportunities. Accessed 12 June 2017
EFOA (2002)The MTBE Resource Guide. The European Fuel Oxegenates Association, Brussels (Belgium) http://www.unep.org/transport/pcfv/PDF/PubEFOAMTBE.pdf. Accessed 12 June 2017
El-Naggar NEA, Deraz S, Khalil A (2014) Bioethanol production from lingo-cellulosic feed stocks based on enzymatic hydrolysis: current status and recent developments. Biotechnology 4(13):1–2
Energy World (2017) India proposes new bio ethanol policy to spur ₹ 5000 crore investments. https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/oil-andgas/61755856. Accessed 12 Dec 2017
Farrell AE, Plevin RJ, Turner BT, Jones AD, Hare MO, Kammen DM (2006) Ethanol can contribute to energy and environmental goals. Science 311:506–508
Galbe M, Zacchi G (2007) Pre-treatment of lignocellulose materials for efficient bioethanol production. Adv Biochem Eng Biotechnol 108:41–65
Garima T, Shivangi Satyawati S, Rajendra P (2016) Bioethanol production: future. Intl J Res Biosci 4:1–15
GoI (2009) National policy on biofuels. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, New Delhi
GoI (2014) Auto fuel vision and policy 2025. http://petroleum.nic. in/docs/autopol.pdf. Accessed 12 June 2017
GoI (2015) Report of standing committee on petroleum and natural gas (2015-16). http://164.100.47.134/lsscommittee/Petroleum%20&%20Natural%20 Gas/16_ Petroleum_And_Natural_Gas_ 11.Pdf. Accessed 12 June 2017
GoI (2015a) Report on standing committee on petroleum and natural gas (2014-15). http://164.100.47.134/lsscommittee/ Petroleum%20&%20Natural%20Gas/16_Petroleum_And_Natural_Gas_7.pdf. Accessed 12 June 2017
GoI (2015b) Report on standing committee on petroleum and natural gas (2015-16). http://164.100.47.134/lsscommittee/Petroleum%20&%20Natural%20Gas/16_Petroleum_And_Natural_Gas_11.pdf. Accessed 12 June 2017
GoI (2015c) Amendment in the First Schedule of Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951 to transfer the authority to regulate ‘potable alcohol’ to States. https://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=126745. Accessed 12 June 2017
GoI (2016a) The industries (development and regulation) amendment act no. DL-(N) 04/0007/2003-16. http://www.indiacode.nic.in/acts-in-pdf/2016/201627.pdf. Accessed 12 June 2017
GoI (2016b) Agricultural statistics at a glance 2015. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi
GoI (2018) National biofuel policy 2018. http://petroleum.nic.in/sites/default/files/biofuelpolicy2018.1.pdf. Accessed on 2 Jan 2019
Gonealves FM, Santiosh EH, Macedo GR (2015) Use of cultivars of low cost, agro-industrial and urban waste in production of cellulosic ethanol in Brazil: a proposal to utilization of micro-distillery. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 50:1287–1303
Guarieiro LL (2013) Vehicle emissions: what will change with use of biofuels? In: Biofuels—economy, environment and sustainability. INTECH, Brazil. https://cdn.Intechopen.com/pdfs-wm/42164.pdf. Accessed 12 June 2017
Gunatilake H, Roland-Holst D, Sugiyarto G, Baka J (2011) Energy security and economics of Indian biofuel strategy in a global context. Asian Development Bank, Manila
ISMA (2016). Statistics: Indian sugar mills association, New Delhi. http://www.indiansugar.com/Statics.aspx. Accessed 12 June 2017
Kang Q, Appels L, Tan T, Dewil R (2014) Bioethanol from lingo-cellulosic biomass: Current findings determine research priorities. The Scientific World Journal, Hindawi Publishing Corporation, London. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/29815
Kintisch E (2008) From gasoline alleys to electric avenues. Nature 319:750–751
KPMG (2007) The Indian sugar industry—sector road map 2017. KPMG India (Pvt) Ltd, Mumbai
KPMG (2010) The Indian automotive Industry – Evolving dynamics. KPMG India (Pvt) Ltd, Bangalore
Kumar GK, Cho K, Shivagurunathan P, Amburajan P, Mahapatra DM, Park JH, Pugazhendhi A (2018) Insights into evolutionary trends in molecular biologytools in microbial screening for biohydrogen production through dark fermentation. Int J Hydrogen Energy 43(43):19885–19901
Kumari S, Das D (2015) Improvement of gaseous energy recovery from sugarcane bagasse by dark fermentation followed by biomethanation process. Biores Technol 194:354–363
Lukajhs R, Holowacz I, Kucharska K, Glinka M, Rybarcsk P, Pizyazny A, Kaminski M (2018) Hydrogen production from biomass using dark fermentation. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 9:665–694
McKendry P (2002) Energy production from biomass (Part II): conversion technologies. Biores Technol 83:47–54
Miryala B, Satana R (2016) Ethanol: a future fuel for light motor vehicles. Intl. J. Modern Chem. and Appl. Sci. 3:398–401
Nande A (2016) ISMA sugar India yearbook—2016. Anekant Prakashan, Jaysingpur
Nanqui R, Wanqin G, Bingfeng L, Ganguli G, Jie D (2011) Biological hydrogen production by dark fermentation: challenges and prospects ahead. Curr Opin Biotechnol 22(3):365–370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j,copbio.2011.04.022
Naylor R, Liska AJ, Burke MB, Falcon WP, Gaskell JC, Rozelle SD, Cassman KG (2007) The ripple effect: biofuels, food security, and the environment. Environment 49(9):3–43
Ni M, Dennis YCL, Michael KHL (2007) A review on reforming bioethanol for hydrogen production. Intl J Hydrogen Energy 32:3238–3247
Pohit S, Biswas PK, Kumar R, Jha J (2009) International experience of ethanol as transport fuel: policy implications for India. Energy Policy 37:4540–4548
Prabakar D, Varshini TM, Sobha SK, Sampath S, Mahapatra DM, Rajendran K, Pugazhendhi A (2018) Advanced biohydrogen production using pre-treated industrial waste: outlook and prospects. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 96:306–321. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.rser.2018.08.006
Puri M, Abraham RE, Barrow CJ (2012) Biofuel production: prospects, challenges and feedstock in Australia. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 16:6022–6031
Rai PK, Singh SP, Asthana RK (2013) Biohydrogen production from sugarcane bagasse by integrating dark and photo fermentation. Biores Technol 152:140–146
Ravindranath NH, Sita Laxmi C, Manuvie R, Balachandran P (2011) Biofuel production and implication for land use, food production and environment in India. Energy Policy 39:5737–5745
Ray S, Goldar A, Miglani S (2012) The ethanol blending policy in India. Econ Polit Wkly 47(1):23–25
Reddy BVS, Ramesh S, Reddy PS, Ramaiah B, Salimath PM, Kachapur R (2005) Sweet sorghum—a potential alternate raw material for bio-ethanol and bio-energy. Int Sorghum Millets Newsl 46:79–86
REPN (2016) Renewables 2015 – Global status report. Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century. http://www.ren21.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/REN12-GSR2015_Onlinebook_low1.pdf. Accessed 12 June 2017
RFA (2015) Going global: 2015 ethanol industry outlook. Renewable Fuels Association, Washington DC
RFA (2016) Blend Wall. Renewable Fuels Association, Washington DC. http://ethanolrfa.org/issues/blend-wall/. Accessed 12 June 2017
Rifffat S, Powell R, Aydin D (2016) Future cities and environmental sustainability. Future Cities Environ. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40984-016-0014-2
Rosillo-calle F (2012) Food versus fuel: towards a new paradigm – The need for a holistic approach. ISRN Renewable Energy 2012. Article ID 954180 (15 pages) https://doi.org/10.5402/2012/954180. Accessed 2 Jan 2019
Saon Ray SM (2011) Ethanol blending policy in India: Demand and supply issues. http://icrier.org/pdf/Policy_Series_No_9pdf. Accessed 12 June 2017
Sharma KVM, Kulkarni MR, Veerandra GP, Karthik N (2016) Trends and challenges in electric vehicles. Int J Innov Res Sci Eng Technol 5(5):8589–8596
Sheth A (2016) Biomass to bioethanol—second generation technology by Praj. http://www.aidaindia.org/pdf/2.pdf. Accessed 12 June 2017
Shinoj P, Raju SS, Joshi PK (2011) India’s biofuel production programme: need for prioritizing alternative options. Indian J Agric Sci 81(5):391–397
Sindelar S, Aradhey A (2015) India-biofuels annual 2015. United States Department of Agriculture, Washington DC
Singh AK, Garg N, Tyagi AK (2016) Viable feedstock options and technological challenges for ethanol production in India. Curr Sci 111(5):815–822
Slelte J, Aradhey A (2016) India-biofuels annual 2015. United States Department of Agriculture, Washington DC
Somerville C, Young H, Taylor C, Davis SC, Long SP (2010) Feed-stocks for lingo-cellulosic biofuels. Science 329:393–420
Srarvanann P, Mathimani T, Deviram G, Rajendran K, Pugazhendhi A (2018) Biofuel policy in India: a review of policy barriers in sustainable marketing of biofuel. J Clean Prod 93:734–747. https://doi.org/10.1016/jclepro.2018.05.033
Sugarcane.org (2016) Ethanol. http://sugarcane.org/sugarcane-products/ethanol. Accessed 1 July 2017
Swain KC (2014) Biofuel production in India: potential, prospects and technology. J Fund Renew Energy Appl. https://doi.org/10.4172/2090-4541.1000129
TERI (2015) Energy security outlook—defining a secure and sustainable energy future for India. The Energy Research Institute, New Delhi
Tsiropoulos I, Faaij APC, Seabra JEA, Schenker U, Briois JF, Patel MA (2014) Life cycle assessment of sugarcane ethanol production in India in comparison to Brazil. Int J Life Cycle Ass 19:1049–1067
Voegele E (2015) Brazilian ethanol production to increase, exports to drop. http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/12281/unica-brazilian-ethanol-production-to-increase-exports-to-drop. Accessed 1 July 2017
Wi SG, Cho EJ, Lee DS, Lee SJ, Lee YJ, Bae HJ (2015) Lignocellulose conversion for biofuel a new pre-treatment greatly improves downstream bio-catalytic hydrolysis of various lingo-cellulosic materials. Biotechnol Biofuels 8:228–239
Wright T, Aradhey A (2016) India-Sugar Annual 2016. United States Department of Agriculture, Washington DC
Zuurbier P, Vooren JVD (2008) Sugarcane ethanol - Contributions to climate change mitigation and the environment. Wageningen Academic Publishers, Wageningen
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Director, Indian Sugarcane Research Institute, Lucknow (India), for encouragement and facilities provided for this work.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Roy, M.M., Chandra, A. Promoting biofuels: the case of ethanol blending initiative in India. Clean Techn Environ Policy 21, 953–965 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-019-01687-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-019-01687-z