Mumbai, July 28 — The E20 ethanol-blended fuel policy is technically sound, economically beneficial and expected to support Indian farmers while reducing the country's dependence on imported petroleum, Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) Vice-Chancellor Prof. Aniruddh B. Pandit said, on Tuesday.
Speaking to IANS on the impact of E20 fuel, Prof. Pandit said the initiative is expected to significantly reduce India's dependence on imported petroleum, leading to substantial savings in foreign exchange. He also said the policy would create greater demand for ethanol, providing a boost to the agricultural sector and benefiting farmers.
"From an overall point of view, this type of ethanol blending is likely to be extremely beneficial to Indian farmers. It is likely to save significant amount of foreign exchange because we are heavily dependent on petroleum," he said.
"Whatever complaints which people are making and there appears to be some sort of a campaign to go against ethanol blending, I do not know the reasons for that. But there are no technical difficulties as far as 20 per cent ethanol blend is concerned," he told IANS.
According to him, newer vehicles are fully compatible with E20 fuel and do not face any issues with its use.
However, he acknowledged that certain older vehicles could experience problems because some rubber and polymer-based components used in their fuel systems may deteriorate over time when exposed to ethanol-blended petrol.
Prof. Pandit said these compatibility issues are largely limited to older vehicle models and stressed that extensive scientific studies and technical evaluations had been conducted before the E20 policy was introduced.
"A couple of other things which are there where there are certain rubber and polymeric components which are there where ethanol containing petrol passes through that as a result of which these polymeric materials are likely to get affected because of the blend of ethanol and petrol," he stated.
Highlighting the history of ethanol as an automotive fuel, he said India had vehicles running on 100 per cent ethanol during the 1940s and 1950s, indicating that a 20 per cent ethanol blend should not pose a significant challenge from an engineering perspective.