New Delhi
TVS Motor
Company and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) have started pilot projects in
Pune to produce flex-fuel based engines for two-wheelers. Flex-fuel engines
will help vehicles adopt a higher percentage of blended ethanol in fuel.
The two pilot
projects will be set up in Pune, to check the viability of launching pure
ethanol-based or E100 vehicles if there isn’t a consistent supply of ethanol.
If it sustains for a year, it will be tested further.
The government
has also asked auto companies to check the viability of E100 vehicles while
getting ready for E20 vehicles. The government proposed the idea during a
meeting with the Ministry of petroleum and natural gas, sugar manufacturers and
the automotive industry body (SIAM).
Currently, India
blends 8.6% of ethanol and has a target to achieve 20% (E20) by 2025. But the
industry is concerned with the aggressive target as the capacity of ethanol
stands at 457 crore litres per annum which can sustain only up to 10% blending.
To reach the 20% level India needs 1,016 crore litres of ethanol per year.
For this, the government has now facilitated the production of
grain-based ethanol from waste products such as rice husk, bran,
broken rice and wheat stock with FCI and corn.
Source – Express Drives
Image Source: Image by Bernd Müller from Pixabay
Also Read:
Comments