20% ethanol in petrol should not put the country in such a big trouble, need to learn from Brazil
The faster the world is moving towards modernity, the faster this modernity is putting the environment in danger. Today the situation in the world is such that no country wants to slow down the pace of modernity but is also taking measures to handle the environment. One such decision has been taken by the Government of India that by the year 2025, 20% ethanol will be mixed in petrol in India. The government had taken this step for two reasons.
India will benefit but…
First, ethanol is called green fuel, in such a situation, its 20% adulteration in petrol will reduce the pollution caused by petrol fumes in the environment and secondly because India imports most of its petrol from abroad, 20% in petrol. Milling of ethanol will also save India thousands of crores annually. This step of the government is also very good in terms of environment and economy, but today we will tell you why there is a need to learn from the bitter experiences of Brazil in its decision to mix 20% ethanol in petrol in India.
Toxic products are found in rivers
During the military dictatorship in Brazil from 1964 to 1985, 20% ethanol was allowed to be added to gasoline. The effect of this decision was that in the year 1979, only 0.3% of cars in Brazil were such that can run on ethanol. But in just 6 years, by the year 1985, 96% of the cars on Brazilian roads had come to run on ethanol. Most of the farmers there started growing sugarcane in their fields due to profits. In the year 1979, 500 million liters of ethanol were manufactured in Brazil. Whereas in 1985, 20 times more than 1 thousand liters of ethanol was produced in Brazil. But the effect of Brazil’s decision to add 20% ethanol to gasoline was that today the water in Brazil’s water bodies has decreased by 80%. In fact, 10 to 16 liters of toxic by-products are released in making one liter of ethanol, which gets mixed in rivers.
According to Dr. Hishmi Hussain, member of IUCN, water is also wasted in the process of making ethanol. Compared to one gigajoule of fuel from fuel, it takes 78 times as much water to make this much fuel from ethanol. This was the reason due to which Brazil suffered the biggest drought of 20 years in the year 2021.
Farmers will get tremendous benefits
Currently 9.45% ethanol is being mixed in petrol in India and it has been decided to mix 20% ethanol in petrol by the year 2025. The opinion of environmental experts and economists on this whole issue is completely different. According to economist Dr. Vijay Sardana, mixing 20% ethanol in petrol by the year 2025 will save India more than 30 thousand crore rupees annually and its direct benefit will be to the farmers. Because ethanol can be made from any starchy crop like potato, grapes, sugarcane, maize and if ever the prices of these crops fall due to high yield, then the government can buy these crops and make ethanol from them. This step will also not harm the farmer and India’s foreign exchange reserves will also be saved.
Threat of water crisis?
According to environmental expert Manu Singh, the decision to mix 20% ethanol in petrol can further reduce India’s ground water, which is currently at its lowest level. According to the NITI Aayog report, ground water in India has reduced by 61% between 2007 and 2017 and 70% of India’s ground water is polluted. In such a situation, environmental experts believe that India can face a tremendous water crisis if the limit of adulteration of ethanol in petrol is raised to 20%.
According to Rameshwar Lal Gupta, former deputy general manager of Dalmia Sugar, who has been associated with the ethanol industry for almost 20 years, modern technology has arrived in India today. Today, the sugar factories are producing electricity from the waste generated after the manufacture of ethanol in the sugar factory. In such a situation, when the production of ethanol increases, electricity can be made from its waste product, which will also bring all-round benefits and water pollution will also be reduced. This is a kind of revolution which will benefit the farmers as well as the common man.
What will be the results?
In the Climate Submit of Paris, India had promised to reduce its carbon emissions to zero by 2070 and in this episode, India is constantly trying to reduce carbon emissions. Due to which about 10% ethanol is adulterated in petrol in India at present. Ethanol cars release 70% less hydrocarbons, 30% less nitrogen and 65% less carbon monoxide than petroleum-powered cars. This is the reason why ethanol is also called green fuel, but the question is whether we will not wash our hands with water in the process of cleaning the air.
