Now Reading: Government rules out ethanol-diesel blend after safety test fails
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Government rules out ethanol-diesel blend after safety test fails
The government has ruled out wider use of ethanol-blended diesel after tests showed it fails safety specifications. Minister of State for Petroleum Suresh Gopi told Parliament that adding ethanol drastically lowers the…
The Story in Brief
The government has ruled out wider use of ethanol-blended diesel after tests showed it fails safety specifications. Minister of State for Petroleum Suresh Gopi told Parliament that adding ethanol drastically lowers the flashpoint of diesel, making the blend unsafe. Public sector oil marketing companies tested the blend in collaboration with accredited labs and automakers.
Separately, the Indian Federation of Green Energy (IFGE) said India needs both ethanol and electric vehicles for cleaner mobility. It noted that E20 petrol is now deployed nationwide, though fuel efficiency drops 2-6% compared to E10. The ethanol blending programme has saved over Rs 1.97 lakh crore in foreign exchange since 2014-15.
The Indian Opinion
The diesel-blend failure is a setback, but it does not discredit the broader ethanol push. Petrol blending has already saved billions in forex and cut crude dependence. Yet the narrative that ethanol can replace all fossil fuels is one-sided, the E20 efficiency drop is real, and diesel remains problematic. The real test will be whether the government can resolve the flashpoint issue or pivot to ethanol as cooking fuel, which faces its own viability questions.
Sources (2): timesofindia.indiatimes.com, timesofindia.indiatimes.com (2)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
