Ethanol is a green fuel and its blending with petrol also saves foreign exchange
Government has 10% blending target for mixing ethanol with petrol by 2022 & 20% blending target by 2030
The liquid biofuel in greatest production is ethanol (ethyl alcohol), which is made by fermenting starch or sugar. Brazil and the United States are among the leading producers of ethanol. In the United States ethanol biofuel is made primarily from corn (maize) grain, and it is typically blended with gasoline to produce “gasohol,” a fuel that is 10 percent ethanol. In Brazil, ethanol biofuel is made primarily from sugarcane, and it is commonly used as a 100-percent-ethanol fuel or in gasoline blends containing 85 percent ethanol. Unlike the “first-generation” ethanol biofuel produced from food crops, “second-generation” cellulosic ethanol is derived from low-value biomass that possesses a high cellulose content, including wood chips, crop residues, and municipal waste. Cellulosic ethanol is commonly made from sugarcane bagasse, a waste product from sugar processing, or from various grasses that can be cultivated on low-quality land. Given that the conversion rate is lower than with first-generation biofuels, cellulosic ethanol is dominantly used as a gasoline additive.
RAS PDF and Printed Notes for RAS Prelims and Mains Exam
