Click it and Unblock the Notifications
Methanol To Replace Petrol And Diesel in India: Shaping The Future
As the Indian economy rises, the government is looking for more sustainable fuel options. The government intends to make India more energy self-sufficient and to make India a zero-emissions nation by 2070.
To facilitate these intentions, the government of India has been looking at Methanol, a cleaner fuel source, as an option to reduce the country’s need to import fuel and to lower the level of emissions in India.
85 per-cent of India relies on the import of crude oil for its needs. The annual consumption of petrol and diesel in India increased by more than 6 per-cent and 4 per-cent respectively, between 2023-24. India is expected to be one of the highest energy-consuming countries in the world in the next couple of years.
The Indian government has been pushing towards a “greener tomorrow”, exploring options of alternative fuel options. Methanol is a clean fuel produced from high ash coal, carbon dioxide from factories, and agricultural reduce. The government has stated that methanol can replace petrol and diesel in transport and replace LPG in cooking.
The Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways announced that they are planning on blending methanol with petrol. The blends that have been announced are M-15 (15 per cent methanol/ 85 per cent petrol), M-85 (85 per cent methanol/ 15 per cent petrol), and M-100 (100 per-cent methanol).
The apex public policy think tank of the Government of India, Niti Aayog stated that 15 per cent of methanol in gasoline could lead to at least a 15 per cent reduction in import of crude oil.
The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) and the Automotive Research Association of India will all be involved in the testing and planning of the M-15 blend that is being made.
Another new announcement, released by the Bureau of Indian Standards stated, that a 20 per cent blend of di-methyl ether (DME), a byproduct of methanol to be added to LPG. By adding 20 per-cent of DME to LPG, this could save India 6000 crores annually, and Rs.50-100 on every cylinder bought by consumers.
The Road and Highway Minister, Nitin Gadkari, earlier stated that methanol trucks and methanol-diesel engines are an option to reduce the cost of logistics. The government has also stated that the production of methanol will create up to 5 million jobs.
DriveSpark Thinks
The demand for fuel in India will only keep growing as the population and economy keep rising. And in turn, fuel prices are going to keep rising as we can see has happened in the past couple of years. By looking for alternative fuel sources and diluting petrol and diesel with gases like Methanol, the prices of fuel should at least stay more consistent if not lower.
Continue with Google