NEW DELHI: The Indian government’s latest move to get automobile owners to driver greener — by using ‘gasohol’ — comes many years too late, but many hope this will lead to cleaner air and curb the country’s huge oil import bills.

For two weeks now, the use of gasohol — a mix of petrol and ethyl alcohol — has been mandatory in nine states and four centrally administered union territories.

Debate in India on whether gasohol should be used or not has been a subject of debate and indecision for 30 years, which is why skeptics claim that the announcement that took effect Jan. 1 has more to do with economic compulsions and domestic politics than just environmental concerns.

“Gasohol is a step in the right direction and should be welcomed, even if it has taken long to arrive,” said Prof H S Mukunda, an expert on biomass-based renewable energy systems at the Indian Institute of Science (IISC) in Bangalore.

Studies have shown that a blend containing 5 to 10 per cent of ethyl alcohol can reduce carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide by 10 to 30 per cent. Among the states listed in the first phase are the commercially significant and populous states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Haryana.

All are major sugarcane producers, where huge mounds of unused molasses are now piling up by the ton. This is significant because sugarcane molasses are the raw material usually used in producing fuel-grade ethanol, a high-octane water-free alcohol.

This is also why many see India’s powerful sugar lobby behind the decision to introduce gasohol.

“Scientists have been working on ethanol and advocating it for years. Yet the government showed no interest until now,” pointed out Anumita Mazumdar, coordinator of the air pollution unit at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), which has been advocating the blending of alcohol with petrol for almost five years.

Be that as it may, “this is one case where politics helped the environment”, Mazumdar said.

Skepticism about the government’s motives also appears to stem from the fact that Petroleum Minister Ram Naik is from the sugar- surplus state of Maharashtra. At the launch of gasohol, Naik said: “This move will also greatly benefit sugarcane farmers in the country.”

Sweeteners have been lined up to boost the gasohol effort. For instance, the Maharasthra state government has announced a small rebate in excise duty and the waiver of sales tax for gasohol manufacturers.

These may go some way toward closing the large gap between supply and demand. According to the country’s Ministry of Petroleum, India produces two-thirds of its requirements of the blended fuel — 200 million litres against an estimated demand of 320 million litres.

Some of the estimated demand may also be met through the efforts of public sector giant Indian Oil. The company is researching plant-derived non-edible oils — like that produced by the Jatropha tree — and plans to launch a blended fuel that contains 10 per cent alcohol by 2004. An Indian Oil scientist said the company hopes biodiesel “may hit the market in four years.”

Gasohol is actually the second green fuel that India has adopted. Last year, after a spirited campaign led by the CSE, the Supreme Court issued a directive that led to the Delhi state government’s banning of use of diesel by buses, which now use compressed natural gas. Air pollution has since decreased.

The switch to alcohol-blended petrol is also expected to help bring down India’s huge crude oil import bill.

In the last financial year 2001-02, the country imported 78 million tonnes of crude — 70 per cent of its needs — at a cost of 16 billion US dollars. To put that in perspective, over the same period India’s foreign exchange reserves grew by just 11 billion dollars. Five per cent of a litre of gasohol will be ethyl alcohol in this first phase of the programme, with the blend rising to a proposed 10 per cent from October 2003.

Those in India who must now tank up with the new fuel blend will find that it is slightly cheaper than regular petrol, by one rupee per litre — if motorists can find the blend.

“I knew nothing about this. I do not even know how many gas stations actually have the fuel,” said Venkat Subramaniam, a Hyderabad-based engineer.

Indeed, some states said they were caught unawares by the introduction of gasohol although finance ministry officials point out that mention of gasohol use is in India’s 2002 budget, announced in Feb last year.

Happily for motorists like Subramaniam, the five per cent blend requires no modification to vehicle engines — but a blend containing more than 10 per cent ethyl alcohol will. Brazil, whose efforts to develop environment-friendly fuel served as a role model for India, uses a 22 per cent alcohol mix in its blended fuel.

The petrol-ethyl alcohol blend is promising, but the challenge lies in the use of diesel, which despite the ban on buses’ use on them last year, accounts for almost four-fifths of Indian automobile fuels. A blend with diesel, which is under research, will mark a real break-through.—Dawn/InterPress News Service