Flexible fuel engines may soon become mandatory requirements in India. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) announced that they will make a decision on flexible fuel engines within the next 8-10 days.

• India currently uses about 10% ethanol blended gasoline

• Mandatory use of flexible fuel engines will also promote the development of the agricultural sector

• Ethanol-powered cars will The emissions produced are much lower than gasoline cars

“Flexible fuel engine” is an internal combustion engine that can run on a variety of fuels and mixtures. Generally, a mixture of gasoline and ethanol or methanol is used, and the engine can automatically adjust any percentage of the mixture due to modifications such as the fuel composition sensor and appropriate ECU programming.

solve At the 2020-21 Rotary District meeting, Gadkari, the head of MoRTH, said: “I am the Minister of Transportation. I will issue an order to the industry. Only gasoline engines will not be there. There will be flexible fuel engines. There will be people’s Optionally, they can use 100% crude oil or 100 ethanol,”. “I will make a decision within 8 to 10 days and we will make it (flexible fuel engine) a mandatory product in the automotive industry,” he further stated.

Flex fuel engines can run on 100% gasoline or 100% ethanol and are already on the market in countries such as Brazil, the United States, and Canada. India has already used ethanol-blended gasoline. The stimulant level was 5% at the beginning, and it is currently about 10%.Earlier this month, the government Put forward the goal of producing 20% ​​ethanol Blended gasoline (E20) for two years, that is, from 2025 to 2023.

Gadkari further stated, “It (mandatory use of flexible fuel engines) will boost the Indian economy because we are a country with a surplus of corn, surplus of sugar, and surplus of wheat. We have no place to store all this food,” he added.

Since ethanol is usually produced by fermenting crops such as corn and sugar cane, the mandatory use of flexible fuel engines may also benefit the agricultural sector. In addition, this will reduce the country’s oil import bill, which is between 7 trillion rupees and 8 trillion rupees.

Given that gasoline prices in some parts of the country are above 100 rupees/liter and ethanol prices are about 60-62 rupees/liter, this move can also save customers about 30-35 rupees/liter. In addition, the emissions of ethanol-powered vehicles are also much lower than that of gasoline-powered vehicles, which will be the key given the country’s increasing air pollution.

For some time, the government has been planning to implement ethanol fuel in India. Recently, in March of this year, Gadkari said in a speech at the 2021 Indian Grand Prix: “I ask everyone in the automotive industry to cooperate with us to bring flexible engines like in the United States, Brazil and Canada.”

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Flexible fuel engines may debut in India soon