India's E20 fuel rollout sparks driver protest
Drivers report engine wear and lower mileage
The government says that ethanol-petrol mixture is safe
Fuel stations must offer a variety of fuels to consumers
Bhasker Tripathi
The rapidly expanding ethanol program of the government aims to reduce costly oil imports through the blending of petrol with ethanol. This biofuel is derived from organic waste or agricultural products and burns cleaner than conventional gasoline.
India achieved its goal of a 20% mix of ethanol in petrol (also known as E20 gasoline) five years earlier than expected.
Amit Khare is a car reviewer who has 15 million monthly viewers on social media, including YouTube Meta and Instagram. He criticises the fuel.
He said that it could damage several parts of the engine. "Neither the government or the petrol stations in the country inform users about these issues... Consumers are kept in the dark."
In comments left on his video on the subject, he received thousands of messages from drivers who were worried.
Social media is flooded with complaints about fuel efficiency issues, damaged engines, and expensive repairs.
Sunderdeep Singh, a car critic from Punjab, said that the government should require petrol stations to color-code their blends.
DIP MILEAGE
On Monday, the government stated that concerns about E20 fuel are unfounded. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas stated that the criticism was lacking "technical basis" and its own reports did not find any major engine damage.
The government acknowledged that mileage could drop slightly by between 1%-2% on newer vehicles and up to 6% on older cars, but added that this can be handled with regular servicing.
Owners of vehicles responded quickly, posting mileage figures online and accusing government officials of concealing the truth.
Khare test-drove an E20 compliant car for two month and noticed a drop in mileage of between 5% to 6%.
Khare estimates that most of the cars and motorbikes sold in the United States before 2023 will not be compliant with E20.
INDIA'S BIOFUEL DRIVER
The Indian government is focusing on biofuels as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and lower the cost of oil imports.
According to data from the government, this policy helped India save about 1,06 trillion rupees (12,09 billion dollars) on crude oil imports between 2014 and 2024 and prevented 54.4 millions tonnes of CO2 emissions during that decade.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this is the equivalent of 12 million gasoline powered cars emitting emissions each year.
The gains are not without trade-offs. India has increased ethanol production through the diversion of crops such as sugarcane and maize to fuel production, which reduces the amount of grain available for cattle and people, and shifts land away from food production.
ENGINE WARNINGS
Hero MotoCorp, TVS Motor and other Indian motorcycle and scooter manufacturers have issued similar advisories regarding ethanol. They said that vehicles manufactured before 2023 will require fuel system modifications in order to operate efficiently with E20.
Shell India warns customers about the risks of engine damage and warranty loss when using E20 fuel.
Antony Mathew, a car owner from Bangalore, said: "It's unfair for the government to force us to use higher blends of ethanol when our cars aren't ready."
(source: Reuters)
