World's first 100% ethanol car unveiled in Delhi

Tribune News Service

Shubhadeep Choudhury

New Delhi, August 29

In a boost to the use of alternative energy for transportation, the first prototype of world’s first fully ethanol-powered car equipped with a flex-fuel engine developed by Toyota Kirloskar Motor was premiered in Delhi today.

Game-changer

• A biofuel made from sugar or foodgrain, ethanol has emerged as a potential clean energy alternative for mobility
• Used as fuel in countries such as Brazil, US, China and Thailand
• India has long held that surplus food crops could be used to make ethanol to power vehicles

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri were among the dignitaries at the event. The release date for the production version of the vehicle is awaited. Ethanol, a biofuel made from sugar or foodgrain, has emerged as a potential clean energy alternative for mobility, and is used as fuel in countries such as Brazil, US, China and Thailand. The government has long held that surplus food crops could be used to make the ethanol needed to power vehicles.

“Ethanol will change the whole landscape of the country’s economy. It will not only make farmers ‘annadata’ to ‘urjadata’, but also providers of bio-aviation fuel,” said Gadkari. He has consistently promoted the adoption of alternative fuels to reduce the import bills of fossil fuels and to bring down carbon emission. “Vehicular pollution contributes to 40 per cent of pollution in our nation. Delhi residents are particularly affected by vehicular emissions,” Gadkari today stressed at the event. Hardeep Puri said E20 (a blend of petrol with 20 per cent ethanol) fuel is being dispensed at more than 3,300 fuel stations across the country and shall be available pan India by April 2025.

E20 implementation by April 2025 will lead to import bill savings of about Rs 35,000 crore annually, eliminating the need for up to 63 million barrels of petrol and slashing CO2 emissions by up to 21 million metric tonnes in the process, Puri said, adding new technologies would provide opportunity of greater substitution of petrol by ethanol.

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