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Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, January 6: After unleaded petrol, efforts are on to further improve the quality of the fuel in Delhi by adding alcohol to petrol. The proposal sent by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is still awaiting clearance from the Ministry. According to the plan, ethanol and methanol will be added to petrol at the refinery stage itself.
Vehicular pollution being the highest in Delhi, the scheme will first be tried out here on an experimental basis. No major change will be required in the engines of these vehicles. It can also be done in cars running on diesel. According to the proposal, this would also reduce the country’s dependance on the Middle East for crude oil. Alcoholic products can be manufactured using resources available freely around the globe.
Moreover, these raw materials are renewable resources. Methanol is made from natural gas and coal, while ethanol from the fermentation of agricultural products. The Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP, Dehradun) has already carried out extensive studies on the utilisation of alcohol, both methanol and ethanol, as part and full replacement of gasolene. This replacement of gasolene with three per cent methanol was successfully carried out by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. They marketted a blend called M3 from 10 retail outlets in Baroda 25 years ago. They tried it out in diesel passenger buses and found that visible smoke reduced by around 40 per cent.
