FCI rice to be used for ethanol production

FCI rice to be used for ethanol production

Subject: Economy

Context: The Central government has allocated 78,000 tonnes of rice procured for food security purposes to be diverted to ethanol production instead this year, at a subsidised rate of ₹20 a kg, Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said.

Concept:

• This is part of the government’s plan to double distilling capacities by 2025, partly by encouraging an increase in the share of grain-based ethanol production from the current focus on molasses-based production.
• Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented a road map advancing the target date for achieving 20% blending of ethanol in petrol by five years to 2025.
• The last two years have seen blending levels of around 5%, which is likely to jump to 8.5% in the current year, according to a Ministry statement.

Bioethanol      

• It is derived from corn and sugarcane using fermentation process.
• A litre of ethanol contains approximately two thirds of the energy provided by a litre of petrol.
• When mixed with petrol, it improves the combustion performance and lowers the emissions of carbon monoxide and sulphur oxide.

Ethanol Blending Programme (EBP):

• It aims at blending ethanol with petrol, thereby bringing it under the category of biofuels and saving millions of dollars by cutting fuel imports and decreasing carbon emissions.
• The target is to achieve 20% blending of ethanol by 2025.
• In 2018, the Central Government extended the ambit of the EBP programme to extract the fuel from surplus quantities of food grains such as maize, jawar, bajra fruit and vegetable waste.
• Earlier, only excess sugarcane production was allowed to be converted into ethanol for procurement under the programme.
• First generation bioethanol: These are made from food sources such as sugar, starch, vegetable oil, or animal fats using conventional technology.