Policy To Mix Methanol With Petrol To Surface Soon: Nitin Gadkari

To reduce the cost of fuel and curb emissions from automobiles, the government will soon release a policy wherein 15 per cent blending of methanol with petrol will be made mandatory. The Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India, Nitin Gadkari, said that this announcement is expected to surface in the upcoming parliament session.

He reiterated this move by getting into the numbers game. Gadkari reportedly said that production of methanol costs only Rs 22 per litre, which is significantly lower than the Rs 80 per litre mark of petrol. Even China, which is the by far the biggest automotive industry in the world, is producing methanol at just Rs 17 per litre.

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To produce petrol, India imports gigantic amounts of crude oil from overseas. That is then further processed to make the finished product that is petrol. It is the high cost of import and processing that makes petrol so expensive. Methanol, on the other hand, can be produced directly from sources like coal, natural gas and biomass. That explains the lower per litre cost.

However, that’s not where Gadkari wants to stop. He has reportedly advised his his cabinet colleague in charge of the petroleum ministry to look at the inclusion of ethanol as part of the blending process rather than building petrol refineries that cost over Rs 70,000 crore. The total investment opportunity of ethanol alone is Rs 1.5 lakh crore, he added.

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Theoretically, methanol can also be used alone as an alternative fuel to power internal combustion engines. In fact, methanol is used in racing cars in several countries around the world. However, for the masses, methanol hasn’t received as much attention as ethanol has globally. The latter is less toxic and has the potential to deliver higher energy density. Methanol, on the other hand, is less expensive to produce and, in turn, less expensive to reduce the emission levels.

For optimising engine performance, fuel availability, toxicity and political advantage, the blend of the trio makes the most sense i.e. petrol, ethanol and methanol. We sure hope that this policy comes out a winner on all fronts. No matter how we look at the current situation, the insertion of electric vehicles in our daily routine is far from being a reality. Until that happens, more environmentally friendly IC (internal combustion) fuels should help cut the cake. Coupling that with hybrid vehicles would be even better, but for now, the government has slapped the highest GST plus cess on them.

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