Adding Ethanol in Fuel

narasimha raju · 20th March 2006, 16:12

There is a news published in the local news paper stating that government of
India is planning to add 5% of Ethanol (biproduct of sugar) in fuel in 9 states i.e Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharastra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Punjab and Haryana where sugarcane is largely cultivated.

My question is, will this effect the engine life or performance of a vehicle?

jeetu4444 · 20th March 2006, 20:16

i dont think it will effect the performance of the car.i read the review of using this fuel in a bike and it was not having any problems.

DCEite · 20th March 2006, 20:20

thank god Delhi is not in the list...

Mpower · 20th March 2006, 21:47

Its a common practice in the US to use 'upto' 5%.

zaphod · 20th March 2006, 22:17

I thought this was already being done....5-95 ethanol/petrol mix....

your car manual will have the details - IIRC my esteem handbook mentions 10% as safe with no mods.

Brazil is one place where gasohol is big - they use methanol though.

I think's it's a good trend - replacing valuable and hard to obtain fossil fuel with a renewable and cleaner source of biofuel is the way to the future.

zaphod

mithun · 23rd March 2006, 06:09

What are the advantages of mixing Ethanol with petrol ?

Is it to reduce the pollution ? And will it increase the FE in way ?

Will it cause any damage to the engines (especially MPFI) in the long run ?

I know that helping the sugarcane farmers is the need of the hour but at the expense of others is a strict no-no..

sivadas · 23rd March 2006, 08:41

In Brazil they use 100% ethanol (also) for vehicles. And of course engines are different. They are called "Flexi fuel" engines, that means it can run on regular petrol as well as alcohol. Even in US these vehicles are available.

It will be really interesting if that comes here. Guys will be out there with extended straws queuing up at parking lots.

kpzen · 23rd March 2006, 08:51

The basic objective of adding ethanol is reduce dependence on petroleum which is not renewable....Data from sources reveal no difference in performance n FE..
Ethanol is our own product n can be regenerated by sugar industry.....

aakash-agarwal · 23rd March 2006, 17:48

This Is similar to the bio- diesel project headed by Daimler Chrysler India....extracting Diesel from Jatropha oil...

Klaus17 · 24th March 2006, 01:26

I believe they already allow Ethanol addition of upto 5% and will now be pushing it up to the 10% mark. Ethanol also goes into other oil related industries but its under a strict quota system and its difficult to get licenses to it since ethanol is one of the main ingredients in the liquor manufaturing industries. There is always the possibility of ethanol ending up in many of these illegal liquor manufacturing units.

does anyone remember many years ago this guy surfaced (i think his name was ramar pillai) who claimed he had made diesel from the leaves of some tree. he turned out to be a hoax. Many years later now jatropha surfaces.

In brazil and argentina and now recently in south africa they do make biodiesel from genetically modified soya oil.

bigman · 24th March 2006, 02:46

Great idea but the purchasing process needs to be sorted out if things are to move forward. The Brazillians have got everything down to a T.

I come from an area where sugar cane used to be farmed on a large scale. The farmers got fed up with the sugar mills not paying money for crops on time and all the other bother they used to have like having to queue for days to unload your trolley of cane.

In Haryana the INLD chief Chataula (then CM of Haryana) politicised the whole thing by trying to set up a sugar mill on his home patch (an area which is unsuitable for sugar cane farming). The locals had enough and ploughed up their sugar cane crop.

There appears to be no momentum to empower consumers and spread the use of alternative fuels. Maybe the central government is scared that if cheaper alternatives are introduced then it will lose revenue.

For those interested the following site has some good information http://www.jatrophaworld.org/14.html

condor · 18th October 2006, 08:19

http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/oct/18fuel.htm

"Owners of old vehicles, especially two-wheelers, using carburettors will have to fork out anything between Rs 2,000 and Rs 10,000 to modify their vehicles for using petrol blended with 10 per cent ethanol that the government has decided to introduce from November 2007."

vasanthn21 · 10th June 2013, 14:42

Can someone explain to me why the price of Petrol goes up by Rs.5 when 5% Ethanol is added which costs Rs.40 per litre?

As per my calculations, the rate should reduce by Rs.1.5 per litre, assuming petrol cost Rs.70/litre. So instead of a reduction of 2% in fuel, it is increasing by 7%, where is this additional 9% going?

20th March 2006, 16:12	#1
narasimha raju BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 128 Thanked: 54 Times	Adding Ethanol in Fuel There is a news published in the local news paper stating that government of India is planning to add 5% of Ethanol (biproduct of sugar) in fuel in 9 states i.e Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharastra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Punjab and Haryana where sugarcane is largely cultivated. My question is, will this effect the engine life or performance of a vehicle? Last edited by narasimha raju : 20th March 2006 at 16:14.
	() Thanks

20th March 2006, 20:16	#2
jeetu4444 BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: mumbai Posts: 305 Thanked: 0 Times View My Garage	i dont think it will effect the performance of the car.i read the review of using this fuel in a bike and it was not having any problems.
	() Thanks

20th March 2006, 20:20	#3
DCEite Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: NCR Posts: 3,413 Thanked: 2,517 Times	thank god Delhi is not in the list...
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20th March 2006, 21:47	#4
Mpower Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 10,409 Thanked: 1,729 Times View My Garage	Its a common practice in the US to use 'upto' 5%.
	() Thanks

20th March 2006, 22:17	#5
zaphod BHPian Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: NO IDeA/Madurai Posts: 236 Thanked: 4 Times	I thought this was already being done....5-95 ethanol/petrol mix.... your car manual will have the details - IIRC my esteem handbook mentions 10% as safe with no mods. Brazil is one place where gasohol is big - they use methanol though. I think's it's a good trend - replacing valuable and hard to obtain fossil fuel with a renewable and cleaner source of biofuel is the way to the future. zaphod
	() Thanks

23rd March 2006, 06:09	#6
mithun BANNED Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Cochin Posts: 2,195 Thanked: 268 Times	What are the advantages of mixing Ethanol with petrol ? Is it to reduce the pollution ? And will it increase the FE in way ? Will it cause any damage to the engines (especially MPFI) in the long run ? I know that helping the sugarcane farmers is the need of the hour but at the expense of others is a strict no-no..
	() Thanks

23rd March 2006, 08:41	#7
sivadas BHPian Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 506 Thanked: 208 Times View My Garage	In Brazil they use 100% ethanol (also) for vehicles. And of course engines are different. They are called "Flexi fuel" engines, that means it can run on regular petrol as well as alcohol. Even in US these vehicles are available. It will be really interesting if that comes here. Guys will be out there with extended straws queuing up at parking lots.
	() Thanks

23rd March 2006, 08:51	#8
kpzen Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Faridabad Posts: 5,610 Thanked: 1,876 Times View My Garage	The basic objective of adding ethanol is reduce dependence on petroleum which is not renewable....Data from sources reveal no difference in performance n FE.. Ethanol is our own product n can be regenerated by sugar industry.....
	() Thanks

23rd March 2006, 17:48	#9
aakash-agarwal Newbie Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 4 Thanked: 0 Times	This Is similar to the bio- diesel project headed by Daimler Chrysler India....extracting Diesel from Jatropha oil...
	() Thanks

24th March 2006, 01:26	#10
Klaus17 BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 155 Thanked: 8 Times	I believe they already allow Ethanol addition of upto 5% and will now be pushing it up to the 10% mark. Ethanol also goes into other oil related industries but its under a strict quota system and its difficult to get licenses to it since ethanol is one of the main ingredients in the liquor manufaturing industries. There is always the possibility of ethanol ending up in many of these illegal liquor manufacturing units. does anyone remember many years ago this guy surfaced (i think his name was ramar pillai) who claimed he had made diesel from the leaves of some tree. he turned out to be a hoax. Many years later now jatropha surfaces. In brazil and argentina and now recently in south africa they do make biodiesel from genetically modified soya oil.
	() Thanks

24th March 2006, 02:46	#11
bigman Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: NA Posts: 1,224 Thanked: 93 Times	Great idea but the purchasing process needs to be sorted out if things are to move forward. The Brazillians have got everything down to a T. I come from an area where sugar cane used to be farmed on a large scale. The farmers got fed up with the sugar mills not paying money for crops on time and all the other bother they used to have like having to queue for days to unload your trolley of cane. In Haryana the INLD chief Chataula (then CM of Haryana) politicised the whole thing by trying to set up a sugar mill on his home patch (an area which is unsuitable for sugar cane farming). The locals had enough and ploughed up their sugar cane crop. There appears to be no momentum to empower consumers and spread the use of alternative fuels. Maybe the central government is scared that if cheaper alternatives are introduced then it will lose revenue. For those interested the following site has some good information http://www.jatrophaworld.org/14.html
	() Thanks

18th October 2006, 08:19	#12
condor Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Speed-brkr City Posts: 15,864 Thanked: 16,007 Times View My Garage	Fuel for thought ? http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/oct/18fuel.htm "Owners of old vehicles, especially two-wheelers, using carburettors will have to fork out anything between Rs 2,000 and Rs 10,000 to modify their vehicles for using petrol blended with 10 per cent ethanol that the government has decided to introduce from November 2007."
	() Thanks

10th June 2013, 14:42	#13
vasanthn21 BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 811 Thanked: 521 Times View My Garage	Re: Adding Ethanol in Fuel Can someone explain to me why the price of Petrol goes up by Rs.5 when 5% Ethanol is added which costs Rs.40 per litre? As per my calculations, the rate should reduce by Rs.1.5 per litre, assuming petrol cost Rs.70/litre. So instead of a reduction of 2% in fuel, it is increasing by 7%, where is this additional 9% going?
	() Thanks