Is Flex-Fuel Vehicles (FFV) worth it ?

A flex-fuel vehicle is a modified version of vehicle that could run both on gasoline and doped petrol with different levels of ethanol blends,which can include upto 100% ethanol. When FFV is integrated with strong hybrid electric technology, it is called Flex Fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicles (FFV-SHEV). FFV-SHEV are the hybrid vehicles having capability to run solely on either electric or petrol modes. The central government has released an expert committee report on the roadmap for ethanol blending in India by 2025. The roadmap proposes a gradual rollout of ethanol-blended fuel to achieve E10 fuel supply by 2022 and phased rollout of E20 fuel supply by 2025. Currently, 9.45% of ethanol is blended with petrol in India. A 10% blending of petrol does not require major changes to engines but a 20% blend could require some changes and may even drive up the prices of vehicles. 

Ethanol is a renewable biofuel as made from biomass. It is a clear ,colorless alcohol made from a variety of biomass materials called feedstocks such as sugarcane. It is naturally produced by the fermentation of sugar by yeast or via petrochemical process such as ethylene hydration. In India, it is primarily produced from sugarcane-based raw materials or certain types of heavy molasses, surplus rice available with the Food Corporation of India and maize.

Benefits of FFV :
• Reduces pressure on oil import bill : It is expected to reduce the demands for petroleum products. India presently imports more than 80% of its petroleum requirement from gulf countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE etc. which is one of the biggest outflow of money from the country. This policy is likely to reduce the petroleum imports and the country can save upto ₹ 30,000 crores per year .
• Benefiting Farmers : It will create alternative sources of income for farmers and will encourage them to produce water-saving crop like maize to produce ethanol. If the crops are damaged by any means, it can also be used in producing ethanol.
• Boost to Atma Nirbhar Bharat : It is in line with Prime Minister’s vision ofAtma Nirbhar Bharat and government’s policy on promoting ethanol as a transport fuel. It will reduce our dependency on foreign countries over energy sources I.e., costly petroleum for automobiles and will be large step towards creating Atma Nirbhar Bharat.
• Reducing Greenhouse Gas & Tackling Climate Change: By using biofuel ( ethanol), the greenhouse gas emissions like carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide , etc. on the daily basis will reduce drastically thus reducing the pollution and providing better air quality.

Possible challenges during implementation of the program :

• High cost of the flex fuel engine.
• Lower fuel efficiency as compared to fossil fuels like petroleum, coal and natural gas.
• Running cost will be higher due to lower fuel efficiency.
• Till now, most of the Indians are not ready to accept flex fuel vehicles due to higher cost and low efficiency reasons.
• Ethanol act as solvent and could wipe out the protective oil film of the engine thus leading to wear and tear and further causing more expenses.
• A greater percentage of blending could also mean more land being diverted for water-intensive crops such as sugar cane, which the government currently subsidises.
• The increased allocation of land also puts into question the actual reduction in emissions that blending ethanol with petrol brings about.
• Because flex fuel isn’t as economical as gasoline, gas stations are less likely to carry it. Only a small percentage of gas stations nationwide supply ethanol.

The debates surrounding the pros and cons of flex fuel vehicles aren’t going away anytime soon. However, there does seem to be a move toward using ethanol as an environmentally friendly and economical fuel source.More ethanol refining plants are opening up and it’s possible for more people to switch to FFV. Technology is always changing, so there’s no way to predict whether flex-fuel vehicles would emerge over the next few years.

Sources : The Hindu and Dristi IAS