Fuel Ethanol Production from Indian Agriculture

Abstract

Fuel ethanol use is being encouraged in many countries, including India, to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels and to reduce local pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as to provide support to stagnating sugarcane-based industries. Indian public policy is to use a blend of 10% ethanol with petrol within the next few years. This translates into a large requirement for fuel ethanol. This paper examines the potential suitability of various carbohydrate-based agri-resources for ethanol production in India, and the resources required for this in different agroclimatic regions. The results show that sugarcane has the highest ethanol potential, followed by cassava, potato and cereals. On the basis of growing time (days) in the field, however, the large differences among crops disappear and their ranking at state and district level also changes. It was calculated that the biomass as well as land requirement for fuel ethanol for 2010–11 in India would be small, taking into account the total food grain production and land used for agriculture. Utilization of only 3–7 million tons of damaged food grains or surplus food stocks could meet the requirement for fuel ethanol up to 2010. This may, however, involve trade-offs with food security. Agricultural residues, especially rice straw, currently burnt in north-western India, and causing air pollution and global warming, could be a useful and cheap resource, if the technology for cellulose conversion is made available and is cost-effective. A proper auditing of costs involved in producing biomass for gasohol, their implications for energy security and the environment, and trade-offs with food security is required for policy consideration.