India mulls E20 fuel to cut vehicular emissions.

The government on Friday proposed the adoption of E20 fuel — a blend of 20% of ethanol and gasoline — as an automobile fuel in order to reduce vehicular emissions as well as the country’s oil import bill.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has published a draft notification and invited comments from the public for adoption of the fuel. The current permissible level of blending is 10% of ethanol though India reached only 5.6% of blending in 2019.

“The notification facilitates the development of E20-compliant vehicles,” according to a statement. “It will also help in reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, etc. It will help reduce the oil import bill, thereby saving foreign exchange and boosting energy security.”

Vehicle compatibility

It added the compatibility of vehicles with the percentage of ethanol in the blend would be defined by the vehicle manufacturer, which would have to be displayed on the vehicle with a sticker.

Ethanol is a biofuel and a common by-product of biomass left by agricultural feedstock such as corn, sugarcane, hemp, potato, etc.