Hydrogen fuel of future: Gadkari

Hailing hydrogen as the “fuel of the future”, Union minister Nitin Gadkari asserted that vehicles in the country would run on green fuels in the coming years. Addressing an election rally in support of BJP leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh in Begusarai, Gadkari said, “India imports fossil fuel every year… soon, our farmers will

Govt may devote more sugar to ethanol

The government is considering a proposal to permit factories to use an additional 800,000 tons of sugar for biofuel this year, as the crop is likely to be higher than predicted, said the person, who asked not to be identified as the talks are confidential. That would be on top of 1.7 million tons allocated

Centre says no proposal to resume sale of subsidised rice for ethanol

The Union government has no proposal to resume sale of subsidised rice to grain-based distilleries for the production of ethanol, Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said. He was responding to questions on whether the government plans to resume the sale of subsidised rice for ethanol in the near future amid reports of likely fall in sugar

Procuring maize at MSP would be wrong policy

It seems that the government has realised that allocating rice for ethanol from central pool stocks of the Food Corporation of India is not a good policy choice. The rice stock on 1 January 2024 was 51.64 million tonnes. This includes 18.17 mt rice already in stock and 33.47 mt rice, which was yet to

Blue Biofuels makes first cellulosic ethanol

Blue Biofuels, Inc. Blue Biofuels Inc. continues to make substantial strides in advancing its Cellulose-to-Sugar (CTS) technology towards commercial scale. The company has achieved a significant milestone by successfully producing its first batch of cellulosic ethanol, utilizing the cellulosic sugars created from biomass on its CTS pilot line. Bolstering its technological leadership, BIOF has been

Indian Oil opens ethanol fuel pump

The fuel, named, Ethanol 100, will cater to vehicles that can run on ethanol and is available at around 183 fuel outlets across five states – Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi and Tamil Nadu. In a bid to capitalise on the government’s push for ethanol as one of the alternatives to fossil fuels, India’s

India achieves 11.6% ethanol blend with petrol

India has achieved an average ethanol blending rate of 11.60 per cent in the first four months of 2023-24 supply year that started from November, against the 15 per cent target set by the government for the whole year. This comes on the back of supplies of 1.8 billion litres of ethanol from both sugarcane-based

PM Modi lays foundation stone for ethanol projects

The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone and dedicated to the nation multiple infrastructure projects related to rail, road and petroleum and natural gas worth around Rs 12,800 Crores in Bettiah, West Champaran district, Bihar. The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of City Gas Distribution project in East Champaran, West Champaran, Gopalganj,

Diverting maize for ethanol will increase poultry feed prices

The poultry industry anticipates that 10-20 percent of maize could be used for ethanol production, which would increase the demand-supply gap further, causing a spike in maize prices. The Indian poultry sector expects feed prices to spurt, crimping its margins, if the Centre goes ahead with its plan to divert maize for ethanol production, as

Poultry industry urges govt to allow maize imports

With ethanol-makers competing strongly for maize supplies, the poultry industry, which depends heavily on maize for its feed requirements, has asked the Union Government to allow it to import genetically modified maize and soyameal. It also wanted the government to bring in high-yielding GM seeds to increase productivity in the country. The country is using