UPSC Articles
Flex Fuel Vehicles
Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – Policies and interventions and GS III – Conservation
In news: Government may issue guidelines for flex fuel vehicles by October.
What is Flex fuel vehicle?
- An FFV is a modified version of vehicles that could run both on gasoline and blended petrol with different levels of Ethanol blends.
- These are currently being used successfully in Brazil giving people the option to switch fuel.
- Such flexible fuel vehicles provide opportunity for increased use of biofuels for running vehicles.
- Earlier, Ministry of road transport and Highways had issued a Draft notification for mass emission standards for E 12 (Blend of 12% ethanol in gasoline) and E 15 fuels, thereby facilitating their use as Automotive fuels
What are the advantages of FFV?
- Reduced dependence on petrol/diesel & thus reduced dependence on oil imports.
- Environment friendly because of less pollution.
- Aligned with Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan
- Help in addressing the problems of surplus food grains (can be used in making Ethanol)
- Provides employment opportunities for setting up bio-ethanol plants across India.
Challenges
- Require additional investment from auto companies in production lines and Technology transfers.
- Ethanol can also cause corrosion and damage to the engine.
- Ethanol is also not as economical as gasoline as it does not provide the same level of fuel efficiency.
- Diversion of food crops (like sugarcane) to ethanol production.
