Photo Courtesy: projectxindia.com. An ethanol plant in india. For representation purposes. As of March 2022, there were more than 320 ethanol manufacturing units in India. And more are in various stages of construction, and contemplation.
Scientists for People, an informal Platform of scientists in Telugu states, has been raising its voice to educate and alert all those who have stakes in related matters of industry and education.
This article begins with related information about, and discusses problems related to, India’s ethanol distilleries…The platform questions the various claims, and raises problems faced by people, and the related environmental issues. It has a detailed letter on the subject, and ends with citations on it.
The Group includes many senior, retired scientists, and Research guides and professors, some of who had worked in the public sector institutions like CSIR, who have been active in public causes, writings by Dr M.Bapuji, Dr K Babu Rao and Dr BV Reddy are familiar to CC readers.
There were agitations by people including farmers at various places in Telangana, including at Chittanuru of undivided Mahabubnagar Dt and in Nizamabad dt. Cases were foisted and arrests made of agitators, and repression that began in TRS/BRS regime continued even after Congress govt was formed last June.
They addressed a letter to District Magistrate (DM), Nirmal District, Telangana, regarding a consultation meeting held at DM’s office on 24 September 2024 on the proposed ethanol factory at Dilawarpur.
“We are convinced that the ethanol blending policy is a result of a knee-jerk reaction to the energy problem and all the propaganda in support is untrue”, they asserted.
It is a policy of the Union government, being actively pushed across India, by the Modi regime. The govt PIB released a policy statement 20 DEC 2023, which says:
“As on 30.11.2023, the ethanol production capacity in the country is about 1380 crore litres out of which about 875 crore litres is molasses based and about 505 crore litres is grain based.
“The Government of India has been implementing Ethanol Blended with Petrol (EBP) Programme throughout the country wherein Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) sell petrol blended with ethanol. Under EBP Programme, Government has fixed the target of 20% blending of ethanol with petrol by 2025…
“ Installation of new ethanol distilleries/expansion of existing ethanol distilleries has brought investment opportunities worth over Rs.40,000/- crore in urban as well as rural areas.
“ Due to effective Government policies, the supply of ethanol to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) has increased by more than 13 times to about 502 crore litres in Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2022-23 from 38 crore litres in ESY 2013-14. The blending percentage has also increased from 1.53% in ESY 2013-14 to targeted 12% in ESY 2022-23.
“ Through the sale of ethanol, the cash flows for sugar mills have improved resulting in prompt payment to cane farmers. Sugar mills have cleared 98.3% of cane dues of farmers in Sugar Season (SS) 2022-23 and 99.9% of cane dues in previous SS 2021-22.”
In India, ethanol is produced primarily as a by-product of sugar manufacture. That is why all the large sugar companies are among the leading ethanol producers in India. Therefore, it is imperative also that the majority of the ethanol makers are in the sugarcane producing states.
Major sugarcane cultivating states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar account for most sugar mills.
The ethanol manufacturers in India use three types of raw materials for manufacturing ethanol: Sugar and Molasses based; Second generation materials (biomass and agricultural waste and mixed grain); Grain-based.
Ethanol Companies In India: A Snapshot
| Installed capacity (FY 21) | 684 Cr. litres |
| Estimated Production (FY 21) | 460 Cr.Litres |
| Capacity addition Planned in next 10 years | 700 Cr.Litres |
| Total number of manufacturing Units -Current(Estimation) | 320+ |
| Leading Ethanol manufacturers in India | Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar, Dalmia Bharat Sugar, Triveni Engineering, Shree Renuka Sugar, Balrampur Chinni Mills, EID-Parry India, Jeypore Sugar Company, India Glycols, Marwana Sugar, BSM Sugar |
As of March 2022, there were more than 320 ethanol manufacturing units in India. The central government has approved 47 ethanol plants in Bihar, of which at least 32 are grain-based.
India’s ethanol production has increased over the years, from a 1.5% target from 2005-14 to 10% blending in 2014-22. The government has set a target of blending 20% ethanol in petrol by 2030.
In last 10 years, sugar mills have earned revenue of more than Rs.94,000 crores from sale of ethanol which has added to the bottom line of sugar mills,it is reported.
Chittanuru Villagers Oppose Setting Up Ethanol Factory, Narayanpet, on Jan 20, 2023. They question: How can you impose a factory in farm land ? Photo by V6 News. There were agitations by people including farmers at various places in Telangana, including at Chittanuru of undivided Mahabubnagar Dt and in Nizamabad dt. Cases were foisted and arrests made of agitators, and repression that began in TRS/BRS regime continued even after Congress govt was formed last June.
The group led by Dr K Babu Rao questioned the various claims, and raised problems faced by people, and the related environmental issues. The Letter has an appendix citing various authorities on relevant questions.
The text of the letter is given below:
Scientists for People
25 September 2024
Smt. Abhilasha Abhinav, I.A.S
Collector & District Magistrate
Nirmal District, Telangana
Sub: Consultation meeting held at your office on 24 September 2024 on the proposed ethanol factory at Dilawarpur
Madam,
We are a group of retired academics and scientists from premier institutes and universities who come together to provide knowledge and scientific support to the people for the common good.
We have been studying the ethanol industry problem in the state for the past two years. We have collected related scientific literature of about 1.2 GB and read most of it. We are convinced that the ethanol blending policy is a result of a knee-jerk reaction to the energy problem and all the propaganda in support is untrue.
I attended the meeting with the people, officials, and company representatives at the Nirmal collectorate on 24 Sep 24 at the request of the people. It started nearly two hours late. I prepared a presentation in Telugu so that the farmers could follow along and expected to get an opportunity to present it. But did not get. The first opportunity was given to the company representatives to answer the questions raised by the farmers in a meeting with the district officials earlier. While this was going on a farmer asked why is the company answering what the district officials were supposed to do as promised in the earlier meeting. Then the officials were called to answer. Newspaper reports said that you had asked the officials for a scientific study to prevent harm to the people. I did not find any such attempt by the officials and they were answering questions raised by the farmers as though they have no responsibility towards them. Especially the answers from PCB officials are a callous disregard to the concerns of the people.
We would like to share with you our concerns about the fuel ethanol projects permitted hastily by amending the EIA notification 2006. We shall explain the shortcomings of the ethanol blending policy that are leading to disturbing the people.
The policy claimed three main benefits:
- Savings in the import of crude oil
- Savings in carbon emissions and
- Financial benefit to farmers
1. Our imports of crude oil have increased year on year. Our dependency on imported oil reached 88% last year. Our indigenous oil production keeps declining every year. Ethanol has not made any impact on energy independence
| Year | Oil Import Million Tonnes | Percent Import | Oil Import Value Billion Dollars |
| 2020-21 | 196.5 | 84.4 % | $62.2 |
| 2021-22 | 212.2 | 85.5 % | $119.2 |
| 2022-23 | 222.3 | 87.4 % | $158 |
| 2023-24 | 232.5 | 87.7 % | $132.8 |
Savings on carbon emissions are a slight of calculations like comparing apples with oranges. It compares the emissions from pure gasoline with emissions from blended petrol on an equal fuel volume basis, neglecting the fact that both have different energy per unit volume. On an equal volume basis, a litre of petrol gives 2.31 kg of CO2 and a litre of blended petrol (E20) gives 2.15 kg of CO2 but the energy content of blended fuel is about 6.6 % less compared to pure petrol. On the same energy basis, there is no real savings in CO2 emissions.
Where is the benefit to the farmer? Ethanol companies have not purchased even a kilo of paddy from the farmers. They were getting rice at a subsidized price of ₹20 per kg from FCI initially. Now it is stopped and the e-auction process is initiated. Today the price paid to ethanol from rice is ₹64 and from maize, it is ₹71.86. Without subsidies for grain and increased price for ethanol, the production of ethanol becomes financially unviable as the price of grain increases. Diverting food to fuel in a country that is ranked 111 on the hunger index is starving the poor.
There is another aspect here. Petrol price is artificially maintained at a high value even though the crude price has fallen. In Telangana, 51.6% of the petrol price of ₹107.41 is the tax. The actual dealer price of petrol is ₹52 only. It is much lower than the ethanol price of ₹64 or ₹72. What is the wisdom in blending petrol with a costlier additive? Nowhere in the world it is done so. In the US price of corn ethanol is $1.99/gallon and gasoline price is $2.98/gallon. So, blending makes sense.
| State | Percent tax |
| Maharashtra | 52.5 |
| Andhra | 52.4 |
| Telangana | 51.6 |
| Rajasthan | 50.8 |
| MP | 50.6 |
| Kerala | 50.2 |
| Bihar | 50.0 |
Net Energy Analysis:
The production of ethanol consumes considerable energy. Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI) normally called EROI is very low for ethanol. Some studies have even calculated negative values meaning that ethanol production consumes more energy than ethanol can give. Prof. Charles A S Hall the founder of the concept of EROI says in the publication in Environment, Development and Sustainability in 2011, “Based on our results from the spatial analysis and the location of biorefineries across the United States, we conclude that the net energy supplied to society by ethanol is only 0.8% of that supplied from gasoline. Recent work indicates that only energy sources extracted at EROIs of 3:1 or greater have the requisite net energy to sustain the infrastructure of the transportation system of the United States. In light of this work, we conclude that production of corn ethanol within the United States is unsustainable and requires energy subsidies from the larger oil economy.”
Hall published several studies on the EROI of corn ethanol and undertook to reconcile varying estimates by different authors. After studying corn from 1287 counties in the USA, he came out with an EROI of 1.07 ± 0.2, meaning that the true value of EROI is within 0.2 of 1.07. If we take an average value of 1.2 then the net energy available from ethanol = Energy in ethanol x (1-1/1.2) = 1/6 of energy in ethanol is the surplus available.
That is 1/6 x 24.2 MJ/L = 4.033 MJ/L
Net energy of gasoline can be calculated to be = 32.49 MJ/L
So, a litre of gasoline = 32.49/4.033 = 8.055 L of ethanol in energy.
A litre of blended gasoline (E20) = 0.8 + 0.2/8.055 = 0.825 L of gasoline
0.175 L of ethanol energy was spent during the manufacture of ethanol from grain using a different fuel.
Water Footprint:
The WF in the entire life cycle of the corn-based ethanol production chain is 3.67 m3 per L ethanol. (Thailand study)
Therefore, the amount of water used to meet the capacity in a year at 20% blending is = 10.16 x 107 x 3.67 = 37.29 x 107 m3.
Water used in a year = 37.29 x 107 /28316.8 = 13,168 TMC/year
Rice has by far the highest green WF among the energy crops, at 457–461 m3 per ton. (Taiwan study)
If rice is used for producing 740 crore litres of ethanol as required from grains, the WF will be = 740 x 107 x 2.22 x 460/1000 = 755.7 x 107 m3/year = 266,869 TMC/year
Water availability is a challenge.
There is plenty more published research that questions the very policy of ethanol blending, but as the letter has already become long we stop here.
State officials paid to protect the environment and people are unfortunately unconcerned about the farmer’s worries. Without properly studying the problem, these officials are simply dismissing the farmers and villagers. We are certain these officials hardly know anything about fuel ethanol. You may please ask the environmental engineer to explain to you the process for grain-based ethanol. They just do not care to learn and will not know as there is no accountability.
We met a Collector and an SP on an ethanol plant case, they just did not bother and the SP had a very low opinion of people. You have been considerate and listened to the worries of people. Please do care for their welfare and future as this industry will be a burden to the entire nation. With rapid changes happening on the climate front and the crossing of 7 of the 9 planetary boundaries already, the human future itself is bleak. Our politicians are dismissing science and playing the corporate interests forcing people onto the streets even in rich countries.
It is an appeal to save our villages from private interests and greed.
Sincerely,
Dr K Babu Rao & Dr K Venkat Reddy
Endorsed by:
Dr V Srihari
Dr Ahamed khan
Dr D Rambabu
Dr M Bapuji
Dr R Vittal Rao
Dr A Srinivasa Rao
Dr A V Rao
Dr M Mohan Rao
Prof B N Reddy
Prof V V Basava Rao
Prof K Venkateswara Rao
Prof K Satya Prasad
Prof G Krishna Rao
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Some quotes on ethanol by reputed scientists:
“Most prior studies have found that substituting biofuels for gasoline will reduce greenhouse gases because biofuels sequester carbon through the growth of the feedstock. These analyses have failed to count the carbon emissions that occur as farmers worldwide respond to higher prices and convert forest and grassland to new cropland to replace the grain (or cropland) diverted to biofuels. By using a worldwide agricultural model to estimate emissions from land-use change, we found that corn-based ethanol, instead of producing a 20% savings, nearly doubles greenhouse emissions over 30 years and increases greenhouse gases for 167 years.”
Timothy Searchinger et al (2008), “Use of U.S. Croplands for Biofuels Increases Greenhouse Gases Through Emissions from Land-Use Change” Science, VOL 319, 1238-40, 29 February 2008
“These changes increased annual nationwide fertilizer use by 3 to 8%, increased water quality degradants by 3 to 5%, and caused enough domestic land use change emissions such that the carbon intensity of corn ethanol produced under the RFS is no less than gasoline and likely at least 24% higher.”
Lark, T.J., N.P. Hendricks, A. Smith, N. Pates, S.A. Spawn, M. Bougie, E.G. Booth, C.J. Kucharik and H.K. Gibbs. 2022. “Environmental outcomes of the US Renewable Fuel Standard.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2101084119
“The paper by Lark et al. (4) provides us with yet more evidence that our corn-based biofuel initiatives run counter to our nation’s and the world’s environmental, economic, and social goals. It is worth questioning the wisdom, logic, and ethics of continuing to use large expanses of our best farmland to produce a small amount of fuel at great environmental cost when better transportation alternatives exist.”
Jason Hill, The sobering truth about corn ethanol, PNAS 2022 Vol. 119 No. 11 e2200997119
https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2200997119
“The global GHG impact of biofuel use remains highly uncertain. Nevertheless, the necessary condition for a biofuel to offer a CO2 mitigation benefit, namely, that the production of its feedstock must increase NEP, can be evaluated empirically. Doing so provides a bounding result that suggests a need for greater caution regarding the role of biofuels in climate mitigation.”
John M. DeCicco, Emeritus Research Professor at the University of Michigan Energy Institute
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-016-1764-4
“The only way ethanol makes sense is as a political issue”
Jason Hill, a bioproducts and biosystems engineering professor at the University of Minnesota
https://grist.org/agriculture/despite-what-you-may-think-ethanol-isnt-dead-yet
“.. but ethanol from corn remains too marginal to survive without heavy economic subsidy.”
Cutler J. Cleveland, Charles A. S. Hall, Robert A. Herendeen
We need alternative energy. But ethanol from corn is neither scalable nor sustainable. Let’s pursue better options.
Nathan Hagens, Robert Costanza, Kenneth Mulder
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.312.5781.1746
“corn-based” ethanol, instead of producing a 20% savings, nearly doubles greenhouse emissions over 30 years and increases greenhouse gases for 167 years. Biofuels from switchgrass, if grown on U.S. corn lands, increase emissions by 50%.
Timothy Searchinger et al., “Use of U.S. Croplands for Biofuels Increases Greenhouse Gases through Emissions from Land-Use Change,” Science 319, no. 5867 (February 28, 2008): 1238-40.
“[w]hen the extra N2O emission from biofuel production is calculated in “CO2-equivalent” global warming terms, and compared with the quasi-cooling effect of “saving” emissions of fossil fuel derived CO2, the outcome is that the production of commonly used biofuels, such as biodiesel from rapeseed and bioethanol from corn (maize), depending on N fertilizer uptake efficiency by the plants, can contribute as much or more to global warming by N2O emissions than cooling by fossil fuel savings”
P. J. Crutzen, A. R. Mosier, K. A. Smith, and W. Winiwarter, “N2O Release from Agro-Biofuel Production Negates Global Warming Reduction by Replacing Fossil Fuels,” Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 8, no. 2 (January 2008), available at www.atmos-chem-phys.net/8/389/2008/acp-8-389-2008.pdf (accessed July 23, 2008). (Paul Crutzen is a Nobel Laureate)
Rolling Stone Magazine (2013): “Ethanol is not just hype — it’s dangerous, delusional bullshit. Ethanol doesn’t burn cleaner than gasoline, nor is it cheaper. Our current ethanol production represents only 3.5% of our gasoline consumption — yet it consumes 20% of the entire U.S. corn crop, causing the price of corn to double in the last two years and raising the threat of hunger in the Third World. The increasing acreage devoted to corn for ethanol means less land for other staple crops, giving farmers in South America an incentive to carve fields out of tropical forests that help to cool the planet and stave off global warming.”
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/the-ethanol-scam-172037
The Economist (2013): “The ethanol mandate is clearly wasteful, does environmental damage, contributes to higher food prices at home and abroad through the misallocation of agricultural resources, and is a needless tax on everyone who drives in America. Time for it to go.”
https://www.economist.com/babbage/2013/03/25/difference-engine-end-the-ethanol-tax
The American Interest (2013): “Corn ethanol fails every test a biofuel could hope to pass. It doesn’t lower emissions; it raises them. It also raises the global price of corn, starving the world’s poor and possibly inciting riots. But EPA mandates are propping up this boondoggle.”
“If biofuel production ceased worldwide, according to one estimate, the saved crops could feed 1.9 billion human beings. The only consistent and reliable outcome of this technology is hunger.”
George Monbiot
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/07/03/growing-food-fuel-starving-people
Contact details of the Group:
Dr Babu Rao email ID : [email protected]
DR M Bapuji email ID: [email protected]
