Can flexible fuel engines be the solution to high petrol prices?

Fuel prices have been at an all-time high since last month. The government is trying hard to push auto companies and consumers to make a shift with other available options. Besides incentivising electric vehicles, the government is insisting auto companies look into flexible fuel engines.

Nitin Gadkari, minister for road, transport and highways, has announced a push for flex fuel, an alternative fuel, twice this month. This is to bring down the dependency on petrol and diesel and thereby cut down the number of fuel imports. Countries like the USA, Brazil and Canada have already started adapting to the new form of fuel.

What is flex-fuel and how will it solve the fuel price crisis?

A ‘flex-fuel engine’ is an internal combustion engine that can run on more than one fuel and also a mixture. Typically, a blend of petrol and ethanol or methanol is used, and the engine is capable of automatically adjusting for any percentage of the blend. Technically speaking the petrol engine which can run CNG too is a flex-fuel engine.

A specifically developed flex-fuel engine will have a wider band of acceptance of fuels. Added ethanol mixed fuel makes the mixture a bit less flammable and the combustion product is different. The flex fuel concept is feasible for cars as they have space to run the ECM and there is room for error with not so high revving engines.

Increasing pollution and crude oil imports are the major concern of the Indian government as is harming the environment and increasing the government’s financial stress. According to current statistics, India’s crude oil import bill stands between Rs 7 lakh crore and Rs 8  lakh crore.

Currently, the petrol supplied in India is already blended with about 10-15% ethanol. In the current scenario, the ethanol percentage can’t be increased as the engines do not support the addition. To further increase the levels of ethanol in the blend, engine modifications are required, thus requiring the auto industry to make suitable changes and get behind the initiative.

Ethanol can solve the fuel prices problem as it is produced by fermenting crops like corn and sugarcane. India being an agriculture rich country has the capacity to produce them in surplus amount. However, while India is a corn and sugarcane surplus, a careful assessment must be made to make sure that growing these crops for fuel does not take land away from actual food production, something that is already a concern in some countries that use a blend of ethanol and petrol.

Currently, there are bikes like Apache RTR 200 4V that run on ethanol. But it costs around 1.20 lakh ex-showroom.

Producing flex-fuel for two-wheelers will take the burden off from petrol and will result in a much-balanced demand. It would be really good if the existing vehicle could be converted into flex fuel engines.