Integrity Score 110
No Records Found
No Records Found
No Records Found
The Modi Government had notified the National Policy on Biofuels in
2018 (NPB–2018) wherein, under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Program, an indicative target of 20% blending of ethanol in petrol by 2030 was laid out. A closer look at the policy reveals some shocking facts.
According to the report, India currently (2019-20) consumes 3413 Crore liters of petrol which will increase to 5000 Crore by 2025. The demand for ethanol will increase from 173 Cr Lts to 1016 Cr Lits. What does this mean for the environment?
Demand for Water
According to the report, one tonne of sugarcane can produce an average of 100 kg of sugar, and 70 litres of ethanol. Cultivation of each kg of sugar requires 1600 to 2000 litres of water.
Thus, every litre of ethanol requires roughly 3000 litres of water. To meet the demands of ethanol, India will require 1,59,000 Crore litres in 2019 to 30,48,000 Crore litres of water which is the volume of more than three Sardar Sarovar Dams.
Demand for Land
One hectare land produces around 70 tonnes sugarcane. Therefore 1 H land is needed to produce 4900 lits of ethanol. Around 5 million hectares of land was used to cultivate sugarcane in 2019. To produce 1016 Cr lts of ethanol, India would need to divert 2 million hectares of this land for ethanol production.
Needless to say, as climate change takes a toll on the environment, new lands including forest land will be used for sugarcane cultivation.