In India, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), a subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC), has announced that it is planning to build a 60 000 litres-per-day second-generation (2G) ethanol plant at Harihar in Davanagere district of Karnataka State.
According to a statement, the planned ethanol plant would boost the Central government’s vision of energy security and greener fuels. The feedstock for the plant would be based on agro residues, including corn stover and cotton stalk with the ethanol produced by the plant blended with petrol.
The land for the project has been procured from the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) and an engineering package is being prepared for the project. Based on the current progress, the plant is expected to be commissioned in March 2024. The value of the proposed investment has not been disclosed.
The Union government has placed emphasis on achieving energy security for India with a target of reducing import dependence. This includes reducing the consumption of fossil fuels by 10 percent from the current level by 2022.
The national policy on biofuels announced in 2018 is aimed at the accelerated promotion of biofuels with indicative targets of achieving 20 percent biofuel blending in petrol and five percent biofuel blending in diesel fuel by 2030.
Apart from the reduction of imports, the 2G ethanol usage in petrol helps reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and also provides additional income to farmers.
