This story is from November 25, 2017

Union government to focus on green fuel to avoid Delhi-like smog elsewhere

Union government to focus on green fuel to avoid Delhi-like smog elsewhere
Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari (file photo)
PIMPRI CHINCHWAD: Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said there is a pressing need for alternative, green sources of fuel to ensure the toxic smog that plagued Delhi doesn’t spread to other major cities in India.
“The concern is the pollution caused by (fossil) fuels. Soon, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru and Chennai will reach the same toxic level as Delhi (recently did),” Gadkari warned, speaking at a national conference, ‘Ethanol as a Transport Fuel’, at Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT) in Bhosari on Friday.
One way, Gadkari said, was to look into alternative methods to produce ethanol, like agrowaste, bagasse (sugar cane waste), municipal waste, maize and cotton waste.
“The government must concentrate on green energy and green fuel. It is cost-effective and pollution-free. We import crude oil up to Rs7 lakh crore per annum, and it is increasing every year.
“The production of ethanol, made from molasses, must be stepped up. The government had decided to blend 10% ethanol in petrol. However, only 2.5% ethanol is being blended. Ethanol prices should be viable. We should produce second-generation ethanol from rice and cotton straw, and bamboo. Bamboo can be planted on unused land. We must look at every option,” the minister said he said.
Gadkari suggested this could also be financially beneficial to the agriculture sector. “There should be diversifaction of agriculture towards energy and power. Buses and other vehicles are being run on ethanol in China, Canada, and the US,” Gadkari said.
In response, minister for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan said that the government will soon prepare a bio-fuel policy. “The government is serious about ethanol. A price should be fixed. We have to prepare a financial model and an ecosystem,” Pradhan said, adding that Pune could serve as the ethanol policy hub, considering how the sugar industry, research centre, and green energy initiative began here.
Gadkari urged the CIRT and the Automotive Research Association of India to prepare automobile standards, clearances, and testing reports in a fast manner, and added that his ministry is cooperating with Pradhan’s ministry and the environment ministry in this regard.
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