New fuels are gaining ground over those we have hitherto considered innovative, such as hydrogen or electricity. However, there is an even more futuristic category that we could consider experimental and that is attracting more and more carmakers. This is the first alcohol engine in history, with a potential that you would never imagine it could have.
This is the world´s first alcohol engine: better than hydrogen and EVs
India strives to build its domestic fuel-based economy by stressing the use of alternative fuels like ethanol and methanol which are no longer depends on imported fossil fuels. The government has the ambition to achieve the utilization of biofuels and alternate sources of fuels to increase the percentage up to 20% by 2025.
Under the Ethanol Blending Programme and National Biofuel Policy, the nation has just witnessed two milestones in its transition to an automotive eco-friendly gasoline paradigm: the launch of an ethanol-powered vehicle and methanol-powered buses.
Such technologies are the models of green transport which also stand testimony to India’s ambition of going for clean hopping, using its own talent and labour. Ethanol from sugarcane molasses and methanol from high ash/contaminated coal give the cleaner, greener and alternatives to gasoline/gas and diesel.
The government has been trying to influence engine designers and oil companies to manufacture engines optimized for ethanol and methanol mixing . For this, it is calling for some strict standards. Moreover, tax exemptions will also be applicable to the construction of 2G ethanol biorefineries out of waste materials.
There will be an ethanol fuelled car? That´s what we know
Being the first time ever, Toyota and Suzuki succeeded in co-creating a car engine powered by an ethanol blend; the first of its kind in India. This vehicle was spotted by the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari and it was this event that indicated just how far India has come in its crusade for eco-friendly transport.
The car works with full ethanol being power source instead of octane, which is a breakthrough in automotive technology. Toyota relied on its in-house research and development as the Japanese automaker. In addition, it was subjected to testing and field trials by Maruti Suzuki, the Indian importer.
Ethanol, the one made from biomass, steams biomass as a clean, and renewable carbon alternative to carbon-punishing fossil fuels. The starting of ethanol car in India is a sign-post of how India targeting cutting down environmental pollution by vehicles and many other greenhouse gases.
These vehicles (not cars) will be methanol powered: attention to the plan
India could also carry the promotion of methanol as an alternative fuel to be used in the transportation sector as the Indian government advocates for it. In March the last year, Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Union, began the first ever methanol buses in Bengaluru, which are expected to cover most part of the city.
Those buses were manufactured by Ashok Leyland and were designed to run on a 15% methanol-petrol mixture. This project is under the aegis of NITI Aayog, provisioning of government think tank the support of Ashok Leyland and the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
A large part of these buses’ methanol will be manufactured in the country and with that India can easily beat the foreign fuel imports. Methanol is capable of being produced virtually from all the above mentioned with high ash content, agricultural by-products, municipal solid waste and also stranded natural gas reserves.
Methanol stations will soon to be set up in other cities of the country. So, Gadkari’s plan is to make buses ran on methanol in other main cities. He thinks Methanol is the perfect fuel for the buses or Trolley cars and may be employed in goods transit and long haul trucking.
As you can see, this methanol engine is designed for all types of vehicles, but it has been created with a very specific one in mind. The key is its range and efficiency, far superior to those of hydrogen. In fact, it reminds us of the proposal of a Korean manufacturer to mix this fuel with water, although in this case we are talking about something even more cutting-edge and unexpected, don’t you think?
