Flex Fuel

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

India’s first ‘flex fuel’ car, a Toyota sedan that can run on one or multiple fuel types and developed as part of a new pilot aimed at deleveraging the country’s dependence on imported fossil fuels for transportation, is set for an unveiling later this month.

A nationwide pilot that aims to replicate the commercial deployment of this particular technology in other markets such as Brazil, Canada and the US.

Flex Fuel technology

• A flex fuel, or flexible fuel, vehicle has an internal combustion engine (ICE), but unlike a regular petrol or diesel vehicle, this can run on more than one type of fuel, or even a mixture of fuels. 
• The most common versions use a blend of petrol and ethanol or methanol, but these engines are also equipped to run on 100 per cent petrol or ethanol as well. 
• This is made possible by equipping the engine with a fuel mix sensor and an engine control module (ECM) programming that senses and automatically adjusts for any ratio of designated fuels. 

How flex fuel cars technology work

• Flex fuel vehicles have one fuel system, and most components are the same as those found in a conventional petrol-only car. 
• Some special ethanol-compatible components are required to adjust to the different chemical properties and energy content in ethanol or methanol, such as modifications to the fuel pump and fuel injection system. 
• The ECM is also calibrated to accommodate the higher oxygen content of ethanol.
• Other than an ethanol-compatible fuel system and a different power train calibration, flex fuel vehicles are similar to their conventional petrol-only counterparts.

Significance:

• The use of ethanol blending sharply lowers harmful pollutants such as carbon monoxide, sulphur, and carbon and nitrogen oxides.
• It will deleverage the country’s dependence on oil imports for transportation
• Many flex fuel vehicles have improved acceleration performance when operating on higher ethanol blends.

Concerns:

• It marginally decreases fuel efficiency when using ethanol for motive power.
• Over 90% of ethanol produced in the country, came from sugarcane alone and sugarcane production is usually very water-intensive.
• Further, since sugarcane is a politically important crop, there is a perceived political angle to the ethanol/methanol blending push.

Currently, around 9.5 per cent ethanol blending with petrol has been achieved in fuel dispensed in pumps in most metros and it is likely that the targeted 10 per cent ethanol blending will be achieved by November 2022. But this is slated for a major bump up, with the government’s 2025 target of 20 per cent blending of ethanol in petrol envisaged in its National Biofuel Policy 2018.