Key highlights
- Isobutanol-Diesel coming soon in India
- Government agencies hint launch timeline of bio-diesel
- It is expected to be less corrosive than ethanol
If you are tired of E20 petrol disrupting your vehicles’ engine performance and economy, get ready for bio-diesel as well, as it is expected to arrive later this year. Know what the launch plans are for ethanol-blended diesel in India below.
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Isobutanol-Diesel coming soon: Will it ruin your diesel car?
In a latest media interaction, V Umashankar, Secretary of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, has revealed that isobutanol-blended diesel is under “serious consideration”, and it is expected to arrive later this year.
Not long ago, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announced that the government is working on isobutanol-blended diesel fuel. This fuel blend will be different from what we see with the E20-blended petrol, and it is expected to be less corrosive while generating higher energy.
Umashankar also claimed that isobutanol-blended diesel will massively reduce India’s energy dependency on other countries, while it will be substantially cleaner, thus offering green mobility. He also revealed that Bharat Petroleum is already working on the isobutanol-diesel, and the results are “highly encouraging”.
As India’s diesel consumption is almost twice that of petrol, the impact of blending diesel with isobutanol is expected to have a massive impact. However, for existing diesel engines, especially in passenger and commercial vehicles, this could create a big problem.
How? Well, E20 petrol has been a big nuisance for BS4 and even Phase 1 BS6 petrol vehicle owners. And mind you, petrol is easy to burn and has a higher octane value. Even after all the blending, old petrol engines are suffering at the mass level.
On the other hand, India’s transport, especially the commercial vehicle segment, is largely based on diesel engine power. Majority of the machinery and trucks use old diesel engines, whose reaction to isobutanol-blended diesel is completely unknown. We expect to garner more clarity on the isobutanol-blended diesel in the coming months.
