Moving towards ‘Flex Engines’

• 12 Jul 2021

The Union Govt. is in the process of making it mandatory for automobile manufacturers particularly the four wheelers and two wheelers to make flex engines.

About Flex Fuel Engines

• A ‘Flex-fuel engine’ is an internal combustion engine that can run on more than one fuel and also a mixture. Typically, a blend of petrol and ethanol or methanol is used, and the engine is capable of automatically adjusting for any percentage of the blend, thanks to modifications like a fuel composition sensor and suitable ECU programming.
• Several countries like USA, Canada and Brazil already have them .He said the cost of the vehicle remains the same whether it is petrol or Flex engine.

Benefits

• It will address twin problems: Air Pollution and Crude Imports.
• While ethanol does have lower energy content, it is generally better for the environment as these vehicles produce far lower emissions. Also, in general, whatever CO2 is released by a vehicle when ethanol is burned, gets offset by the CO2 captured during growing the crops.

Current status of ethanol Blending

• Currently, petrol supplied in India is already blended with about 10-15 percent ethanol. However, with the current level of production this is not standard across the board.
• Also, to further increase the levels of ethanol in the blend, engine modifications are required, thus requiring the auto industry to make suitable changes and get behind the initiative.

Issues to be watched

• Ethanol is typically produced by fermenting crops like corn and sugarcane. However, while India is corn and sugar cane surplus, a careful assessment must be made to make sure that growing these crops for fuel does not take land away from actual food production, something that is already a concern in some countries that use a blend of ethanol and petrol.
• Also what remains to be seen is how the industry reacts to this suggestion, given the strong push towards EVs.