{"id":20110845,"date":"2023-02-09T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=110845"},"modified":"2023-02-08T22:49:39","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T17:19:39","slug":"indias-push-to-use-sugar-for-ethanol-may-create-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/indias-push-to-use-sugar-for-ethanol-may-create-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"A sweet solution? India\u2019s push to use sugar for fuel may create more problems than it solves"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Over the past few months, huge chimneys have been belching thick smoke incessantly on the outskirts of Meerut city in Uttar Pradesh. October to April is sugarcane-crushing season, when mills across the north Indian state process a conveyor belt of the long, fibrous stalks. The wet plant waste is burnt to generate electricity, generating the smoke that hovers over the landscape. Despite this appearance of constant activity, however, the supply of sugarcane that feeds this industry is actually falling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arun Kumar Singh, a 35-year-old sugarcane farmer in Nanglamal village, about half an hour\u2019s drive from Meerut, is worried. In the 2021-22 growing season, Singh\u2019s cane harvest shrank by nearly 30% \u2013 normally he would expect a yield of 140,000 kilograms from his five-hectare farm, but last year he got 100,000 kg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singh blames last year\u2019s record-breaking heatwave<\/a>, erratic monsoon<\/a> and pest damage for his poor harvest. He says that high demand for sugarcane is leading farmers to plant new, more productive but less-resilient varieties. Gesturing at his fields, he says: \u201cThis variety was introduced only about eight years ago and has been demanding more water each year. Our region anyway has water shortages.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"man<\/div>
December 2022: A truckload of sugarcane is delivered to the Nanglamal Sugar Complex in Uttar Pradesh, northern India (Image:\u00a0Cheena Kapoor<\/a>)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The neighbourhood around Nanglamal is a hub of sugar-derived ethanol production, in the largest sugarcane-producing state in India. But across Uttar Pradesh \u2013\u00a0and indeed, the whole of India \u2013 sugarcane production is falling<\/a>. At the same time, the central government wants sugar mills to produce more ethanol from excess sugarcane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why India is pushing ethanol-blended petrol<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ethanol can be produced from ether petrochemicals or sugarcane, corn and grains \u2013 called bioethanol or biofuel. Because these crops can be regrown, biofuels are classified as sources of renewable energy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

India produces more sugar than it uses. In the 2021-22 sugar season, it produced 39.4 million<\/a> metric tonnes. Around 26 million tonnes is consumed domestically every year, according to government data<\/a>. Since 2019, India has dealt with its sugar surplus by exporting a large portion \u2013 more than 10 million tonnes<\/a> last year \u2013\u00a0but ministers have said<\/a> using it to produce ethanol is preferable as it means faster payments and better cashflow for mills.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

India also imports fuel in large quantities: 185 million tonnes of petrol in 2020-21, costing USD 55 billion, according to a report<\/a> by Niti Aayog, the government\u2019s think tank. Blending ethanol with petrol is therefore proposed as a way to use sugar not consumed domestically while achieving energy independence. Niti Aayog estimates that a 20-80 blend of ethanol and petrol will save the country at least USD 4 billion a year by 2025. Last year, India used 3.6 million tonnes (about 9%) of its sugar to make ethanol; in 2022-23 it aims for this to reach 4.5-5 million tonnes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n