E85 Fuel to Launch Today: E85 fuel will be launched in India today, know what will be the benefits?

Business Desk – E85 Fuel to Launch Today: The Government of India is going to take another big step towards promoting clean and self-reliant energy in the country. Today, on Friday, the government is launching E85 fuel, which is a mixture of 80 to 85 percent ethanol and the rest petrol.

The aim of this initiative is to promote the use of flex-fuel vehicles in the country and reduce dependence on imported crude oil. Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri will launch E85 fuel at an event in New Delhi. Come, let us know its details.

What is E85 fuel?

First of all, E85 is a special type of fuel which contains a mixture of 80-85 percent ethanol and 15-20 percent petrol. This fuel is specially designed for flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs), which can run on different mixtures of ethanol and petrol. The government believes that the use of E85 fuel will reduce pollution and strengthen the energy security of the country.

Flex-fuel vehicles in the country

In recent times, many automobile manufacturers have started adopting flex-fuel technology. Recently, Maruti Suzuki launched its flex-fuel WagonR, while Hero MotoCorp introduced the flex-fuel model of the Splendor. As a result, the government expects that greater availability of E85 fuel will increase both demand and production of such vehicles.

Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has already said that flex-fuel technology will be successful only when it proves to be economically beneficial for the common consumer. According to him, if the price of E85 fuel is kept much lower than E20 petrol, customers can recover the additional cost of purchasing the vehicle through fuel savings in about three years.

Amid concerns over flex-fuel vehicles, NITI Aayog has categorized ethanol-based flex-fuel vehicles as zero-emission vehicles. According to the government, the particulate matter (PM) emitted from vehicles running on E85 fuel is very less, which can help in reducing air pollution.

Flex-fuel network will be created across the country

The government plans to develop a comprehensive ecosystem for flex-fuel vehicles. Under this initiative, E85 has been selected as the standard fuel for flex-fuel vehicles as per the norms of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

In the first phase of this plan, 50 to 100 E85 fuel stations will be built on the Delhi-NCR and Mumbai-Pune-Nagpur corridors. After this, the target is to increase this number to about 500 by the end of 2026 and to establish about 5,000 stations in major cities of the country by the end of 2027.