Ethanol fact: India is trying to do with a jolt what Brazil achieved in decades
The government's decision on the mandatory sale of petrol blended with 20% ethanol, or E20, is seeing protests from vehicle owners over reported drop in
The government's decision on the mandatory sale of petrol blended with 20% ethanol, or E20, is seeing protests from vehicle owners over reported drop in fuel average and wear and tear. The Centre has rejected the criticisms, repeatedly citing the example of Brazil, a country that has successfully implemented ethanol-blended petrol. More than an example, Brazil holds an invaluable lesson for India. Read Full Story Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, who has been at the forefront of the ethanol-blended petrol policy, has been counting Brazil among the countries that have been using ethanol for decades. "I recall that when I was sent as India's ambassador to Brazil in January 2006, Brazil already had 20% biofuel blending, and you could, even on a given date, fill up your tank with more. Today, Brazil is going from 27% biofuel base blending to 32%," Hardep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, told CNN News 18. However, just as the city of Rome wasn't built in a day, Brazil's ethanol switch didn't happen in a day. It wasn't rushed, and was a gradual shift that happened over decades. India, however, has advanced the E20 mandate from 2030 to 2025 despite 80% of vehicles being incompatible with the higher blending of ethanol. Protesters are saying that they aren't against India's Ethanol Blended Petrol programme. Rather, their problem is how it is being rolled out. They say that suitable fuel should be provided for their E10 vehicles. Concerns over ethanol-blended petrol are reflected in public opinion. A recent CVoter survey found that 55.1% of respondents said they would not prefer using E20 petrol in their vehicles. Among NDA supporters, 52.5% opposed using E20. Brazil's experience is particularly significant. Rather than rapidly replacing pure petrol, it gradually built an ecosystem of ethanol-compatible vehicles, fuel infrastructure and consumer choice over four decades before making E27 the standard blend, while also allowing motorists to choose pure ethanol (E100) through the widespread adoption of fle fuel vehicles. Here's a look at how Brazil switched to ethanol-based fuel and how drivers there get to choose between variants for economy and mileage. BRAZIL'S SLOW AND STEADY APPROACH TO ETHANOL BLENDING Brazil's experiment with ethanol-blended fuel dates back to 1931, when a government decree mandated that all imported petrol contain 5% ethanol by volume. However, the programme gained real momentum after the 1973 global oil crisis, which exposed the country's heavy dependence on imported fuel.
In 1975, the government launched the Alcohol Programme (Pro-Alcool) to replace a portion of petrol consumption with ethanol produced from Brazilian sugarcane. The initiative capitalised on the country's vast sugar industry, low global sugar prices and idle distillation capacity. Initially focused on blending anhydrous ethanol with petrol, the programme soon expanded to dedicated ethanol-powered vehicles. In 1979, Fiat launched the Fiat 147, the world's first mass-produced car designed to run on 100% hydrous ethanol (E100). The government simultaneously increased the mandatory ethanol content in petrol—from 10% to as high as 22% between 1976 and 1992—while backing the industry through guaranteed purchases by Petrobras (Brazil's state-owned oil firm), subsidised loans and regulated fuel prices. These measures spurred rapid adoption, with nearly three-quarters of new passenger cars produced in Brazil powered by ethanol by the mid-1980s. The programme faltered in the late 1980s thanks to falling oil prices, rising sugar prices and nationwide ethanol shortages. But the industry staged a comeback in 2003 with the introduction of fle fuel vehicles, which could run on any blend of petrol and ethanol. The technology revived ethanol demand and cemented Brazil's position as the global leader in biofuels. Mandatory blending has continued to rise over the years, reaching 27% ethanol (E27) in regular petrol by 2015. The 1979 Fiat 147 was Brazil's first car capable of operating on 100% hydrous ethanol (E100). (Image: Wikimedia Commons) HOW BRAZIL'S AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY ADAPTED TO RUN ON ETHANOL Brazil's automobile industry evolved alongside the country's ethanol programme. Subsidiaries of global manufacturers, including Fiat, Volkswagen, Ford, General Motors and Dodge, quickly adapted their vehicles to run not only on ethanol-blended petrol but also on pure hydrous ethanol (E100). The breakthrough came in 1979 with the launch of the Fiat 147, the world's first mass-produced E100 passenger car, supported by a growing nationwide network of ethanol pumps. Carmakers redesigned conventional petrol engines by increasing compression ratios, recalibrating fuel injection, replacing corrosion-prone components, fitting colder spark plugs and adding auxiliary cold-start systems. HOW FLE FUEL CARS GIVE BRAZILIANS FREEDOM TO CHOOSE FUEL The strategy proved highly successful, with vehicles capable of either running on ethanol-blended fuel or fully ethanol, accounting for nearly 75% of Brazil's passenger car production within six years of the introduction of the Fiat 147. The market for cars capable of running on pure ethanol collapsed in the late 1980s after ethanol shortages and falling oil prices drove consumers back to petrol.
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