The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has proposed amendments to vehicle emission rules to expand the scope of high ethanol blends and alternative fuels, paving the way for flex-fuel vehicles and pure biofuels in all vehicle categories.
The draft changes to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, notified on April 27, covers fuels including E85 (85% ethanol blended with petrol), E100 (nearly pure ethanol), B100 biodiesel, hydrogen combinations and CNG.
Until now, the rules primarily referred to E10 and E20. The proposed amendment opens the regulatory door to flex-fuel and pure biofuel vehicles in all categories, including two-wheelers, three-wheelers, passenger cars and heavy-duty vehicles.
B100 is 100% pure biodiesel, produced from vegetable oils, animal fats or recycled cooking oil; It can be run in diesel engines but requires modifications to the fuel system at full concentration. Hydrogen and CNG are a blend of CNG with 18-20% hydrogen, which burns cleaner than pure CNG and takes advantage of existing gas infrastructure.
The proposals are open for public consultation for 30 days, after which the government will make a final decision, the agency said.
HT reported on April 24 that the plans would in effect give consumers the option to purchase flex-fuel vehicles capable of running on higher ethanol blends, while conventional petrol and diesel cars would retain the option of lower concentration fuels such as E20.
What are flex fuel vehicles?
Flex-fuel vehicles are designed to run on any blend of ethanol and gasoline – from E20 to E100 – with on-board sensors automatically adjusting parameters. Moving to a high-ethanol blend requires reconfiguring the vehicle, such as upgrading the fuel lines to handle the corrosive properties of ethanol and retuning the engine management systems. Brazil launched the world’s most mature flex-fuel program in 2003, achieving life-cycle carbon reductions of up to 90% compared to fossil gasoline.
Car companies say they are ready for this shift. “Car companies are ready to launch flex-fuel cars, which emit much less carbon,” Vikram Gulati, president of Toyota Kirloskar Motor Corporation, told HT last week.
The project also raises the maximum vehicle weight from 3,000 kg to 3,500 kg, bringing the regulations in line with global standards for light commercial vehicles. This brings more pickup trucks, vans and vans under the same emissions testing rules.
The notification updates fuel tariffs, replacing references to “Hydrogen+CN” with “Hydrogen+CNG”. It corrects the emission intensity measurement unit from “Mg/kWh” to “mg/kWh” and corrects the Globally Harmonized Emission Limit (WNTE) from 60 to 600.
WNTE is a global methodology that defines the maximum permissible emission levels during real-world operation.
(With inputs from agencies)
