India should allow ethanol import, say experts at US summit
New Delhi, July 2: India should allow ethanol imports to increase its refineries' "efficiency and profitability", delegates at an ethanol summit in the US said on Monday.
"Importing ethanol would allow Indian ethanol refineries to increase efficiency and profitability, as these plants currently operate at only 60 to 70 per cent capacity," said the US Grains Council (USGC), Growth Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA).
The Ethanol Summit of the Asia Pacific (ESTAP) was attended by a high-level Indian delegation comprising MPs, biofuel and energy experts, and senior officials apart from officials from other countries, said a statement here.
According to experts at the summit, allowing ethanol imports assures investors of the government's commitment to their blending mandate, hence increasing the potential for expanded domestic and foreign investment, improved infrastructure and expanded overall capacity.
Stressing the importance of national ethanol policies, USGC President Deb Keller outlined how policies with a role for trade would allow governments to encourage domestic ethanol production and enable countries to meet blend mandate goals.
"Such policies support domestic feedstock industries like sugarcane and provide consistent access to the supply of fuel ethanol," she said.
The USGC, Keller said, is working with governments to develop ethanol policies that are sticky, meaning the policies establish industries that remain constant despite nominal changes, in addition to increasing global ethanol use.
Ethanol use can replace harmful components in the fuel supply, help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decrease the detrimental effects aromatics and other tailpipe emissions have on lung health and other human health factors.
"In India, the Council will keep demonstrating how increased use of ethanol is a win-win scenario to help India's economic and environmental goals stick and provide new opportunities for US ethanol," the USGC President said.
According to the statement, the Indian delegation's presence at the summit has brought home importance of trade in global ethanol policies as they got a first-hand experience of ethanol ecosystem in the US where they interacted with farmers and visited ethanol plants.
"The US visit of Indian experts gathers importance as the Indian government recently notified its new Biofuel Policy - National Policy on Biofuels 2018 - which offers several promotional provisions and incentives. However, it deviates from its earlier stand on imports," it said.
According to the policy, "indigenous production of biofuels will be encouraged by a set of practical and judicious incentives". It also emphasizes on the growth of domestic biofuel industry, going on to categorically mention that "allowing import will adversely affect domestic biofuels and hence, import will not be allowed".
Kalikesh Singh Deo, a member of the parliamentary panel on petroleum, said: "India does have a national ethanol blending mandate in place at E10 with goals of reaching E20."
"However, a restriction on importing ethanol has resulted in a national effective blend rate at only 2.2 per cent.
"Under this policy, the US or any other country cannot export ethanol to India for fuel use, only for industrial use," said Deo, who went for the summit.
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Assam mining tragedy: Bodies of 3 more labourers trapped in coal quarry recovered
Guwahati, Jan 11: The bodies of three workers, who were trapped inside a coal mine in Assam's Dima Hasao district, were recovered on Saturday from the quarry during rescue operations, an official said.
Four bodies have so far been recovered with the first one taken out from the mine on Wednesday, he said.
The four deceased labourers were among the nine workers trapped inside the mine in Umrangsu on Monday after a sudden gush of water flooded the quarry.
"The rescue operations resumed this morning and three bodies were recovered as the search for trapped miners entered its sixth day. The body of one labourer, hailing from Nepal, was recovered on January 8," the official said.
One of the three labourers whose bodies were recovered from the mine during the day was identified as 27-year-old Ligen Magar, a resident of village number 1 of Kalamati in Dima Hasao, he said.
The identification of two other bodies is underway, the district official said.
Magar's body was found floating on accumulated water in the mine after the army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) divers went to bring out the worker, the official said.
"Another body was recovered from the Umrangsu mine a short while ago, marking the third recovery so far. The identification process is currently underway”, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma posted on X.
He said the rescue operations have been continuing with "unwavering resolve".
"Rescue efforts in Umrangsu continue with unwavering resolve. Tragically, another body was recovered this morning...," the chief minister posted on the microblogging site earlier in the day.
''Our hearts go out to the grieving, as we hold on to hope and strength in this difficult time," he added.
Dewatering of the quarry, which is 340 feet deep, was continuing with specialised machines brought in by ONGC and Coal India, the official said.
The chief minister had claimed that the mine was abandoned 12 years ago and was under the Assam Mineral Development Corporation till three years ago.
''It was not an illegal mine but an abandoned one. The workers had entered the mine that day for the first time to extract coal," Sarma said on Friday night.
He said that the leader of the workers has been arrested and the police are conducting investigations into the case.
Speaking on the ongoing rescue operations, Sarma said that dewatering has been continuing since Thursday and so far, 7 metres of water have been pumped out.
''There was water up to 26 metres across four wells. If water is cleared from the wells, we can expect some results'', he said.
Another machine has been brought in from Nagpur and would be operated from Saturday morning, Sarma said, adding that if it functions according to plans, it is expected that the water would be cleared by evening.
On the alleged involvement of a family member of Dima Hasao Autonomous Council's Chief Executive Member Debolal Gorlosa in the incident, the chief minister said, ''This is a human tragedy and we should not politicise it".
