India is likely to introduce a mandate for blending isobutanol with diesel as early as this year, a move that could have a bigger impact on the country’s energy security than ethanol blending in petrol given diesel consumption is nearly twice that of petrol, said Road transport and highways secretary V Umashankar.
Speaking at the CII Multimodal Transportation and Logistics Summit in New Delhi on Friday, Umashankar said the government was examining diesel blending with “great seriousness” and early results from ongoing trials were encouraging.
“Blending of diesel has been looked into with great seriousness. Bharat Petroleum is already undertaking strategic research for iso-butanol blending with diesel. And the results are very encouraging. It is quite likely that the blending mandate will start coming in somewhere later this year,” he said.
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Volume Advantage
“Diesel consumption is almost two times that of petrol consumption. So, the impact on blending in terms of diesel is concerned will have a far greater impact on our energy security than even petrol blending,” he added.
The proposed mandate is part of a broader set of measures being pursued by the government to improve energy security, reduce dependence on imported fuels and accelerate decarbonisation of the transport and logistics sector.
Bypassing the Charger
The ministry is also preparing to issue a draft notification on truck-trailer interchangeability, a framework aimed at addressing operational challenges associated with battery charging and battery-swapping infrastructure for heavy-duty electric commercial vehicles.
“We are looking at bringing a draft notification on truck-trailer soon,” Umashankar said.
Explaining the concept, he said the proposal envisages swapping the tractor unit instead of waiting for batteries to charge or creating an extensive battery-swapping network.
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“What we are looking at is what we call a tractor-trailer interchangeability. Where you don’t need to swap the battery, you swap the entire front part of the truck,” he said.
According to the secretary, charging infrastructure could be concentrated at designated locations while trailers continue their journey through replacement tractor units, helping improve utilisation of commercial vehicles.
TOPICSDieseldiesel vehiclesThis article was first uploaded on May twenty-nine, twenty twenty-six, at fourteen minutes past eleven in the night. © The Indian Express (P) Ltd