(Feature Image: AI generated image. Source: National Herald)

The proliferation of sugar mills and sugarcane cultivation in drought prone areas like Marathwada, North Karnataka, Cauvery basin areas in Tamil Nadu has always been a huge scandal, ongoing for decades. Now new dimensions are getting added to this, as the following article this week shows: Ethanol procurement for blending with petrol, now upto 20%, but there are moves afoot to increase it to upto 100%.

The Ethanol does not come just from molasses, a by-product of sugar manufacture, but now even from sugar. Yet another dimension that is getting added is the use of rice and maize also for manufacture of ethanol. Rice itself is hugely water intensive crop, its second stage high water consumption come from manufacture of ethanol from rice. This is being sold as a solution to high import bill in petroleum import, particularly in times of the ongoing Gulf War.

Continue reading “DRP 180526: Ethanol Production in Drought prone areas: A false solution?” →