What is the alternative of petrol and diesel? What will happen when there is no petrol-diesel?
A question is bothering the whole world right now what will happen when there is no petrol-diesel? However, countries across the world, including India, are working on petrol-diesel alternatives. Also, the problem of pollution has also become serious due to the use of petrol-diesel. So another option is needed. Although these alternatives have been explored, they have not succeeded as expected in reducing petrol-diesel dependence at present. At present, ethanol, methanol, and hydrogen-powered vehicles are being worked on in our country.
Petroleum reserves are finite. One day that needs will end. So it is necessary to preserve it. We all have read or heard this while studying environment. Also, cars running on petrol and diesel cause more air pollution. Due to the limited supply of petrol and diesel and their significant contribution to pollution, alternatives are now being explored. Work is going on in this regard all over the world including India. Many options have been found and research is going on on many options.
The statistics of the Ministry of Petroleum, Government of India, state that in AD The consumption of petroleum products in the country was 3.5 lakh metric tonnes in 1950-51, which has increased to 20.27 crore metric tonnes in the year 2021-22. If we talk only about the consumption of petrol-diesel, then in 2021-22, the consumption of petrol was 308 lakh metric tonnes and diesel consumption was 766 lakh metric tonnes. India is third in terms of consumption of petrol-diesel every year after USA and China.
It has become necessary for India to find an alternative to petrol-diesel because 85 percent of our oil needs come from outside. According to government figures, more than 1.31 lakh crore rupees were spent on crude oil purchases from April to December last year. The report of the Ministry of Petroleum states that if the petroleum products are not preserved i.e. stored, the situation may worsen in the future.
What is India’s preparation?
Petroleum products like petrol-diesel are called fossil or biofuels. They are called fossil fuels because they are formed after the remains of plants, insects, and sea creatures have been buried in the earth or oceans for millions of years. Also, one of the problems with such fuels is that they emit a lot of carbon dioxide, which increases pollution.
India also signed the Paris Agreement in the year 2015. According to this, by the year 2030, India will keep a target of a 35 to 35 percent reduction in carbon emissions. The Transport Minister said that by 2030, 30 percent of the cars sold in India will be electric, while 40 percent of the bikes and scooters will be electric. Auto companies have been asked to start production of flex-fuel vehicles and flex-fuel strong hybrid electric vehicles in the near future. Flex-fuel vehicles are vehicles that can run on different fuels. That means it will run on fuel other than petrol-diesel.
Ethanol and methanol are being made into fuel in India. Both of these can be used as alternative fuels. If a flex-fuel engine is installed in petrol-diesel cars, apart from petrol-diesel it can also run on ethanol and methanol.
Future Petrol-Diesel Alternative
Ethanol
Ethanol is produced from sugarcane and corn. Ethanol will reduce dependence on petrol-diesel, as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Ethanol can be a good alternative to petrol-diesel in India, as we have a good production of sugarcane and maize there. Also, this will increase the income of the farmers. America has been using ethanol as fuel since 2001. Also, its cost is about 40 percent less than petrol and diesel. Not only this, there is no problem with running cars on ethanol fuel. India has set a target of adding 20 percent ethanol to petrol by 2025.
Methanol
Apart from ethanol, work is going on to use methanol as an alternative fuel all over the world. Methanol can replace both petrol and diesel which is the special thing about methanol. It can also be mixed with petrol or diesel in small amounts and can be used 100%. Methanol will also help reduce pollution. Ethanol blended fuel is currently being used in the country, but methanol is being worked on.
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is also the fuel of the future. Hydrogen can be used as Hydrogen fuel cells specially for cars installed in hydrogen-powered vehicles. This dual cell produces electricity by chemically reacting with oxygen in the air. The water that is formed after the chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen comes out of the silencer of cars instead of smoke. Its special thing is that it does not pollute the environment at all.
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Electricity
Now cars or vehicles can be run with electricity too. Electric vehicles are widely used in many developed countries including America, but now the sales of electric vehicles are also increasing in India. The running cost of electric vehicles is less as compared to petrol-diesel. However, such electric vehicles have a very high cost. Currently, the number of electric vehicles in the country is more than 10.60 lakh. Most of these are two-wheelers and three-wheelers, and the number of vehicles is only 27,930.
Biodiesel
Biodiesel is made from vegetable oil and animal dung. The special thing about biodiesel is that it emits very little smoke, so it does not cause much pollution. Biodiesel can be used pure or blended with diesel. In the Lok Sabha, the government said that currently, only 0.1 percent of biodiesel is mixed in diesel. The government has set a target of 30 percent biodiesel in a diesel by 2030.
Natural gas
Natural gas is a type of fossil fuel, which mostly contains methane gas. It is used as compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Its cost is very less compared to petrol-diesel. CNG vehicles have started to be widely used in India, but work on LNG is underway. According to an estimate, there are more than 40 lakh CNG vehicles in our country.
LPG
Currently, the gas used for cooking in our homes is called Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). LPG is also being considered as an alternative to petrol diesel. Many vehicles in America run on LPG. However, at present the number of LPG stations is negligible. LPG is being used in India. According to an estimate, there are about 25 lakh vehicles in the country that run on LPG. Also, most autos in South India are shifting to LPG.
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