Is Gadkariji having second thoughts ?

 

 

Context :

How Ethanol could be a solution to Sugarcane Farmers’ woes   /  Business Line  /  27 April 2022

Extract :

Ø  Union Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari set the alarm bells ringing recently when he said that sugarcane farmers will be left with no other option than to commit suicide if the sugar industry fails to divert sugarcane for ethanol production. The words may sound shocking, but diversion of sugarcane in to ethanol production could be a win-win for both farmers as well as for the energy security of the country. 

Ø  “ The sugar industry will collapse if the same amount of sugarcane and sugar is produced next year “. Gadkari warned

Ø  Diversion of Sugar to Ethanol

 

	2019 - 20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23(E )
Ethanol procured / targeted  (  in crore litre )	173	296	440	550
All India average blending ( in % )	5	8.1	10	12
Sugar equivalent diverted ( in lakh tonnes )	8	21	34	50

 

MY TAKE :

Ø  Without doubt, there seems to be “ Over-Production “ of sugarcane , depressing cane prices

Ø  But prices can be kept remunerative if that “ Over-production “ is converted to Ethanol

Ø  Blending petrol with ethanol also helps in reducing bad emissions and lowering air pollution

Ø  But, sugarcane crop requires huge amount of water, mostly drawn as ground water

Ø  This would lead to water shortage for other crops / industry use / drinking purpose

Ø  With ground water levels going ever deeper, water famine is a near certainty !

 

What could / should be done ?

Ø  Reduce intake of sugar in daily food intake ( through education and steep price rise )

Ø  Reduce Petrol vehicles and quickly change-over to Electric Vehicles, thereby reducing petrol demand

Ø  Reduce ethanol blending – thereby reducing ethanol production / sugarcane diversion

 

Of course, what I suggest  :

Ø  May seem impractical – even whimsical and certainly “ politically incorrect “

Ø  In short-term, inflict miseries to sugarcane farmers ( can we find other ways to compensate them ? )

Ø  Is certainly, a “ long term “ solution – and must be incorporated in our AGRI POLICY

 

I am no expert on farming / agriculture . I have based my above-stated

suggestions as a follow-up to my following 5 YEAR old e-mail to the Cabinet

Ministers :

Ø  Not a straightforward Answer !.................  [ 03 March 2017 ]

Extract :

 

While it is true that a few countries have been experimenting with blending of bio-

fuels with petrol , experts have raised serious concerns re its impact on a

 country’s eco-system

I reproduce below , a few such concerns listed in book “ CLEAN DISRUPTION “

 by Tony Seba { pg 201-210 }: { https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=Kxryv2XrnqM }

·         It takes 13,676 gallons of water to produce a single gallon of biodiesel from

          soybeans

·         It takes 1700 gallons of water to produce one gallon of ethanol .

          Assuming a 30 gallon gasoline tank in a SUV, we calculate 51,000 gallons of

         water for the corn ethanol fill up ( Prof David Pimentel of Cornell University )

         

·         Each time someone fills up an SUV with corn Ethanol, he or she uses as much

          water as the average American residential user consumes in 16 months !

          

·         IBM’s “ Carbon Disclosure Project “ provides following data to generate 1

          MWh of energy :

            #  Solar PV and wind use negligible amount of water : 0.1 litre or less

                than half a cup

           #  Biofuels use an astonishing 1.78 million times more water than Solar to

               generate the same amount of energy !

       

        

·         All the water for drinking , agricultural irrigation , power plants and factories

          that 2.5 billion people in CHINA and INDIA need per YEAR , is roughly equal to

          the water biofuels require to produce two days’  worth of energy in USA !

          

          

·         According to WaterFootprint, 19,924 gallons of water are needed to

          produce ONE gallon of biodiesel from jatropha

 

          

·         Sugarcane , one of the biofuel industry’s “ success stories “ , converts t

          just 0.38 percent of sunlight into biomass .

          In the end, the solar-to-ethanol conversion ratio for sugarcane is just 

         0.13 percent , according to “Scientific American “

         

         

·         The average Solar Panel is 123 TIMES more efficient in converting sunshine

          into usable energy

·         Concentrating photovoltaic { CPV } can turn about 40 percent of the sunshine

          into electricity, which makes it THREE HUNDRED TIMES more efficient than

          sugarcane ethanol biofuel

 

          

·         SOLAR IS ANYWHERE FROM 123 TO 550 TIMES MORE EFFICIENT THAN BIO-

          FUELS

 

·         SOLAR CHP ( COMBINED HEAT AND POWER ) CAN CONVERT SUNSHINE 550

          TIMES MORE EFFICIENTLY THAN SUGARCANE CAN

 

          

Dear Shri Gadkariji :

 

Research by reputed scientific organizations all over the World , project a Water

 Stress situation of unprecedented proportions in India, within the next 10 years

 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225386996_Sustainable_Development_of_Water_Resources_in_India

Last year’s “ Water Wars “ of Latur ( Maharashtra ) will get replicated in many

parts of our country , in next 20 weeks !  And every year thereafter !

{ http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/tamil-nadu-andhra-karnataka-droughts-the-looming-water-crisis-in-south-india/story-HuRpL6p0cA7paSUpIDITCP.html }

Production of biofuel on the massive scale envisaged in the new policy, will only

further push down the already deep water tables and accelerate the droughts /

famines

IN LIGHT OF THE ARGUMENTS LISTED ABOVE , I REQUEST A RE-CONSIDERATION OF THE PROPOSED POLICY

===================================================

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  27 April 2022