Ethanol mixing in petroleum products to begin in weeks: Minister Bhandari

Kathmandu, Sept. 9

Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Damodar Bhandari has said that the government has made a lot of progress in the policy of mixing ethanol in petroleum products and said that only the price determination work remains which would be completed within a week.

"The regulation of ethanol mixture in petroleum products has been made; now the price is to be determined. We will finish this within a month," Minister Bhandari said at an interaction on the issue jointly organized by the Nepal Association of Financial Journalists (NAFIJ) and Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) in Kathmandu on Monady.

Minister Bhandari said that since ethanol production is in a position to reduce the consumption of petroleum products by 200,000 kiloliters per day, the government has also instructed the NOC to proceed with the necessary policy and other arrangements.

Pratibha Maharjan, chief of the central laboratory of the NOC, said that mixing ethanol in petrol is possible because Nepal has already made a policy arrangement to mix up to 10 per cent ethanol to imported petroleum products about two decades ago.

"The provision of mixing up to 10 per cent ethanol in petroleum products was published in Nepal Gazette Volume 53 Number 35 in 2003. Since then, studies and recommendations regarding ethanol blending have also promoted the same policy. Ethanol is a burning power source. This will help to reduce the consumption of petroleum products," Maharjan said.

She also said that even neighboring countries India and China have made a policy to implement the use of ethanol from 15 to 30 per cent in petroleum products, so Nepal's policy to have 10 per cent ethanol in fuel is a rational decision.

The USA blends 10 per cent ethanol in petroleum products, Brazil 27 per cent, India 15 per cent and China 10 per cent. India has set a target of at least 30 per cent ethanol consumption by 2030. Maharjan also said that the Indian government has subsidized the production and transportation of ethanol products.

However, stating that the discussion of environment-friendly ethanol mixture in petrol should be continued, the concerned bodies and experts have requested the government not to go ahead with the implementation of ethanol blending without necessary preparations.

Lilendra Pradhan, President of the Petroleum Dealers Association, raised a question about the debate on the mixture of ethanol in petroleum products. “With the use of EVs (electric vehicles), the import of petroleum products is decreasing on a daily basis, so why and how much ethanol mixture is necessary?” he asked.

Until recently, Nepal was importing 4,000 kiloliters of petroleum products daily. It has now been reduced to around 2,000 kiloliters. "So we need to give a serious consideration to mixing ethanol in petroleum products when the import is decreasing so rapidly," said Pradhan.

However, since they are transporters of petroleum products, he said that they would transport petroleum products as the government gold them.

Likewise, consumer activist Madhav Timalsina opined that although ethanol can be mixed with petroleum products, it should be consumer- and environment-friendly. He said that when ethanol is mixed with petroleum products, consumers should get its concessions in terms of price.

Kapil Sivakoti, Chairman of Environment Committee of NADA Automobiles Association of Nepal, argued that the policy of mixing ethanol in petroleum products is pointless. He argued that since Nepal will convert to hydrogen energy in the near future, there will be no need to use ethanol in current EVs and Petroleum Engine Vehicles.

However, Executive Director of the NOC, Dr. Chandika Prasad Bhatt, announced that the government will implement the ethanol production and use as it has already advanced a lot.

After a long hiatus, the government has taken the initiative to implement the provision to blend ethanol in petroleum products. Regarding the production and use of ethanol, there is a need to create a procedure along with the proposal, and the Industry Department has already given approval for the related procedure, he said.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 10 September 2024.