Are Flex-Fuel Vehicles the solution to contain the rising emission problems?

What are Flex-Fuel Vehicles?

A Flex-Fuel vehicle is capable of operating on gasoline, any blend of gasoline and up to 83% ethanol or methanol.

Flex-Fuel (also known as E85) is a gasoline-ethanol blend containing 51%-83% ethanol, depending on weather condition and geography.

The main advantage of using such type of fuel is that it is a clean-burning, renewable and sustainable resource that can be blended with gasoline to reduce emissions and increase fuel efficiency of the vehicle.

What makes it clean and environment friendly?

Flex fuel is technically a biofuel because it contains ethanol, which is a renewable resource made from biological material.

A common way of making ethanol is through the fermentation process. It starts when a grain, usually corn/sugarcane, is fermented to create ethanol.

The carbon footprint of E85 is 53.3 grams (g) of carbon dioxide-equivalent greenhouse gases per megajoules (MJ) per energy, according to reports and surveys. That’s 46% lower than the 98.5 g/MJ produced by regular gasoline, the analysis found.

E85 has a smaller carbon footprint than regular gasoline in its entire life cycle, including how and where it is produced, is factored into the equation.

Additionally, ethanol is a renewable resource – unlike oil, which is a finite resource, the raw material used to make ethanol is readily available and abundant.

Is E85 Dirtier Than Regular Gas?

E85 burns cleaner than regular gasoline and has a smaller overall carbon footprint than non-ethanol fuel blends. It produces fewer emissions, which results in cleaner air. At the same time, it has the added benefit of extracting more performance than regular gasoline.

Is E85 Better for the Environment?

E85 is better for the environment than non-ethanol fuel blends. That’s because it has a smaller overall carbon footprint and burns cleaner than traditional gasoline, and the ethanol it contains is a domestically produced renewable resource made from corn/sugarcane or other biological materials.

According to many studies, ethanol results in reduced tailpipe emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, the carcinogen benzene and fine particulates that irritate the lungs.

In addition, ethanol has the side benefit of producing useful byproducts like distillers’ grains that can be used as a high-protein feed for cattle.

Also, with sustainable fuels, the need for Electric Vehicles also reduces as the much more reliable IC engine vehicles and hybrid Vehicles can continue being in production with much lesser negative impact on the environment.

What is the Future?

Until the past few years, India has been using the E10, E20 fuels but, after the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a rise in the demand for E85 fuel and other sustainable fuel due to the more stringent BS-VI emission norms and also the need to contain greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

In the most recent automotive reveals, Korean Automotive giant, Hyundai has unveiled the 100% ethanol (E100) flex-fuel version of the Creta and intends to introduce it into its other products.

Ever since the stringent BS-VI emission norms were introduced, all the automobile manufacturers have been researching heavily on sustainable and clean fuels so that the Internal Combustion Engine lives on.

Now, with the use of E100 fuel possible, the future of sustainable fuels is well-defined and can help in reducing the emissions.

Also, the cleaner running of vehicles will aid in reducing the emission of greenhouse gases and make the vehicles much more reliable, smooth and easy to maintain.

Do you think that sustainable fuel is the solution for the concerns related to vehicular emissions?