Srinagar, June 30: With ethanol blending in petrol having come up in Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory, Kashmir Valley Tank Owners and Petroleum Dealers Association has issued an advisory to petrol vehicle owners to take preventive measures to ensure that water does not mix with the fuel.
As the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas made it mandatory to blend petrol fuel with 10% ethanol, the public sector oil companies started selling ethanol blends petrol across the country. In J&K, it was started recently.
The government’s decision to blend petrol with ethanol is aimed at reducing environmental pollution as ethanol is less polluting than other fuels. Even the Government of India plans to advance the 20 percent ethanol blending target by five years to 2025.
The advisory by the association comes at a time when the price hike of petrol is at its historic high across the country. As per the advisory, the petrol vehicle owners have been asked to take preventive measures to ensure that water does not mix with the fuel as ethanol has the tendency to get in contact with water. This mixture of water with ethanol gets collected at the bottom of the fuel tank, resulting in jerking of vehicles.
The spokesperson of the association, Bilal Ahmad, while talking to the Greater Kashmir said the motive behind issuing the advisory was to “create awareness among the petrol vehicle owners”. He said the oil companies should have created awareness among the general public like they informed the fuel dealers about the ethanol blending in petrol.
“We believe even the administration is not fully aware of the modus operandi of the ethanol blending; so didn’t issue any advisory. The government’s main concern is to reduce environmental pollution. Even most people here are unaware of it. So the need for issuing the advisory, stressing on taking precautionary measures, was felt as we value our customers,” he said.
The association in its advisory has called for checking fuel tank of the vehicle for any water content especially while servicing, and cleaning the tank by qualified mechanic. It also advised keeping the vehicle covered if not to be used for long intervals especially during rainy and snowy season. Besides, the petrol vehicle owners must check the lid of the fuel tank to ensure its proper placement with the entry point of the fuel tank, the association cautioned.
A petrol pump owner in Srinagar said they take utmost care to ensure that the water does not leak into the petrol tank(s).
“We take all precautions by cleaning the fuel tanks on almost daily basis to eradicate the possibility of the presence of any water in the ethanol blends fuel which is cleaner and provides increased power and performance,” he said.
Shameem Ahmad, an automobile engineer and owns a workshop at Padshahi Bagh, said ethanol starts absorbing water over time, leading to poor engine performance.
“Ethanol absorbs up to 50 times more water than standard gasoline. In short, it will dissolve plastic, rubber, fiberglass and much more, which will result in serious problems to small engines as too much ethanol in them can cause corrosion and damage from overheating,” Shameem said. “Small-engine equipment is not designed to handle high ethanol-based gasoline.”
While the move (mixing ethanol with fuel) is a step against climate change given the worldwide concern for environment; the people are worried about the rising fuel prices. Many question the logic behind substantial hike in petrol prices even after mixing ethanol.
“It is becoming increasingly difficult to come to terms with the fuel prices. We had never thought of petrol crossing Rs 100 mark so soon,” Mushtaq Ahmad Parray said.