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- The Union minister for Road, Transport and Highways recently launched Toyota’s first of its kind pilot project on Flexi-Fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicles (FFV-SHEV) in India.
Flexi-Fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicles (FFV-SHEV):
- Characteristic features:
- An FFV SHEV has a flex-fuel engine and an electric powertrain.
- It thus provides a dual benefit of higher ethanol use and greater fuel efficiency, as it can run for a significant time period on its EV mode, wherein the engine is shut off.
- These vehicles will run on 100% petrol as well as 20-100% blended ethanol and electric power.
- An FFV SHEV has a flex-fuel engine and an electric powertrain.
- Significance:
- Pollution:
- Pollution is a big concern in India and the transport sector is contributing to pollution.
- Therefore, there is a need to encourage use of electric vehicles and vehicles that run on biofuels like ethanol and methanol.
- AtmaNirbhar Bharat:
- 6% to 8% increase in agricultural growth rate is necessary for ‘AtmaNirbhar’ Bharat.
- It is important to convert surplus foodgrain and sugar into ethanol to boost the rural economy.
- Ecosystem of electric vehicles:
- Success of this pilot project will create an ecosystem of electric vehicles.
- Pollution:
- Global availability:
- Flex-fuel vehicles are available in Brazil, the USA and Canada.
- Ethanol is a major alternate fuel used globally and Brazil has the highest average blending of 48 per cent.
More about Ethanol & Ethanol blending
- What is Ethanol?
- Ethanol can be produced from crops that have high starch content like sugarcane, maize, wheat, etc.
- It is primarily produced from molasses, a derivative of sugar production.
- It is among the most important biofuels
- Ethanol blending:
- Ethanol can be mixed with gasoline to form different blends.
- This blending is done by the oil marketing companies in their terminals. Once blended, the ethanol cannot be separated from the petrol.
- Benefits:
- As the ethanol molecule contains oxygen, it allows the engine to more completely combust the fuel, resulting in fewer emissions and thereby reducing the occurrence of environmental pollution.
- Since ethanol is produced from plants that harness the power of the sun, ethanol is also considered a renewable fuel.
Source: TH
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