Is Bio-fuel an alternative of Flossil fuel ?

Pakistan seemed to tremble by unexpected crisis of oil which occurred in month of February. This was due to the fact that Pakistan is not sufficient in production of crude oil and imports 85% of the oil to meet nation’s oil requirement and spend a lot of foreign exchange. As the government was unable to clear the debt, PSO can’t import more oil and oil crisis occurred.
This is an era in which the world is looking for an alternative fuel and Pakistan have one of the best alternatives, Ethanol the future fuel.
Pakistan is mostly an agricultural country, with sugarcane as its main cash crop which is used to make sugar. Pakistan holds 7th position in world in terms of sugar cane production. In manufacturing sector sugar industry is 2nd largest after textile industry and contributes 2% of the total GDP, with 78 sugar mills operating in Pakistan. During the past decade the production of sugar have increased.
Ethanol is obtained as a byproduct during fermentation of molasses, a process occurs in sugar industry. In this process sugar and other components are converted into ethanol and CO2  in presence of enzymes. About 10 L of ethanol is produced per ton of sugarcane.
Ethanol is low carboned fuel. It is an oxygenated fuel which means it has more capability of complete combustion than gasoline and has an octane rating of 110 ( normal gasoline have an octane rating of 87).

It can be used as standalone fuel for modified engines but in normal conditions a blend of 5% to 10% can be done. The total consumption of gasoline is 1.6 million which means a blend of 10% ethanol can save 160,000 tons of gasoline.
It is widely used in Brazil and US, together both countries are responsible for 87.1% of world’s ethanol production. But in Pakistan in spite of large sugar manufacturing, 75% of ethanol is drained into rivers. Pakistan State Oil (PSO) launched E-10 gasoline which contains 10 % ethanol with collaboration of Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan (HDIP). The product was introduced in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad but it failed badly due to lack of awareness among people.
Steps should be taken in order to introduce ethanol fuel which will save precious foreign exchange. Also introduction of Ethanol based fuel will lead to less load on CNG sector.

                                                                                          Noman Raza
                                                                                          Second year
                                                                                          Chemical Department.