January 13, 2023, Bengaluru Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) is taking part at “Ethanol Pavilion” in Auto Expo’23, emphasising the significance of multiple energy pathway approach towards achieving carbon neutrality. The Pavilion organised by The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) aims to promote awareness and accelerate the adoption of ethanol as an alternative fuel thereby helping the sector lower its dependence on fossil fuels.
The pavilion was inaugurated by Shri. Hardeep Singh Puri, Hon’ble Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Housing and Urban Affairs and Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar, Hon’ble Minister of State of Power and Heavy Industries – Government of India.
As champions of sustainability, globally, Toyota is committed to Carbon Neutrality by 2050 and aims to achieve Net Zero Carbon in Manufacturing Operations by 2035. Toyota is advancing greener mobility solutions with greater agility by introducing and supporting multiple clean technologies considering various factors such as India’s energy mix, its unique consumer profile and needs, infrastructure readiness, and the Government’s diversified efforts towards becoming ‘Atma Nirbhar’ in energy by 2047.
Sharing his expert views, Mr. Vikram Gulati, Country Head and Executive Vice President Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said, “Toyota will continue its relentless efforts and contribute to future innovations by sharing sustainable technological advancements in the green mobility space. Toyota believes that ‘carbon is the enemy’, and hence continues to offer wider choices to customers with various vehicle powertrain technologies, including Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicles (SHEV), Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV), Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV), Fuel-cell Electric vehicles (FCEV), Flex-fuel as well as Flex Fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicle (FFV-SHEV), and other bio-fuel vehicles. Given the Indian context, we foresee a huge potential for ethanol as it is an Indigenous and clean energy source, that can significantly reduce fossil fuel consumption.
We are thrilled to be a part of the Ethanol Pavilion at Auto Expo 2023. Engaging in this inclusive initiative underlines the robust efforts by the Government and various key stakeholders in finding practical solutions that are best suited to promote energy security and green mobility in the country.” He added further.
As one of the most appropriate options, ethanol holds tremendous potential for India as it is an Indigenous and renewable – clean energy source, that can significantly reduce fossil fuel consumption, the energy import bill and carbon emissions. Being agriculture based, higher use of ethanol as fuel will also increase farmer incomes and create new jobs, thereby boosting the agrarian economy besides increasing revenue for the Government. The Government also recently launched second-generation technologies for producing ethanol from agricultural residues like Agriculture waste (parali), which is currently otherwise burnt.
India has already achieved 10% ethanol blending five months ahead of schedule. The implementation of 20% ethanol blending in petrol by 2025-26 is expected to substitute 86 million barrels of Gasoline, thereby leading to forex savings of Rs. 30,000 crores for India, as well as reducing 10 million tons of carbon emissions. Given the huge potential of ethanol production that exists up to and beyond E20, these benefits can increase multi-fold with the introduction of Flexi Fuel Vehicle (FFV) technology, that can flexibly use higher ethanol blends from 20% to 85%.
In India, Toyota recently launched the pilot project on Flexi-Fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicle (FFV-SHEV) Technology and signed an MOU with the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The initiative marked Toyota’s efforts to promote and create awareness on Ethanol as an important indigenous, carbon neutral energy pathway, along with the advanced Flexi-Fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicle technology that can help India achieve true self-reliance and contribute towards the national target of Carbon Net-Zero by 2070. The collected data will be shared with the prestigious Indian Institute of Science, for conducting a deeper study about the well-to-wheel carbon emissions of FFV / FFV-SHEV in the Indian context.
At display, at the Ethanol Pavilion, is Toyota’s Flex-fuel Vehicle (FFV) offering. In addition, the Flex-fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicle (FFV-SHEV) is also being displayed at Stall Number 10 at Auto Expo, 2023. We welcome one and all to visit the Toyota Booth at the Auto Expo 2023 and Ethanol Pavilion for an awesome experience with array of green and clean initiatives.
The Indian automobile industry being one of the key contributors to India’s energy security mission, represented at the Ethanol Pavilion with significant participation by leading OEMs, top industry leaders and experts. This important conference also witnessed the presence of various ethanol producers, world-renowned technology providers including Brazil and the United States. The pavilion also represented the special efforts by Government of India towards accelerating the clean energy goals.
On the side-lines, today, a day-long conference themed “International Symposium for Thriving Eco-Energy in Mobility (ISTEM)” was organised to bring together experts and various think tanks deliberate over the benefits and opportunities of ethanol, along with discussing the readiness of automotive ecosystem for decarbonization. Sessions also included experts sharing experiences on the holistic pathways adopted globally aimed at realising energy dependence, economic benefits of a widespread ethanol ecosystem, energy security through biofuels and thereby contributions to long-run sustainable growth.
