Automobile major Toyota recently unveiled the Corolla Altis FFV-SHEV (Flexi-Fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicle). The new variant has a flex-fuel engine and an electric powertrain, a combination that is said to enable better use of ethanol and greater fuel efficiency as it can travel for quite some time in EV mode.
Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, has urged car makers to develop flex-fuel compliant engines for their forthcoming portfolio. Flex fuel is when regular petrol combines with either methanol or ethanol and is stored in the same tank as the fuel that is used by the engine. The ethanol-petrol blend can be adjusted, but the common ratio could be that of 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent petrol.
Ethanol could be described as a derivative of biomass left by agricultural feedstocks like corn, sugarcane, potato and rice. It has become a sought-after fuel the world over because it can lower pollutants such as carbon monoxide...