New ethanol emission norms for vehicles

NEW DELHI: Government on Tuesday issued notification on mass emission standards for flex-fuel ethanol E85 and ED95 in vehicles. This move is aimed at pushing production of vehicles that run on clean fuel, particularly in cities that are facing acute problem of air pollution.
The road transport ministry also notified the test requirements for type approval of vehicles using these fuel including two, three and four-wheeled vehicles.
“The ministry is amending the Central Motor Vehicle Rules to facilitate the use of greener alternate fuels in vehicles. Alternative fuels are either produced in the country - ethanol, bio-CNG or generated locally like solar photovoltaic and other sources of electric power which can be stored in electric batteries,” a release issued by the ministry said.
It has already notified draft rules for mass emission norms and testing standards of vehicles running on bio-CNG which are under finalization. The standards of small series testing of vehicles running on electric power have already been notified by the ministry.
According to a government spokesperson, road transport minister Nitin Gadkari chaired a presentation for replacement of engines of BS-III and lower specifications used in buses, with electric motors, to be run in cities facing the problem of pollution in order to reduce emissions. The companies involved in research and development of such technologies promised that they will develop economically-viable model so that the purchasers of such buses may find it viable for a longer duration.