E 20 rollout a game changer for Assam’s bamboo economy

The Supreme Court’s order upholding the rollout of 20% ethanol-blended petrol (E20) has brought opportunities for Assam’s bamboo growers to boost household income. The nationwide rollout of E20 is likely to increase demand for ethanol to be produced at the biorefinery in the state to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his upcoming visit on September 13-14. The central government, while opposing the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed before the SC that challenged the E20 rollout, argued that the move benefitted the sugarcane farmers apart from reducing vehicular pollution and reducing import dependence. Although the primary focus of ethanol production is on sugarcane growers, the commissioning of the biorefinery coinciding with the E20 rollout could be a game changer for Assam’s bamboo economy. The commissioning of the refinery will lead to the creation of a regular bamboo market in Assam with a fixed demand of five lakh tonnes of green bamboo annually. The refinery will require this quantity of bamboo to produce six crore litres of ethanol annually. Successful and sustainable operation of the biorefinery will create opportunities for expansion of its production capacity or setting up more such biorefineries in the state in the future. A steady supply of bamboo to the refinery will be crucial for running it at optimal capacity. This can be possible only when bamboo growers are able to grow bamboo on a commercial scale. The growers continuing to get remunerative prices is essential to stay engaged in growing bamboo for supplying to the biorefinery. The National Policy on Biofuels advanced the rollout of E20 to 2025 from the earlier target year of 2030. Official data shows that the ethanol blending programme has resulted in expeditious payment to farmers of more than Rs. 125,000 crore up to July 2025, savings of more than Rs. 144,000 crore of foreign exchange, net carbon emission reduction of about 736 lakh metric tonnes and substitution of more than 244 lakh metric tonnes of crude oil. Evidently, the huge economic and environmental trade-off cannot be equated to the incompatibility of ethanol-blended petrol in older vehicles, but the debate over decreasing fuel efficiency on account of the blending of ethanol is not going to be over so soon, as it concerns a large section of vehicle owners. The impact of ethanol blending on emission reduction is also seen as a significant gain by many environmentally conscious vehicle owners despite the incompatibility of their vehicles with ethanol-blended petrol for fuel efficiency, as they are more worried about unregulated carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning further precipitating climate change impact. The strengthened rural economy on account of the transfer of payment to sugarcane and rice growers will also have a moderating impact on the drop in fuel efficiency, as an increase in household income will bring many the option of purchasing new vehicles which are E20 compatible. The sugar and ethanol industry welcoming the SC order dismissing the PIL is indicative of the preparedness of the industry stakeholders as well as the farmers in the sugarcane-growing belts. Whether traditional bamboo growers in Assam are aware of the developments and the scale of opportunities knocking on their door is a pertinent question. Apart from traditional bamboo growers, the supply chain will create livelihood opportunities for transporters, aggregators and bamboo nursery investors. Closure of the paper mills in the state disrupted the bamboo supplies for industrial use, but ethanol production from bamboo has rekindled the hopes for revival of the bamboo supplies. Bamboo growers can absorb shocks of demand decline from one industry, as it has diversified application and therefore has an economic advantage over sugarcane in the ethanol industry. Bamboo groves are much larger carbon sinks than equivalent areas under sugarcane, which can be considered in prioritising bamboo over sugarcane for ethanol production. Besides, it grows fast and regrows naturally after harvest and does not require replanting like sugarcane, which needs to be replanted after harvesting. The people in the state and in the Northeast region have their traditional wisdom about bamboo and its importance in maintaining ecological balance, but when it comes to industrial applications on a bigger scale, the awareness is limited to very few. If the state has to benefit from the rollout of E20 in a big way, then it is incumbent upon the government and the ethanol industry to build awareness among traditional bamboo growers in a big way to empower them to seize the opportunity. A missed opportunity will also pose sustainability challenges for the biorefinery over feedstock availability, which must not be allowed to happen. The National Policy on Biofuels, incorporating provisions that incentivise traditional bamboo growers to grow bamboo on a commercial scale to cater to the biorefinery’s demand for feedstock availability and attracting more investments by the ethanol industry to boost bamboo demand, is crucial for the expansion of biorefineries in bamboo-rich Assam and neighbouring states in the Northeast region.