Sugar industry in ethanol sourcing

1. The Niti Aayog envisages requirement of 1,400 crore litres of ethanol to achieve 20% blending by 2025-2026. 
2. Nearly 550 crore litres of ethanol have been produced and 450 crore litres of it came from the sugar industry and the remaining from maize and damaged grain, in 2022.
3. Molasses, a byproduct of sugar processing, are currently being used for bioenergy production, especially ethanol.
4. Various physical, chemical, biological pretreatment, and enzymatic hydrolysis/saccharification and fermentation are applied to produce ethanol from sugarcane bagasse.
5. Ethanol can be mixed with gasoline to form various types of blends.
6. As ethanol contains oxygen molecule, it allows the engine to completely combust the fuel resulting in fewer emissions.