We have advanced our target to achieve 20% ethanol blending in petrol from 2030 to 2025-26: Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri
The government has advanced its target to achieve 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol from 2030 to 2025-26, Union Minister for Petroleum Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday. While addressing the Global CBG Conference of the Indian Federation of Green Energy (IFGE) – CBG Producers Forum, Puri said that the Government of India has notified the National Policy on Biofuels, 2018 to increase usage of biofuels in the energy and transportation sectors of the country. “Production of indigenous biofuels will play a pivotal role in achieving the targets of net zero and import reduction. We have increased the ethanol blending in petrol from 1.53 per cent in 2013-14 to 10.17 per cent in July 2022. This translates into forex savings of Rs 41,500 crore, timely payment of over Rs 40,600 crore to farmers and a reduction of 27 lakh tones in CO2 emissions. We have also advanced our target to achieve 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol from 2030 to 2025-26,” he said. The Union Minister also said that the production of CBG would have multiple benefits viz., reduction of natural gas imports, reduction of GHG emission, reduction in the burning of agriculture residues, providing remunerative income to farmers, employment generation, and effective waste management. Puri said that the Government of India has set a target to increase the share of gas in the energy mix up to 15 per cent in 2030 to make India a Gas based economy. “Presently we are importing around 50 per cent of our requirement of natural gas. The speedy expansion of CBG wil help in meeting our additional requirement from domestic resources,” the Union Minister said. He further added “India has an ambitious target to set up 5000 commercial plants by 2024- 25 and produce 15 MMT of CBG which would replace other gaseous fuels being used in the country. So far 46 CBG/biogas plants have been commissioned and sale has been started from more than 100 Retail Outlets.”
Adani-Total’s Dhamra LNG terminal to start commercial operations at May-end
Adani Group and French company TotalEnergies’ newly built Rs 6,000 crore facility to import LNG at Dhamra on the Odisha coast will start commercial operations at the end of May, the French firm said on Monday. The 5 million tonne a year capacity terminal received its first ever shipment of liquefied natural gas – a fuel that will be used to make steel, produce fertilizers and turned into CNG and cooking gas – on April 1. Qatari ship ‘Milaha Ras Laffan’ docked at Dhamra port on April 1 morning, bringing in 2.6 trillion British thermal units of natural gas in its frozen form (LNG) which will be used to commission the facility. “This delivery enables the gradual commissioning of the terminal, which is expected to start commercial operations at the end of May 2023,” TotalEnergies said in a press statement. Karan Adani, CEO of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) – the firm that operates the Dhamra port and has leased the LNG jetty to Adani Total Private Ltd – had previously announced the receipt of the first LNG cargo. “This is a huge leap forward not only in access to clean and affordable energy but also in decarbonising India’s energy sector,” he had said earlier this month. Adani Total Private Limited is a 50:50 joint venture between TotalEnergies and Adani. The commissioning cargo was supplied by TotalEnergies from its portfolio in Qatar. “With regasification capacity of 5 million metric tonne of LNG per year, the Dhamra LNG terminal adds more than 10 per cent to India’s regasification capacity, strengthening the country’s position as the world’s fifth largest LNG importer and allowing it to increase the share of natural gas in its energy mix from 8 per cent to 15 per cent by 2030 to reduce its carbon intensity,” the statement said. Dhamra is the only LNG import terminal in eastern India and only the second on the entire east coast. The country’s five other terminals are on the western coast (three in Gujarat, one each in Maharashtra and Kerala). “We are pleased to have completed the first delivery of LNG to the new Dhamra LNG terminal, developed in partnership with Adani, with a cargo from Qatar. India wants to develop the use of natural gas to reduce the carbon intensity of its energy mix by replacing coal, and LNG can therefore meet the growing domestic demand. The commissioning of the Dhamra terminal reflects TotalEnergies’ ambition to support India’s energy transition and supply security,” said Thomas Maurisse, Senior Vice President LNG at TotalEnergies. After all checks, the terminal would be ready to start commercial operations with an expected 2.2-2.3 million tonne of LNG expected to be imported in the first year and a gradual ramp-up to full capacity in the next. Dhamra is a tolling facility where state-owned GAIL (India) Ltd and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) have booked capacity. They will import LNG at the terminal which will be re-converted into gas before being piped to refineries and fertiliser units. It will also be converted into CNG for running automobiles and piped into household kitchens for cooking purposes. It has a 20-year take-or-pay contract to provide regasification services to IOC for 3 million tonne per annum of LNG and 1.5 million tonne to GAIL. The terminal will be able to berth the widest range of LNG vessels all year round, transport gas via pipelines, trucks or on reloaded vessels. It houses two storage tanks, each of 180,000 cubic meters capacity, amongst the largest in the country. The capacity can be doubled to 10 million tonne in future by adding a third tank. Dhamra will be the main supply point on the recently completed Urja Ganga pipeline developed by GAIL, providing gas access to over 35 per cent of India’s population, covering about 20 per cent of the country’s land mass. Refineries, fertiliser plants, industries and city gas networks in the hinterland will be the major consumers of gas from Dhamra LNG. LNG is predominantly methane (C1) gas chilled to around (-)160 degrees Celsius where it turns into a liquid at atmospheric pressure, occupying less than 1/600th of the volume it otherwise would. This allows huge quantities of energy to be transported across oceans in specialised vessels. It is considered as a bridge fuel for India’s energy transition. Last year, the global LNG trade reached around 400 million tonne. Over the past three years, Indian imports have varied between 22 and 24 million tonne representing around 3 per cent of the country’s primary energy basket.
India’s gasoil sales jump in April first half
Indian state refiners posted an 8.4% rise in sales of gasoil to 3.45 million tonnes in the first half of April compared with the same period last month, preliminary sales data showed, indicating higher demand from the agriculture sector and a recovery in industrial activity. Gasoil accounts for about two-fifths of refined fuel consumption in India and is directly linked to industrial activity. While gasoil is mainly used by trucks, gasoline is used in passenger vehicles. Sales of gasoline fell 6.6% to 1.14 million tonnes during the period, the data showed. Sales of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) also declined more than 6% to 1.1 million tonnes in the same period, and jet fuel sales were down nearly 4% at 284,600 tonnes, the data showed. State-run companies – Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum – own about 90% of India’s retail fuel outlets.
Despite LPG & piped gas coverage, 15% of sulphur, CO in Mumbai’s air due to kerosene
Even though the state is inching close to a kerosene-free status, the existing supply of the combustible oil is far from meeting the Centre’s directive of bringing down the sulphur content from 2.5% (2,500 parts per million) to 0.10% (100 parts per million), a reduction of 96%. As a result, up to 15% of the sulphur and carbon monoxide load in Mumbai’s air is due to domestic burning – mainly kerosene used in slums and surrounding rural areas – forcing Mumbaikars to breathe the poisonous gas. It’s been almost four years since the central environment ministry’s notification directed petroleum companies to bring down sulphur content in kerosene. However, only a miniscule quota of kerosene alloted to the army has been converted to the expected sulphur standards, say activists. Sulfur dioxide emitted from kerosene use irritates skin and mucous membranes of eyes, nose, throat, and lungs. High concentrations of SO2 can cause inflammation and irritation of the respiratory system. In addition to sulphur dioxide, kerosene heaters also emit carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. Breathing these substances can pose a danger.
Asia’s LNG demand continues to slide
Asia’s demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) continued to fall in the first quarter of 2023 compared to last year, despite lower global prices and ongoing gas demand destruction in Europe. Declining LNG imports in the key Asian markets of Japan, China, and South Asia outweighed increasing demand in South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Singapore, according to data from IHS Markit and Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). The results represent the sixth consecutive quarter of year-on-year (y/y) declines in Asian LNG imports, a trend which began even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine rocked global LNG markets. The invasion caused Europe to increase LNG imports by 60% last year, pulling cargoes away from Asia and causing spot market prices to spike. As a result, Asia’s annual LNG demand fell by 7% in 2022. A record warm winter, along with healthy storage levels and gas demand destruction in Europe, has brought global LNG prices down since the start of the year. Even so, European LNG imports increased 6.6% y/y in the first quarter and global prices remain well above historical averages. Meanwhile, LNG demand in the two largest markets, Japan and China, has fallen even from lower baseline levels in 2022. LNG demand in key Asian markets remained tepid in 1Q 2023. China’s LNG demand fell by 2% y/y in the first quarter of 2023 and 14% compared to the first quarter of 2021. Many expect Chinese LNG demand to recover sharply this year after Chinese buyers reduced purchases by 20% in 2022 due to high prices and a COVID-19-related economic slowdown. However, a surge in China’s domestic production and increasing imports of pipeline gas from Russia will likely squeeze the need for LNG — a more expensive, flexible gas supply source. In 2022, pipeline imports and domestic gas production were up 9% and 6%, respectively, as LNG imports plummeted. This year, China has re-exported record high volumes of LNG to other countries, indicating weak domestic demand.
Compressed biogas expansion to help India meet its energy needs: Oil Minister Puri
Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said speedy expansion of compressed biogas (CBG) will help India in meeting its additional energy requirements from domestic sources. India is dependent on imports for 85 percent of its crude oil needs and over 50 percent of its natural gas requirements. Speaking at the Global Conference on Compressed Biogas (CBG), Puri said, “The government has an ambitious target to set up 5,000 commercial (CBG) plants by 2024-25 and produce 15 million metric tonnes of CBG, which will replace other gases which are being used in the country,” The oil minister added that 46 CBG plants have already commissioned and sale of CBG has started at more than 100 retail outlets. Compressed biogas or CBG—a biofuel—is similar to compressed natural gas (CNG) as both are compressed methane but CBG is produced from agriculture waste. Development of CBG plants in the country would reduce its dependence of imports of natural gas.