CURRENT AFFAIRS
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Ethanol
- Vaid's ICS, Lucknow
- 24, Dec 2021
Why in News?
Department of Food & Public Distribution notified modified scheme to enhance ethanol distillation capacity in the country for producing 1st Generation (1G) ethanol from feed stocks such as cereals (rice, wheat, barley, corn & sorghum), sugarcane, sugar beet etc.
About Ethanol:
- Ethanol, also called alcohol, ethyl alcohol and grain alcohol, is a clear, colorless liquid and the principle ingredient in alcoholic beverages like beer, wine or brandy.
- Ethanol is a natural byproduct of plant fermentation and also can be produced through the hydration of ethylene.
- The scheme would also encourage farmers to diversify their crops to cultivate particularly maize/corn which needs lesser water compared to sugarcane and rice.
- It would enhance production of ethanol from various feed stocks .
- It will reduce import dependency on crude oil .
- It will also enhance income of farmers as setting up of new distilleries would not only increase demand of their crops but would assure farmers of getting better price for their crops.
- The Government has fixed target of 10% blending of fuel grade ethanol with petrol by 2022 & 20% blending by 2030.
- It is likely that we will be achieving 10% blending target by 2022 with supply of 400 crore liters of ethanol.
Facts for Prelims:
Khadi Natural Paint (Khadi Prakritik paint) :
This is India’s first paint made from cow dung, developed by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission.
- It is an environmentally friendly, non-toxic paint,
- It is the first product of its kind, which has anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties.
- Cow dung has been used as the main ingredient in this paint, it is cost effective and odorless. This paint has been certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards.
- This paint does not contain any other heavy metals like glass, mercury, chromium, arsenic, cadmium.