Five percent ethanol in petroleum products has been made mandatory by the government of India. This is to be raised to 10 percent shortly. Ethanol can be produced from molasses which is a by-product of sugar industry. This trend was started in Brazil and they have obtained great success in this. Minimum 20 percent ethanol has to be mixed with petrol. This has helped Brazil reduce its dependence on imported oil and people have got employment in the production of sugarcane. Bio fuels like ethanol and biodiesel are being seen as renewable sources of energy to break India’s dependence on imported oil.

Bio fuels are produced from crops like sugarcane that absorb carbon-dioxide from the environment. Production of coal and crude petroleum also absorbs CO2 but this was done long time in the past. People can gather berries, fuel wood and grasses. More jobs and income is gener-ated for the local people in the cultivation of paddy, wheat and other food crops instead of sug-arcane. There are other disadvantages of bio fuel. Water is consumed in large quantities in cul-tivation of sugarcane. Water that is probably sufficient to grow three crops of wheat and paddy on four acres of land is consumed in growing single crop of sugarcane on one acre land. Large trees, small trees, shrubs, grasses and vines all grow together in a natural forest.

The experience of Brazil is not applicable to us. Our land to population ration is very different. 45.4 square kilometer land is available per 1000 population in that country against only 2.7 square kilometer in India. 32.5 hectares cultivable land is available in that country per 100 persons against only 14.8 hectares in India. It is possible for Brazil to use large tracts of land for cul-tivation of sugarcane without impairing its food security. Not so for us. Cultivation of sugarcane is mainly beneficial for the upper sections as it produces more ethanol. In comparison there is greater spread of the benefits from cultivation of food grains. The poor gets more food to eat, the cow gets straw, the horse gets bran, the child gets milk and the homemaker gets fuel from cow dung. The natural forest provides berries for the children, home for the deer and elephant and place for small and big birds to make different types of nests. Bio fuel fails on the tests of social benefit and biodiversity. Bio fuels can be produced from agricultural wastes like wheat straw and bagasse, but conversion of straw into bio fuels will deprive livestock of fodder. Introduction of fuel crops in that cycle will only edge out part of food crops. Bio fuels are being promoted as they are clean or because they provide more employment or incomes to the poor. We are aware that the use of biomass for household heating or electricity production is very important especially among the poor in developing countries, while demand for liquid bio fuels is largely from the richer sections of society.