Hyderabad: Niti Aayog member Dr Vijay Kumar Saraswat pushed for methanol as an alternative fuel for the future at the 74th anniversary celebrations at Indian Institute of Chemical Technology here.
Dr Saraswat said it was a cleaner fuel, which can could gasoline and diesel. “Our country is heavily dependant on crude oil, LPG and other forms of fossil fuel for our energy requirements. This puts a big exchequer on our country’s economy as the import bill for 2015-16 was $64 billion,” Dr Saraswat said.
He cited the example of China and said coal gasification offered wide flexibility. “The time has come for us to graduate to the level of China in coal gasification and production of methanol,” he said.
China is the largest producer of methanol at 47 million tons. “Indian kitchens must switch to methanol as it releases very little smoke,” Dr Saraswat said, noting that 67 per cent of LPG was being imported.
