India looks to boost biofuel use amid rising crude supply risks

NEW DELHI: India is looking ​to increase its ​use of biofuels to strengthen energy ​security as disruptions to crude supplies push oil prices higher, Tarun Kapoor, an adviser in the Prime Minister's Office, ‌said on ⁠Wednesday.

The ⁠Iran war has highlighted the difficulty of ensuring continuous crude ​supplies, Kapoor told an industry conference.

Iran said on Wednesday it attacked ​10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. sank five Iranian oil tankers, in ​the biggest declared wave of ⁠attacks on ‌shipping by both sides since ​the start ​of the six-month-old war.


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Brent crude futures breached $100 ⁠a barrel on Wednesday for the first ​time since late July.

Kapoor said India needs to use all available domestic resources to strengthen its energy security.

India, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer, is conducting tests to blend some biofuels with diesel. It already blends ‌ethanol with gasoline.

India mainly uses corn-, rice- and sugarcane-based feedstocks to produce ethanol.

New Delhi is also moving towards ⁠wider adoption of flex-fuel vehicles as it seeks to cut reliance on expensive energy imports and promote ethanol blends in gasoline.

But motorists and independent analysts have expressed concerns that higher ethanol content could affect engine performance and fuel efficiency, as well as increase the risk of biofuel contamination.