The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways issued guidelines for Flex-Fuel Vehicles and Flex-Fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicles.
Context
The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways issued guidelines for Flex-Fuel Vehicles and Flex-Fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicles.
Key-Points
- The Automatic Manufacturers in India have been asked to start manufacturing Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFV) and Flex Fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicles (FFV-SHEVs).
- This will help in substituting India’s import of petroleum as a fuel as well as provide direct benefits to farmers.
- Automobile Manufacturers have been advised to start manufacturing such vehicles in accordance with BS-6 Norms in a timely manner within six months.
Regulating organizations
- Bharat Stage Emission Standards (BSES), regulates the output of pollutants from vehicles plying in the country.
- The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) which falls under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change sets the standards to regulate emissions from vehicles in India.
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BS6 (BSVI) norms
- Bharat Stage (I, II, III, IV & VI) re emission standards set by the governing body Bharat Safety Emission Standard (BSEB) to regulate the output of pollutants from vehicles plying on the road.
- The first emission standard or norm, introduced in the year 2000, was known as ‘India 2000’ and later, BS2 and BS3 were introduced in 2005 and 2010, respectively.
- While the first three emission norms were introduced at regular intervals, BS4 was introduced in 2017, after a gap of seven years.
- The BS6 emission standard is the sixth iteration of the emission norm.
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Fuel Type
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Pollutant Gases
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BS6 (BSVI)
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Petrol Passenger Vehicle
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Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) Limit
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<60mg>
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Petrol Passenger Vehicle
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Particulate Matter (PM) Limit
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<4.5mg/km
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Diesel Passenger Vehicle
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Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) Limit
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<80mg>
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Diesel Passenger Vehicle
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Particulate Matter (PM) Limit
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<4.5mg/km
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Diesel Passenger Vehicle
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HC + NOx
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170mg/km
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Flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV)
- FFVs are also called “dual-fuel vehicles” or flex-fuel vehicles.
- These are an alternative fuel vehicle consisting of internal combustion engines that run on more than one fuel.
- The engine is usually run-on gasoline blended with either ethanol or methanol fuel.
- Both of the fuels are stored in a common tank.
- These vehicles are different from the bi-fuel vehicles, wherein two fuels are stored in separate tanks and the engine runs on one fuel at a time.
Significance
- Flex Fuel Vehicles have capability to run on a combination of 100 percent petrol or 100 percent bio-ethanol as well as their blend, in line with the Government's policy on promoting ethanol as a transport fuel.
- FFV-SHEVs are capable of running on strong Hybrid Electric technology.
- This move will thus reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions from vehicles drastically and help India to comply with its commitment at COP26 to reduce carbon emissions by One Billion Tonnes by 2030.
