Sugarcane Should Be Viewed Through the Lens of Energy Security: Thailand’s Ambassador Puneet Agrawal
Bangkok | SugarToday Special
Sugarcane is a multi-purpose crop, and while it will continue to serve as the primary feedstock for sugar production, the concept of energy security can be built around it as well, said Puneet Agrawal, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and Indian Ambassador to Thailand.
SugarToday’s Editor-in-Chief, Nandkumar Sutar, recently met Mr. Agrawal in Bangkok and discussed topics including the sugar industry, India-Thailand relations, and the expectations of the new generation across different countries. Before taking up his post as Ambassador to Thailand, Mr. Agrawal served as Joint Secretary in India’s Ministry of External Affairs. He has also served as ambassador in some European countries as well as several Asian countries, including Hong Kong. He is an IIT engineer.
India ranks second in the world in the sugar industry after Brazil, and the sugar industry plays an important role in Thailand as well. Thailand adopted ethanol quite early and began blending it into petrol. E-20 fuel has been in use here for several years now, and E-10 and E-5 fuel options are also available to consumers, Mr. Agrawal said.
Crude oil reserves are limited, which is why alternative fuels are being sought worldwide. China has done good work in this area. A large country like India has no option but to look for alternative fuels, which underscores the importance of the country’s ethanol policy. We will need to work harder on electric vehicles and biofuels such as ethanol to keep our transportation system efficient and robust, Mr. Agrawal further suggested.
In our country, ethanol is produced not just from sugarcane but also from maize and other damaged grains. However, in my view, given sugarcane’s versatility, it should be given greater importance in biofuel policy, because it yields high-quality ethanol and, since it isn’t used as food grain, doesn’t raise food security concerns either, Agrawal noted. He added that research work on higher-yielding varieties is continuously underway in India, and that in the future, production costs for sugarcane could fall further, allowing the crop to become a major component of biofuel policy.
Picking up on the ongoing debate in India regarding ethanol fuel, he said, “In Thailand, ethanol-blended fuel has been widely used for many years now, and there’s no problem with it here. In our country, anything new is not readily accepted. So, more effort will be needed to build public support for fuel like E-20. At times, it may be worth considering offering a higher subsidy on E-20 compared to regular petrol.”
