The Grain Ethanol Manufacturers Association (GEMA) has urged the Government of India to explore ethanol-based cook stoves as part of the country’s energy mix for cooking. The plea comes in light of the fact that India still depends on imported liquefied petroleum gas for cooking purposes.

In a letter to the Prime Minister's Office, GEMA said that although the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana scheme has increased access to clean fuel for cooking, the country still imports a significant amount of liquefied petroleum gas. GEMA further said that ethanol-based cook stoves could be a potential solution to bridge the gap in energy demand. 

India has increased ethanol manufacturing capacity in the last few years, primarily for fueling transport. GEMA said that the current production capacity can be utilized for other purposes, such as cooking, without impacting fuel blending programs. However, no official data was available on the same.

Cooking systems which use ethanol are already available in a few countries, but there is not enough demand for them to be used widely across the world because of cost, availability of fuel, safety standards plus the absence of adequate distribution networks. In India, LPG is still the main type of clean cooking fuel available, and the government provides subsidies to promote LPG use as well as an established distribution network for the fuel.

This proposal forms part of a wider attempt by GEMA to reduce India’s energy import dependence. A large volume of the cooking fuels supplied to Indians comes from imported sources, which causes issues with pricing and availability due to their dependence on the global marketplace.

GEMA believes that ethanol could provide an alternative source of heating and, therefore, reduce our dependence on international price fluctuations. GEMA also believes that there will be a demand for agricultural "feed stock", such as maize products, and for excess grains that can be used to create ethanol.

Major companies representing the industry expressed concern about disruptions in the supply of energy globally (which creates price volatility and limits the supply of products) and believe that diversifying your fuel source will assist in mitigating these challenges faced by governments.

Experts stated that a complete transition to using ethanol for cooking would require extensive studies performed in the areas of emissions, cost, and safety of using ethanol in comparison to using LPG or other alternatives, along with appropriate infrastructure to store, transport, and sell ethanol before widespread use occurs.

The government has not issued a public response to the proposal. Further steps will depend on feasibility assessments and policy considerations related to energy access, pricing and supply security.