Grain Based Ethanol and its Growth in India !

Grain based ethanol or Grain alcohol is a purified form of ethanol made from the distillation of fermented grain. The ethanol is produced by fermenting sugars in the grain by yeast prior to repeated distillation or rectification. It is also used to refer to any ethanol produced from grain or other agricultural origin.

Grain based ethanol is used for the production of white spirits such as gin and vodka but also as a base for a wide range of flavoured alcoholic beverages. It is a colorless liquid addressed as a ‘neutral spirit’ i.e. bereft of added flavor. The chemical composition of C2H5OH makes it a flammable liquid.

Grain alcohols are known to act as depressants and a neurotoxin to the central nervous system. They find their application in alcoholic beverages, recreational drugs, solvents, antiseptics, fuels, and various industrial purposes.

The Growing Demand for Grain Based Ethanols

One of the factors responsible for the growing acceptance of grain-based alcohol in india is the inconsistency in Molasses’ prices. Until now, Molasses have been traditionally dominant in the production of alcohol in the Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) market. Now, however, the trend of using grain-based alcohol is exponentially growing. According to Praj industries - one of the leading Ethanol plant manufacturers in Asia, the grain-based variety of all potable alcohol produced in India has grown to 10% from a meager 2% to 3%. It is expected to further reach 22% in the next 5 years. (1)

Is Grain Alcohol 100% Pure?

Grain alcohol is commonly bottled in two versions, 75.5 percent ABV and 95 percent ABV. There is no 100 percent ABV grain alcohol for human consumption because of azeotropic effects during the distillation process. Such concentration is considered too easy for people to get alcohol poisoning.

Abundant Availability of Grains in India Makes it A Popular Choice

Alcohol from grains is found to be better in quality, but more expensive than the ones made from molasses. However, grain-based ethanol plants can find additional income source in one of the byproducts of grain-based distilleries - the animal feed. This has prompted more companies to set grain ethanol plants. This will also mean that we can get better quality alcohol.

As oil companies increase the use of ethanol for blending with petrol, prices of molasses-based ethanol have increased. As a result, the IMFL manufacturers frequently switch between grain-based and molasses-based alcohol depending upon its prices.

The government plans to allow food grains during surplus production years to be used for the production of ethanol that can be blended with petrol, in an attempt to broaden the availability of raw materials needed for Bioethanol production.

Pune-based Praj Industries, leaders in Industrial production of ethanol, have covered 80% of the dryer market in the past few years. The dryer technology, used for drying the wet waste generated by the grain-based distilleries has made it possible for the distilleries to cross-subsidize the production cost of grain alcohol.

The Future of BioFuel in India

Since the time we have heard the word ‘fuel’, we have always been taught to think of it as a highly valuable resource, forever on the verge of extinction. Hence our brains have been auto-wired to use fuel conscientiously. Be it in a vehicle, in a cooking stove, for automobile, or simply for burning things, a fuel contains all the fire we ever need. Certainly then, man has always been striving to devise various ways to develop alternate fuel in the lab, fearing the day when we run out of fossils!

BioFuel is one such advancement in the field of fuel production. They are regarded as cleaner and greener alternatives to fossil fuels. They can be produced in a Bioenergy plant. Whether BioFuel will be able to fully replace the non-renewable fuel sources effectively, is a matter of time. Technically speaking, Biofuel is a universal term used for fuels derived from biomass, such as plants and organic wastes. They are mainly classified as first generation & second generation biofuels.

The first generation biofuels include sugar and starch-based ethanol, oil-crop based biodiesel, vegetable oil, as well as biogas derived through anaerobic & aerobic treatment plants. The second generation biofuels are an upgrade to the production of first-generation biofuels. In that, the raw materials are derived from the feedstock of lignocellulosic, non-food materials that include straw, bagasse, forest residues and purpose-grown energy crops on marginal lands. There are also third and fourth generations which are still undergoing heavy research. These technologies look fairly far fetched to become a practical and commercially viable reality as they insist on using algal biomass and solar energy to produce fuel.

Current Challenges

As of 2014, India’s biofuel production accounted for less than 2% of global production. Bio-ethanol and bio-diesel are the two biofuels that are commercially produced. In India, ethanol is predominantly produced from sugarcane molasses which is a byproduct of sugar production. The Ethanol production process in India, therefore, depends largely on the production of sugarcane. Sugarcane being a seasonal crop in India, the production is cyclical. Hence, ethanol production also keeps fluctuating from one year to another, often falling short of demand. This also affects the cost of ethanol.

 Regulatory Measures to tackle challenges

In spite of the production hurdles, biodiesel can provide a major boost for the energy security of our country. The govt. of India has come up with the National Policy on Biofuels 2018, which includes harnessing of biodiesel to meet the energy needs of the country. The purpose of this policy is to enable availability of biofuels in the market to increase its blending percentage. Currently, the ethanol blending percentage in petrol is around 2.0% and biodiesel blending percentage in diesel is less than 0.1%. The government has approved 20% blending of ethanol in petrol and 5% blending of biodiesel in diesel is proposed by 2030. Additionally, on World Biofuel Day, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) launched RUCO – Repurpose Used Cooking Oil, an ecosystem that will enable the collection and conversion of used cooking oil to biodiesel.

The Policy aims to increase bioethanol production and usage of biofuels during the coming decade. The biodiesel can work as an effective and great alternative for a growing country like India. It is indeed the future if we want to move towards becoming a clean and green nation.

DDGS: A Nutritious Yet Inexpensive Addition to Poultry Feed

The rising cost and declining supply of conventional grains have made way for researching newer methods of poultry food production which are cheaper but have better nutritional value. As such, Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles  (DDGS) is a significant alternative.  DDGS is a co-product of Bioenergy plant which uses grains for bioethanol production. The ethanol production requires yeast fermentation as one of the processes. In this process, the corn is ground and mixed with water. It is then cooked to generate liquified starch. This starch is fermented to produce ethanol and CO2. The non-fermentable components of this process which are rich in essential nutrients such as protein, fat, fiber, vitamins and minerals are recovered in a highly concentrated form as Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles or more commonly, DDGS.

Benefits of DDGS

As demand for animal stock increases, it becomes important to employ all possible and feasible options for DDGS production. Corn by-products which are considered waste in the ethanol industry can be used as one of the animal feed ingredients. There are many benefits of DDGS as explained below

l High Nutritional Value:

The DDGS obtained from different sources such as corn, rice, wheat, sorghum is highly nutritious for livestock and poultry, out of which corn DDGS is the most preferred for poultry. Corn DDGS has high nutritional consisting of protein, amino acids, phosphorus, and other nutrients.  Poultry fed with DDGS has a better feed intake, feed conversion ratio, body weight, and body weight gain. DDGS also improves the nutrient content of meat and egg by adding omega-3 fatty acids to it, which are good for heart patients. Also, since DDGS contains phosphorous, the consumption of phosphorous increases, in turn, decreasing the need to dump it into the earth, thus reducing pollution.

l Easy availability: 

Since ethanol is now produced on a large scale, the availability of DDGS is abundant throughout the cycle. Since it is a waste, it is cheaply and readily available. Besides, it is an effective replacement of soya and corn in the poultry diet as the price of soya is very high and often fluctuates. Plus, corn is available throughout the year.

l A healthier diet for chickens:

The use of high-quality corn DDGS in layer hens diets is an excellent partial replacement for corn, soybean meal and inorganic phosphate and encourages excellent layer performance and egg quality. When added to the diet of laying hens, it accounts for 30% of the egg protein content eliminating the need for synthetic supplements.  The high xanthophylls content in DDGS improves egg quality including the color of the egg yolk and regulates the oleic and linoleic acid content. For broilers, it provides them with better performance when added to their diet. Reportedly, the weight of broilers was increased by up to 5% after consuming small but regular quantities of DDGS.

A Few Constraints:

Ethanol byproducts are high in sulphate which risks toxicity when fed large amounts of DDGS. Also, the high concentration of sulfate may result in central nervous system disorders. However, chemical treatments can be performed to detoxify. Also, the DDGS procured from distilleries may contain copper. However, Copper is not an issue in the industrial ethanol production. The only challenge now is to prevent industrial contamination for safe usage of DDGS in poultry.