Asia’s oil demand is expected to increase on the back of growing population and rising income levels. But as most of the oil supply is met through imports and with fossil fuel related global problems arising including climate change, countries in Asia are looking towards diversifying their fuel resources to greater use of Biofuel. 

According to report by Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), the demand for Bioethanol in Asia and East Asia will reach nearly 36 million tonnes by 2035. This demand will come from both the energy as well as automobile sector. 

In order to increase the usage of Bioethanol various countries are looking forwards towards increasing the consumption of Bioethanol both in the energy as well as the automotive sector. Recently, India’s Union minister Nitin Gadkari said that the government will make it mandatory for auto manufacturers to offer vehicles running 100% on Biofuels in the next six months. 

In a similar move, China had earlier released a national plan to achieve nation wide coverage of vehicle-use E10 (90% Gasoline and 10% Ethanol) Ethanol Gasoline by end 2020. Post this plan around 31 provinces in China have already implemented the Ethanol Gasoline plan. 

Other countries having blending targets for Bioethanol include South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand. All of these countries have set particular percentage wise blending targets for Bioethanol to be used as Biofuel. 

Bioethanol is ethanol made from renewable resources such as sugarcane, corn, rice etc. This way Bioethanol is beneficial for farmers as well. 

As per ChemAnalyst, “the increasing demand for fuel will create the demand for Biofuel in future, but since Biofuel is sustainable various countries will be looking forward towards increasing usage by setting blending targets and making it mandatory for vehicle manufacturers to offer vehicles supporting Biofuel consumption.”