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India has introduced plans to blend petrol with ethanol to cut oil imports and reduce carbon emissions, but this may have had negative consequences for food security, water use and other sustainability measures

07.08.26 | PLOS
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India’s biofuel blending policy presents serious trade-offs with land use, nitrogen emissions and food security
The figure a. shows the overproduction of sugar (in Mt yr-1) across the scenario between 2020 to 2050. The overproduction of sugar evolves with the share of sugarcane-based molasses route and sugar juice. With decreasing share of sugarcane-based molasses, the overproduction of sugar decreases. The figure b. shows net trade (Export – Import) for all agricultural products, indicated in Mt yr-1 across the scenarios between 2020 and 2050. Credit: Jha et al., 2026, PLOS One, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

India has introduced plans to blend petrol with ethanol to cut oil imports and reduce carbon emissions, but this may have had negative consequences for food security, water use and other sustainability measures

EA: Article URL : https://plos.io/4fc1sfo

Article title: India’s biofuel blending policy presents serious trade-offs with land use, nitrogen emissions and food security

Author countries: India, Germany, France.

Funding: This work was funded by Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) and World Resources Institute (WRI) through the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) (Grant No. SDSN-SECR-PR01603). This research activity has been undertaken as part of the Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land Use and Energy (FABLE) consortium) and coordinated by the Sustainable Development Solution Network (SDSN). The Potsdam Institute for Climate Change Research (PIK) and the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) are jointly coordinating activities under this project for India.

PLOS One

10.1371/journal.pone.0351419

India’s biofuel blending policy presents serious trade-offs with land use, nitrogen emissions and food security

8-Jul-2026

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Keywords

Biofuels Biofuels Production Energy Resources Fossil Fuels Fuel

Article Information

Journal
PLOS One
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0351419
Article Publication Date
2026-07-08
Article Title
India’s biofuel blending policy presents serious trade-offs with land use, nitrogen emissions and food security
COI Statement
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Contact Information

Hanna Abdallah
PLOS
onepress@plos.org

How to Cite This Article

APA:
PLOS. (2026, July 8). India has introduced plans to blend petrol with ethanol to cut oil imports and reduce carbon emissions, but this may have had negative consequences for food security, water use and other sustainability measures. Brightsurf News. https://www.brightsurf.com/news/86Z0M7G8/india-has-introduced-plans-to-blend-petrol-with-ethanol-to-cut-oil-imports-and-reduce-carbon-emissions-but-this-may-have-had-negative-consequences-for-food-security-water-use-and-other-sustainability.html
MLA:
"India has introduced plans to blend petrol with ethanol to cut oil imports and reduce carbon emissions, but this may have had negative consequences for food security, water use and other sustainability measures." Brightsurf News, Jul. 8 2026, https://www.brightsurf.com/news/86Z0M7G8/india-has-introduced-plans-to-blend-petrol-with-ethanol-to-cut-oil-imports-and-reduce-carbon-emissions-but-this-may-have-had-negative-consequences-for-food-security-water-use-and-other-sustainability.html.