Archive · 22 Aug 2026
Ethanol Helps India Turn Sugar Surplus into Strength
India has a lot of sugar, and some of it can be used to make ethanol fuel.
The article says sugarcane uses less water for each litre of ethanol than maize.
Rice uses much more water for the same amount of fuel.
This comparison looks at water used per litre of fuel, not per hectare of farmland.
Sugarcane can turn sunlight, land and water into sugar efficiently.
Some ethanol comes from molasses and B-heavy streams, which are by-products of making sugar.
These by-products do not need extra water to be produced.
The studies therefore describe sugarcane ethanol as a water-efficient way to use India’s sugar surplus.
A joint ISMA-ICAR study and a government expert committee compared water use per litre of ethanol.
The findings said sugarcane requires substantially less water per litre of ethanol than maize.
Rice requires a small fraction more water per litre of ethanol than sugarcane, according to the studies.
Sugarcane efficiently converts sunlight, land and water into fermentable sugar for fuel production.
Ethanol made from molasses and B-heavy streams can use sugar-manufacturing by-products requiring no additional water.
- Who
- Indian sugarcane producers and the researchers behind the joint ISMA-ICAR study and government expert committee review.
- What
- Studies found that sugarcane requires less water per litre of ethanol than maize and rice.
- When
- Not specified in the article.
- Where
- India.
- Why
- The comparison was intended to measure water use per litre of fuel and assess how efficiently sugarcane can convert agricultural resources into ethanol.
- Fuel studied
- Ethanol
- Main crop compared
- Sugarcane
- Other crops compared
- Maize and rice
- Water-use measure
- Water used per litre of ethanol
- Research sources
- A joint ISMA-ICAR study and the government’s expert committee
- Additional feedstocks
- Molasses and B-heavy streams
- Key finding
- Sugarcane requires substantially less water per litre of ethanol than maize and rice