Biodiesel Technology Need of the Hour For India

The non-renewability, ecological issues and health dangers related to the fossil fuels has actually resulted in exploration of alternative sources of energy to substitute the traditional ones. An appealing technology, still in its infancy, that could show us the way to the future ahead is Biodiesels. Biodiesels are diesel fuels stemmed from vegetable oil or animal-fat that could be utilized to run diesel motors. Vegetables oils like sunflower, rape seed, palm oil, soya bean, jatropha curcas etc can be subjected to oil processing to produce biodiesels. It contains no petroleum however can be combined with petroleum diesel for use or might be used in its pure kind.

Developed countries particularly United States and European Countries have actually already made considerable advances in the Biodiesel Technology. Biodiesel have actually found its usage throughout industries and verticals and could become an ideal cleaner and more affordable alternative to gas, diesel and fossil fuels. India has actually also started exploring the opportunities to produce and utilize bio-diesel. A variety of plants for biodiesel transesterification are currently working in the nation where veggie oils are responded with alcohols (ethanol or methanol normally) to produce bio-diesel.

The primary reason for the increasing need for biodiesels is the fact that biodiesels are renewable and carbon-neutral, therefore having no net influence on the environment. Besides, bio-diesel operates in compression engines just like regular petroleum diesel and for this reason can be used with little or no engine modifications. Biodiesel do not need any different facilities for its storage and can be stored much like the petroleum based fuels.

Considering the growing energy demand in the country, rising petroleum prices and the ecological risks of nonrenewable fuel sources, the Indian Government has actually taken up efforts to establish the Bio Diesel Technology in India and set up more oil processing units. The Government announced its ‘National Biofuel Policy’ on 12 September 2008 which aims to meet 20% of India’s diesel need with bio-fuels in the coming years.

Globally, edible vegetable oils like sunflower, soya bean, rape seed, palm oil are used as the pre-dominant raw materials for oil processing and biodiesel production but in India the maximum potential to produce biodiesels is from Jatropha oil – a non-edible one produced from the seeds of the Jatropha curcas. The biggest advantage of using Jatropha as a basic material is that this plant can be grown in substantial amounts in wastelands all throughout India requiring very little water in contrast to other cash crops. Once grown, the plant has a useful life expectancy of numerous years. The jatropha curcas seeds include 40% oil and are thought about to be an excellent source of bio-diesel. The Government of India has identified 400,000 square kilometres of land suitable for the jatropha curcas cultivation in the nation. India now

A research study approximates that even if a mixing effort of 2% jatropha curcas based Biodiesel is achieved in 2011-12, India will around Rs. 3000 crores. Besides, it will produce around Rs. 5500 crores in the rural economy and assistance in decrease of Green House Gas emission by 3 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) every year. The government is taking steps to encourage the cultivation of jatropha curcas in India supplying free seeds, subsidized loans and other centers. India needs to now strengthen its efforts to make the fullest usage of the Biodiesel Technology. Besides jatropha curcas, the opportunities for extracting biodiesel from veggie oils, fats, sunflower, rape seed oil and palm oil should also be checked out. It will not just provide an answer to the challenge of Global Warming but could reduce our reliance on foreign oil and contribute to our own economy.