Biodiesel Technology Need of the Hour For India

The non-renewability, environmental issues and health threats related to the nonrenewable fuel sources has led to exploration of alternative sources of energy to substitute the traditional ones. An appealing technology, still in its infancy, that might reveal us the way to the future ahead is Biodiesels. Biodiesels are diesel fuels derived from veggie oil or animal-fat that could be used to run diesel motors. Vegetables oils like sunflower, rape seed, palm oil, soya bean, Jatropha etc can be subjected to oil processing to produce biodiesels. It consists of no petroleum but can be mixed with petroleum diesel for use or might be used in its pure form.

Developed countries especially United States and European Countries have actually currently made considerable advances in the Biodiesel Technology. Biodiesel have actually found its usage across industries and verticals and could become an ideal cleaner and less expensive alternative to gas, diesel and nonrenewable fuel sources. India has actually also begun checking out the opportunities to produce and use bio-diesel. A number of plants for biodiesel transesterification are currently working in the nation where veggie oils are responded with alcohols (ethanol or methanol typically) to produce bio-diesel.

The primary reason for the increasing need for biodiesels is the fact that biodiesels are renewable and carbon-neutral, thus having no net influence on the environment. Besides, bio-diesel operates in compression engines similar to normal petroleum diesel and thus can be used with little or no engine modifications. Biodiesel do not require any different infrastructure for its storage and can be kept similar to the petroleum based fuels.

Considering the growing energy demand in the nation, increasing petroleum prices and the ecological dangers of fossil fuels, the Indian Government has used up initiatives to develop the Bio Diesel Technology in India and established more oil processing units. The Government announced its ‘National Biofuel Policy’ on 12 September 2008 which aims to fulfill 20% of India’s diesel need with bio-fuels in the coming years.

Globally, edible veggie oils like sunflower, soya bean, rape seed, palm oil are used as the pre-dominant raw products for oil processing and biodiesel production however in India the maximum capacity 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 huge quantities in wastelands all across India requiring really little water in contrast to other cash crops. Once grown, the plant has a useful life-span of a number of decades. The Jatropha seeds contain 40% oil and are thought about to be an excellent source of bio-diesel. The Government of India has determined 400,000 square kilometres of land suitable for the Jatropha growing in the country. India now

A study approximates that even if a blending initiative of 2% jatropha curcas based Biodiesel is achieved in 2011-12, India will conserve around Rs. 3000 crores. Besides, it will produce around Rs. 5500 crores in the rural economy and assistance in reduction of Green House Gas emission by 3 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) every year. The government is taking actions to motivate the growing of Jatropha in India providing totally free seeds, subsidized loans and other facilities. India requires to now strengthen its efforts to make the max usage of the Biodiesel Technology. Besides Jatropha, the avenues for drawing out biodiesel from veggie oils, fats, sunflower, oil and palm oil ought to likewise be checked out. It will not just provide an answer to the difficulty of Global Warming however could decrease our dependence on foreign oil and add to our own economy.