Biodiesel Technology Need of the Hour for India

The non-renewability, environmental concerns and health risks related to the fossil fuels has actually led to expedition of alternative sources of energy to replace the traditional ones. A promising technology, still in its infancy, that might show us the way to the future ahead is Biodiesels. Biodiesels are diesel fuels stemmed from vegetable oil or animal-fat that might be utilized to run diesel engines. Vegetables oils like sunflower, rape seed, palm oil, soya bean, Jatropha etc can be subjected to oil processing to produce biodiesels. It includes no petroleum but can be combined with petroleum diesel for use or might be used in its pure kind.

Developed nations especially United States and European Countries have actually already made substantial advances in the Biodiesel Technology. Biodiesel have actually discovered its use across markets and verticals and might emerge as a perfect cleaner and less expensive option to gas, diesel and nonrenewable fuel sources. India has actually likewise started checking out the opportunities to produce and use bio-diesel. A number of plants for biodiesel transesterification are already operating in the country where vegetable 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 eco-friendly and carbon-neutral, thus having no net effect on the environment. Besides, bio-diesel operates in compression engines much like normal petroleum diesel and thus can be utilized with little or no . Biodiesel do not require any different facilities for its storage and can be stored much like the petroleum based fuels.

Considering the growing energy demand in the nation, increasing petroleum costs and the environmental hazards of nonrenewable fuel sources, the Indian Government has actually taken up initiatives 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 fulfill 20% of India’s diesel demand 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 basic materials for oil processing and biodiesel production but in India the optimal capacity to produce biodiesels is from Jatropha oil – a non-edible one produced from the seeds of the Jatropha curcas. The most significant benefit of using Jatropha as a raw product is that this plant can be grown in substantial quantities in wastelands all throughout India needing really little water in contrast to other money crops. Once grown, the plant has a useful life-span of numerous decades. The Jatropha seeds include 40% oil and are considered to be an exceptional source of bio-diesel. The Government of India has actually identified 400,000 square kilometres of land suitable for the Jatropha cultivation in the country. India now

A study estimates that even if a blending effort of 2% Jatropha based Biodiesel is accomplished in 2011-12, India will save 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 encourage the cultivation of Jatropha in India offering free seeds, subsidized loans and other centers. India requires to now reinforce its efforts to make the maximum usage of the Biodiesel Technology. Besides Jatropha, the opportunities for extracting biodiesel from vegetable oils, fats, sunflower, rape seed oil and palm oil should also be checked out. It will not just supply a response to the obstacle of Global Warming but might decrease our reliance on foreign oil and add to our own economy.