Biodiesel Technology Need of the Hour for India

The non-renewability, environmental concerns and health hazards related to the nonrenewable fuel sources has caused exploration of alternative sources of energy to substitute the standard ones. An appealing innovation, still in its infancy, that might show us the method to the future ahead is Biodiesels. Biodiesels are diesel fuels originated from grease or animal-fat that could 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 however can be blended with petroleum diesel for use or could be utilized in its pure type.

Developed countries particularly United States and European Countries have already made considerable advances in the Biodiesel Technology. Biodiesel have found its use across industries and verticals and might become a perfect cleaner and cheaper option to petrol, diesel and nonrenewable fuel sources. India has actually also started checking out the opportunities to produce and utilize bio-diesel. A number of plants for biodiesel transesterification are already functioning in the nation where veggie oils are responded with alcohols (ethanol or methanol normally) to produce bio-diesel.

The primary reason for the increasing demand for biodiesels is the truth that biodiesels are renewable and carbon-neutral, therefore having no net influence on the climate. Besides, bio-diesel runs in compression engines much like typical petroleum diesel and hence can be utilized with little or no engine modifications. Biodiesel do not need any separate facilities for its storage and can be kept much like the petroleum based fuels.

Considering the growing energy demand in the country, increasing petroleum costs and the environmental threats 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 revealed its ‘National Biofuel Policy’ on 12 September 2008 which intends 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 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 benefit of utilizing Jatropha as a raw material is that this plant can be grown in big quantities in wastelands all across India requiring really little water in comparison to other money crops. Once grown, the plant has a helpful lifespan of a number of years. The Jatropha seeds contain 40% oil and are thought about to be an excellent source of bio-diesel. The Government of India has actually identified 400,000 square kilometres of land suitable for the Jatropha growing in the nation. India now

A research study estimates that even if a blending effort of 2% Jatropha 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 help in decrease of Green House Gas emission by 3 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) every year. The federal government is taking actions to encourage the growing of Jatropha in India supplying totally free seeds, subsidized loans and other centers. India needs to now strengthen its efforts to make the max usage of the Biodiesel Technology. Besides Jatropha, the avenues for extracting biodiesel from veggie oils, fats, sunflower, rape seed oil and palm oil must also be explored. It will not only provide an answer to the difficulty of but could reduce our reliance on foreign oil and add to our own economy.