1 Biodiesel Technology Need of the Hour For India
Miriam Hesson edited this page 2025-01-11 20:55:23 +00:00


The non-renewability, ecological concerns and health threats connected with the fossil fuels has actually led to expedition of alternative sources of energy to replace the standard ones. A promising technology, still in its infancy, that might show us the method to the future ahead is Biodiesels. Biodiesels are diesel fuels obtained from grease or animal-fat that could be utilized to run diesel engines. oils like sunflower, rape seed, palm oil, soya bean, jatropha curcas etc can be subjected to oil processing to produce biodiesels. It includes no petroleum but can be mixed with petroleum diesel for use or might be used in its pure kind.

Developed countries particularly United States and European Countries have already made significant advances in the Biodiesel Technology. Biodiesel have found its usage throughout markets and verticals and might become an ideal cleaner and less expensive alternative to petrol, diesel and fossil fuels. India has likewise started exploring the opportunities to produce and use bio-diesel. A variety of plants for biodiesel transesterification are already working in the nation where vegetable oils are reacted with alcohols (ethanol or methanol normally) to produce bio-diesel.

The main reason for the increasing need for biodiesels is the reality that biodiesels are eco-friendly 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 adjustments. Biodiesel do not require any separate infrastructure for its storage and can be saved much like the petroleum based fuels.

Considering the growing energy demand in the nation, increasing petroleum rates and the ecological risks of fossil fuels, the Indian Government has actually used up efforts to develop the Bio Diesel Technology in India and set up more oil processing systems. The Government revealed its 'National Biofuel Policy' on 12 September 2008 which intends to meet 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 utilized as the pre-dominant raw materials for oil processing and biodiesel production but in India the optimal potential 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 curcas as a raw product is that this plant can be grown in substantial amounts in wastelands all across India requiring extremely little water in contrast to other cash crops. Once grown, the plant has a useful life expectancy of numerous decades. The jatropha curcas seeds consist of 40% oil and are considered to be an exceptional source of bio-diesel. The Government of India has recognized 400,000 square kilometres of land suitable for the Jatropha growing in the nation. India now

A study estimates that even if a mixing initiative of 2% jatropha curcas based Biodiesel is attained in 2011-12, India will save around Rs. 3000 crores. Besides, it will generate around Rs. 5500 crores in the rural economy and aid in decrease of Green House Gas emission by 3 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) every year. The federal government is taking actions to motivate the growing of jatropha curcas in India supplying free seeds, subsidized loans and other facilities. India requires to now reinforce its efforts to make the fullest use of the Biodiesel Technology. Besides jatropha curcas, the avenues for drawing out biodiesel from veggie oils, fats, sunflower, rape seed oil and palm oil need to also be explored. It will not only offer a response to the challenge of Global Warming however could reduce our dependence on foreign oil and add to our own economy.