1 Biodiesel Technology Need of the Hour For India
Kristofer Cervantes edited this page 3 months ago


The non-renewability, environmental issues and health risks associated with the fossil fuels has of alternative sources of energy to replace the conventional ones. An appealing innovation, still in its infancy, that could show us the way to the future ahead is Biodiesels. Biodiesels are diesel fuels derived from vegetable oil or animal-fat that might be used to run diesel engines. Vegetables oils like sunflower, rape seed, palm oil, soya bean, jatropha curcas etc can be subjected to oil processing to produce biodiesels. It consists of no petroleum however can be blended with petroleum diesel for usage or might be used in its pure kind.

Developed nations especially United States and European Countries have already made significant advances in the Biodiesel Technology. Biodiesel have actually discovered its use throughout industries and verticals and might emerge as an ideal cleaner and less expensive option to fuel, diesel and nonrenewable fuel sources. India has likewise begun exploring the opportunities to produce and use bio-diesel. A variety of plants for biodiesel transesterification are already functioning in the nation where vegetable oils are responded with alcohols (ethanol or methanol usually) to produce bio-diesel.

The primary factor for the increasing demand for biodiesels is the reality that biodiesels are eco-friendly and carbon-neutral, thus having no net effect on the environment. Besides, bio-diesel runs in compression engines similar to regular petroleum diesel and for this reason can be used with little or no engine modifications. Biodiesel do not require any different infrastructure for its storage and can be kept much like the petroleum based fuels.

Considering the growing energy need in the country, rising petroleum rates and the ecological threats of fossil fuels, the Indian Government has used up efforts to establish the Bio Diesel Technology in India and set up more oil processing systems. The Government announced its 'National Biofuel Policy' on 12 September 2008 which aims to satisfy 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 basic materials for oil processing and biodiesel production however in India the maximum potential to produce biodiesels is from jatropha curcas oil - a non-edible one produced from the seeds of the Jatropha curcas. The biggest advantage of utilizing Jatropha as a basic material is that this plant can be grown in big quantities in wastelands all throughout India requiring extremely little water in comparison to other money crops. Once grown, the plant has a helpful lifespan of several decades. The jatropha curcas seeds include 40% oil and are considered to be an excellent source of bio-diesel. The Government of India has identified 400,000 square kilometres of land appropriate for the Jatropha growing in the country. India now

A study estimates that even if a blending effort of 2% jatropha curcas based Biodiesel is accomplished 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 encourage the cultivation of Jatropha in India supplying complimentary seeds, subsidized loans and other facilities. India requires to now enhance its efforts to make the max usage of the Biodiesel Technology. Besides Jatropha, the opportunities for extracting biodiesel from veggie oils, fats, sunflower, rape seed oil and palm oil need to also be checked out. It will not just provide a response to the challenge of Global Warming however could reduce our dependence on foreign oil and add to our own economy.