Biodiesel Technology Need of the Hour for India

The non-renewability, environmental issues and health hazards connected with the fossil fuels has actually caused exploration of alternative sources of energy to substitute the standard ones. A promising technology, still in its infancy, that could reveal us the method to the future ahead is Biodiesels. Biodiesels are diesel fuels stemmed from veggie oil or animal-fat that could be utilized to run diesel engines. Vegetables oils like sunflower, rape seed, palm oil, soya bean, Jatropha and so on can be subjected to oil processing to produce biodiesels. It consists of no petroleum but can be mixed with petroleum diesel for usage or could be used in its pure kind.

Developed nations especially United States and European Countries have actually already made considerable advances in the Biodiesel Technology. have found its usage throughout markets and verticals and might become a perfect cleaner and cheaper alternative to gas, diesel and fossil fuels. India has likewise started exploring the chances to produce and use bio-diesel. A number of plants for biodiesel transesterification are already operating in the nation 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 renewable and carbon-neutral, hence having no net effect on the climate. Besides, bio-diesel runs in compression engines much like typical petroleum diesel and for this reason can be utilized with little or no engine adjustments. Biodiesel do not require any separate infrastructure for its storage and can be kept simply like the petroleum based fuels.

Considering the growing energy demand in the nation, increasing petroleum costs and the ecological hazards of nonrenewable fuel sources, the Indian Government has actually used up efforts to develop 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 aims to meet 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 optimal capacity to produce biodiesels is from Jatropha oil – a non-edible one produced from the seeds of the Jatropha curcas. The greatest advantage of utilizing Jatropha as a raw product is that this plant can be grown in big amounts in wastelands all throughout India requiring very little water in contrast to other money crops. Once grown, the plant has a useful life-span of a number of years. The Jatropha seeds contain 40% oil and are considered to be an excellent source of bio-diesel. The Government of India has recognized 400,000 square kilometres of land suitable for the Jatropha growing in the country. India now

A study estimates that even if a mixing initiative of 2% Jatropha based Biodiesel is attained in 2011-12, India will conserve around Rs. 3000 crores. Besides, it will create around Rs. 5500 crores in the rural economy and help 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 offering complimentary seeds, subsidized loans and other facilities. India requires to now reinforce its efforts to make the maximum use of the Biodiesel Technology. Besides Jatropha, the opportunities for drawing out biodiesel from veggie oils, fats, sunflower, rape seed oil and palm oil should also be checked out. It will not just provide an answer to the difficulty of Global Warming however could reduce our reliance on foreign oil and contribute to our own economy.