By Utkarsh Bhatnagar
Bio-fuel development in India centers mainly around the cultivation and processing of Jatropha plant seeds which are very rich in oil (40%). The drivers for this are historic, functional, economic, environmental, moral and political.
Jatropha oil has been used in India for several decades as biodiesel for the diesel fuel requirements of remote rural and forest communities; jatropha oil can be used directly after extraction in diesel generators and engines. Jatropha has the potential to provide economic benefits at the local level since under suitable management it has the potential to grow in dry marginal non-agricultural lands, thereby allowing villagers and farmers to leverage non-farm land for income generation.
Increased Jatropha oil production delivers economic benefits to India on the macroeconomic or national level as it reduces the nation’s fossil fuel import bill for diesel production; minimizing the expenditure of India’s foreign-currency reserves for fuel, allowing India to increase its growing foreign currency reserves, which can be better spent on capital expenditures for industrial inputs and production. And since Jatropha oil is carbon-neutral, large-scale production will improve the country’s carbon emissions profile.
Finally, since no food-producing farmland is required for producing this bio-fuel, unlike corn or sugar cane ethanol, or palm oil diesel, it is considered the most politically and morally acceptable choice among India’s current bio-fuel options; it has no known negative impact on the production of the massive amounts of grains and other vital agricultural goods India produces to meet the food requirements of its massive population. Other bio-fuels which displace food crops from viable agricultural land, such as corn ethanol or palm biodiesel, have caused serious price increases for basic food grains and edible oils in other countries.
The Government is currently implementing an ethanol-blending program and considering initiatives in the form of mandates for biodiesel. Due to these strategies, the rising population, and the growing energy demand from the transport sector, bio-fuels can be assured of a significant market in India.
On 12 September 2008, the Indian Government announced its “National Bio-fuel Policy”. It aims to meet 20% of India’s diesel demand with fuel derived from plants. That will mean setting aside 140,000 square kilometers of land. Presently fuel-yielding plants cover less than 5,000 square kilometers.
The Indian Railways has started to use oil blended with diesel fuel in various ratios from the Jatropha plant to power its diesel engines with great success. Currently the diesel locomotives that run from Thanjavur to Nagore section and Tiruchirapalli to Lalgudi, Dindigul and Karur sections run on a blend of Jatropha and diesel oil.
Now the government has started concentrating on the aviation industry. Aviation is an important industry for India and is the backbone of tourism industry. Optimizing routes, improving air traffic management, investing in new and more fuel-efficient aircraft, and developing sustainable bio-fuels for aviation are all elements of the solution. And India has potential to contribute to all of these.
The National Bio-fuel Policy, 2008 aimed to meet 20% of diesel demand in India with biodiesel. On the small scale Jatropha oil has been used as an alternative to diesel by remote communities in India for many years. Jatropha is now being considered for industrial-scale planting as an energy crop in 19 states offering a combination of available marginal land, growing conditions and socioeconomic factors.
Increased Jatropha oil production delivers economic benefits to India on the macroeconomic or national level as it reduces the nation’s fossil fuel import bill for diesel production; minimizing the expenditure of India’s foreign-currency reserves for fuel allowing India to increase its growing foreign currency reserves, which can be better spent on capital expenditures for industrial inputs and production. The proposal was to plant 3 million hectares of wasteland with Jatropha over 3 years.
In 2006, India accounted for 4% of global ethanol production (2 million kilolitres) from sugar cane and has plans to expand its production. In common with other emerging technologies, India proposes to replace 10–20% of gasoline production with bioethanol. R&D on Cellulosic Ethanol is increasing with PRAJ Industries developing technology for cellulosic ethanol. Reliance Life Sciences is also active in developing biodiesel from Jatropha and other non-food oil seed crops, ethanol from cellulosic biomass and biobutanol.
The SAHYOG Project (Strengthening Networking on Biomass Research and Biowaste Conversion — Biotechnology for Europe India Integration) aims to actively link research activities implemented within European Union research programmes and related programmes by Indian national institutions.
In February 2009, India and the US exchanged a memorandum for cooperation on bio-fuels development, covering the production, utilization, distribution and marketing of bio-fuels in India.
In March 2012, Indian Oil announced that it is working with Airbus, Kingfisher Airline and UOP to conduct bio-fuel test flights. Indian Oil, a state-run corporation, has signed pacts with Canadian universities and Pratt & Whitney to further their ambitions to join the growing group of countries pursuing bio-jet fuel.