Biodiesel Technology Need of the Hour For India
Jimmie Macleod edited this page 2 weeks ago


The non-renewability, ecological concerns and health dangers connected with the nonrenewable fuel sources has resulted in exploration of alternative sources of energy to replace the traditional ones. An appealing technology, still in its infancy, that could show us the way to the future ahead is Biodiesels. Biodiesels are diesel fuels stemmed from grease or animal-fat that might be used to run diesel engines. Vegetables oils like sunflower, rape seed, palm oil, soya bean, jatropha curcas and so on can be subjected to oil processing to produce biodiesels. It includes no petroleum however can be combined with petroleum diesel for use or could be utilized in its pure form.

Developed countries particularly United States and European Countries have actually currently made substantial advances in the Biodiesel Technology. Biodiesel have actually discovered its use across markets and verticals and could become a perfect cleaner and less expensive alternative to gas, diesel and nonrenewable fuel sources. India has likewise begun checking out the opportunities to produce and use bio-diesel. A variety of plants for biodiesel transesterification are already operating in the country where veggie oils are reacted with alcohols (ethanol or methanol usually) to produce bio-diesel.

The main reason for the increasing need for biodiesels is the truth that biodiesels are sustainable and carbon-neutral, thus having no net influence on the environment. Besides, bio-diesel operates in compression engines just like normal petroleum diesel and hence can be utilized with little or no engine adjustments. Biodiesel do not require any different infrastructure for its storage and can be kept similar to the petroleum based fuels.

Considering the growing energy demand in the nation, increasing petroleum prices and the environmental dangers of nonrenewable fuel sources, the Indian Government has taken up efforts to develop the Bio Diesel in India and established more oil processing units. The Government announced 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 utilized as the pre-dominant raw products for oil processing and biodiesel production but in India the maximum 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 utilizing jatropha curcas as a basic material is that this plant can be grown in big quantities in wastelands all throughout India needing really little water in contrast to other money crops. Once grown, the plant has a helpful life expectancy of numerous decades. The Jatropha seeds consist of 40% oil and are thought about to be an outstanding source of bio-diesel. The Government of India has actually recognized 400,000 square kilometres of land suitable for the jatropha curcas cultivation in the country. India now

A study estimates that even if a mixing effort of 2% jatropha curcas based Biodiesel is attained in 2011-12, India will save around Rs. 3000 crores. Besides, it will create 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 government is taking steps to encourage the growing of jatropha curcas in India providing free seeds, subsidized loans and other facilities. India needs to now enhance its efforts to make the maximum usage of the Biodiesel Technology. Besides Jatropha, the opportunities for drawing out biodiesel from vegetable oils, fats, sunflower, rape seed oil and palm oil need to likewise be checked out. It will not only supply an answer to the difficulty of Global Warming but might reduce our dependence on foreign oil and contribute to our own economy.