The non-renewability, environmental concerns and health hazards associated with the nonrenewable fuel sources has resulted in expedition of alternative sources of energy to substitute the standard ones. An appealing innovation, still in its infancy, that could show us the method 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 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 use or could 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 found its usage across industries and verticals and could emerge as an ideal cleaner and more affordable option to gas, diesel and nonrenewable fuel sources. India has also started checking out the opportunities to produce and use bio-diesel. A variety of plants for biodiesel transesterification are already functioning in the country where vegetable oils are reacted with alcohols (ethanol or methanol normally) to produce bio-diesel.
The main factor for the increasing need for biodiesels is the reality that biodiesels are renewable and carbon-neutral, therefore having no net influence on the environment. Besides, bio-diesel runs in compression engines much like regular petroleum diesel and thus can be utilized with little or no engine adjustments. do not require any separate infrastructure for its storage and can be stored much like the petroleum based fuels.
Considering the growing energy demand in the nation, rising petroleum prices and the environmental threats of nonrenewable fuel sources, the Indian Government has actually taken up efforts to develop the Bio Diesel Technology in India and established 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 veggie oils like sunflower, soya bean, rape seed, palm oil are utilized as the pre-dominant basic materials for oil processing and biodiesel production but in India the maximum capacity to produce biodiesels is from jatropha curcas 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 substantial amounts in wastelands all across India needing extremely little water in contrast to other money crops. Once grown, the plant has a helpful life-span of a number of years. The jatropha curcas seeds include 40% oil and are thought about to be an excellent source of bio-diesel. The Government of India has actually identified 400,000 square kilometres of land appropriate for the jatropha curcas cultivation in the country. India now
A study estimates that even if a mixing initiative of 2% jatropha curcas based Biodiesel is attained in 2011-12, India will conserve 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 steps to motivate the cultivation of jatropha curcas in India supplying totally 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 avenues for extracting biodiesel from vegetable oils, fats, sunflower, rape seed oil and palm oil should also be checked out. It will not just offer an answer to the difficulty of Global Warming however could decrease our dependence on foreign oil and contribute to our own economy.
1
Biodiesel Technology Need of the Hour For India
Stephaine Irish edited this page 2025-01-11 12:46:56 +00:00