JOIN USIn August 1893, Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of the diesel engine, ran a mechanical engine successfully with peanut oil, and it was predicted then that vegetable oil will replace fossil fuels in the coming decades. However, the availability of cheap and surplus fossil fuels derailed the research on vegetable oils or biofuels, and fossil fuels became the single most important source of energy.
To meet the energy demand for over 60% of the total goods movement and 85% of total passenger traffic through its road infrastructure, India has a significant demand for fossil fuels. Expectedly, diesel alone meets an estimated 73% of transport fuel demand.
But, domestic supply meets only 22% of that demand for diesel and the rest has to be met through imports. This has led our net oil import dependency to rise from 43% in 1990 to 71% in 2012 — a huge strain on the exchequer. In addition, continued dependence on fossil fuels has led to environmental pollution, global warming and several health problems.
In this context, the promotion of biofuels presents a win-win situation as, on the one hand, they are renewable, can be gro-wn in degraded and waste lands and, on the other, they can provide additional income to poor households. To create awareness and to promote these green fuels, we even have a World Bio-Fuel Day (August 10).
Conventional biofuels, that is the first-generation biofuels, include sugar and starch-based ethanol, oil-crop based biodiesel and straight vegetable oil, as well as biogas derived through anaerobic digestion. Ethanol and biodiesel are largely used as fuels in internal combustion engines either in their pure form or more often as additives.
On the other hand, second or third generation biofuels are based on lignocellulosic biomass as feedstock, including cellulosic ethanol, biomass-to-liquids diesel, and bio-synthetic gas. The technologies deployed to produce advanced biofuels are still in developmental stage.
India began its biofuel programme with a 5% ethanol blending pilot programme in 2001 and formulated a National Mission on Biodiesel in 2003 to achieve 20% biodiesel blends by 2011–2012, with jatropha curcas as the primary feedstock. Among the 400 non-edible oilseed crops in India, jatropha was selected for its high oil content (40% by weight).
National Policy on Biofuels, adopted in December 2009, proposed a non-mandatory blending target of 20% for bio-diesel and ethanol by 2017 and opted for non-edible feedstock only, grown on degraded wastelands unsuited to agriculture, thus avoiding a possible con-
flict of fuel versus food security.
Issues in implementation
The biodiesel programme was implemented in two phases: a research and demonstration phase from 2003 to 2007 (Phase I) and an implementation phase from 2007 to 2012 (Phase II). Phase I aimed to cultivate 400,000 hectares of land, establish a research network of 42 universities, and achieve 5% blending target, but with varying degrees of success and thus adversely affecting the 20% blending target in Phase II.
At 20% blending, our current demand for biodiesel/ethanol is estimated at 23,000 million litres and require about 19.5 million hectares of jatropha plantations to produce it. The demand is estimated to escalate to 31,150 million litres by 2020. But, current commercial production and marketing of jatropha-based biodiesel is small, with estimates varying from 140 to 300 million litres per year and mostly consumed in the unorganised sector (irrigation pumps, mobile towers, kilns, agricultural usage, owners of diesel generators, etc).
Deviating from the sole dependence on Jatropha plant in a majority of Indian states, Karnataka’s multi-species (pongamia, as well) and farmer-centric approach (cultivation of plants used for producing biofuel on field bunds as a subsidiary occupation) is well appreciated.
Further, every district in Karnataka had a demonstration and collection centre each, with a facility to generate 100 litres of fuel, serving as catalysts for biofuel production and consumption. Thus, there is a need for providing a thrust for developing a strong biofuel industry to tackle the challenges of energy security and fuel self-sufficiency. Such development would not only usher in energy security, but also several environmental, social and economic benefits as well.
However, as our previous two decades of experience suggests, ethanol and/or biodiesels alone cannot meet the ever-growing need for biofuels, we need equal attention on substantial research for development of second and third generation feedstocks as well to address the future bio-energy needs of the country.
(The writer is associated with Karnataka State Women’s University, Vijayapura, Karnataka)