Fuel of the future

the new power generation

Today, we are facing a number of issues: our natural resources are fast depleting, energy crises are the order of the day, global warming is increasingly making its presence felt and agricultural productivity seems to be lagging behind. Biofuels have the potential to address all these problems,” explains Dr Balakrishna, the project co-ordinator at the Biofuel Park  in Hassan. Located close to the National Highway 75, Biofuel Park, which is dedicated to the conservation, research and promotion of biofuels, is in a green world of its own, spanning across 50 acres and abutting several farmlands.

On one side of the campus, a building bearing the name ‘Biofuel Park, Hassan’ stands tall, all glass, stone and grey. Contrasting this modernity is the biofuel nursery on the other side, where rows of neatly lined plants of different biofuel species dot the landscape. Vathsalya, a senior research fellow at the Park says, “Here, we grow  neem, honge, simarouba, hippe, amoora, jatropha and other such biofuel species.  Honge or pongamia starts yielding after the fifth year and its average seed yield is five to 10 kg per plant after five years. After 10 years, its output increases to 15-20 kg per plant, reaching 30-40 kg after 20 years. The oil percentage in these seeds vary between 27-40%.”
It’s not just pongamia that holds the answers to all our energy problems. Take a look at hippe and neem for example. While neem starts yielding after five years, hippe takes around 10 years to yield. But after 20 years, every hippe tree has a seed yield of 50-60 kg while neem gives about 25-30 kg.

Cooperative model
In a small shed in the Park, an oil expeller machine is busy at work. Halesh, a research associate, explains the process, “Dried biofuel seeds are partially crushed and put through a rotating shaft, which extracts maximum oil from the seeds.” Taking a leaf out of the successful Amul  model of dairy development in Gujarat, Dr Balakrishna decided to localise all the processes in biofuel production too. So, a farmer who grows biofuel plants in his village can sell his seeds to the local cooperative, who then sells it to the main ‘dairy’ of the district.

But why include farmers in this ambitious model? Why not just create a forest of biofuel plants? Dr Balakrishna reasons, “These perennial trees have always been a part of the agroforestry system practised by farmers in the State. These crops add to the farmer’s revenue and have many ecological advantages, too. But thanks to the green revolution, farmers’ knowledge of such species and their benefits faded away.” One of the major factors that work in favour of biofuel plants is that they are known to survive on minimum irrigation and fertigation. “They can thrive easily on all kinds of lands and don’t compete with other plants for resources,” exclaims Dr Balakrishna. This means that with very little input, biofuel trees can provide abundant produce for a farmer.

So, if and when farmers hurtle down into the depths of poverty due to droughts and crop failures, the safety net of biofuel plants can catch them in time.

Awareness programmes
In order to convince farmers, the Park conducted several awareness and training programmes and distributed biofuel saplings. The Park has conducted around 2,125 awareness programmes and 1,344 training programmes in the villages of Hassan district. The fact that 15,83,000 seedlings of five biofuel crop species have been planted in 19,605.5 acres of the State turns the spotlight on the Park’s successful endeavours.

While many farmers brought these plants back into their farms, some took to biofuels to join the ‘green and healthy’ movement. One such farmer is Ramesh H M from Hoovinahalli village, who has been using biodiesel for his tractor for the past 16 years. Ramesh learnt about biofuels at a programme in Gandhi Krishi Vignan Kendra, Bengaluru and was impressed by its advantages.

“I use a mix of diesel and honge oil (10 litre of diesel and 1 litre of honge oil) for my tractor and it has been running without any problems for the past 16 years. There’s absolutely no smoke emission and I am getting better mileage too,” says a beaming Ramesh. He also uses honge hindi (pongamia cakes) as pesticides for his crops, making his farm organic in a sense. But the work of Biofuel Park doesn’t just stop at awareness and training. The Park has also developed appropriate machines to help farmers extract oil from the seeds. Till date, 22 oil expellers have been distributed to different farmer associations.

This eliminates the need for farmers to waste fuel while heading to different places for seed processing. “Everything from seed decorticators to oil expellers have been provided to farmers and the best part is that these machines don’t demand any extra power than a normal household’s requirement,” avers Halesh. Interestingly, the solid remains after oil extraction can also be used to make manure, oilseed cakes, soaps, medicines and even furniture.

Biofuels have managed to prove its benefits beyond the world of farming. Today, many are willing to experiment with it and Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is one of them. Last year, they had run 10 bio-buses on a trial basis and inspired by the success, this year on World Environment Day, they rolled out 1,700 biodiesel buses. In the future, they plan to include all the 8,400 buses in their fleet for the biofuel programme.

So, when these wonder renewable fuels are easy to source, emit far less toxins, provide a nation fuel security, why don’t we see it dominating our life today? All is not well, it seems. The only dent in this pristine image of biofuels is their cost of production.

Considerably priced higher than conventional diesel, biofuels demand more processing. When compared to petroleum-based fuels, biofuels have a lower energy density. As always, demand plays a great role in the costs of commodities and the same goes for biofuels. As and when the demand for such ‘green fuels’ go high, the costs may gradually come down. Dr Balakrishna says, “I think having mandates would help greatly in this sector. This will boost the demand for biofuels and lead to a reduction in the costs.”

These small biofuel plants have proved that we don’t need outlandish programmes and
expensive alternatives to save our one and only planet. While we struggle to deal with the effects of climate change, in Hassan, it looks like seeds of change have already been sowed. It’s only a matter of time these seeds pave the path for a healthy future.