The non-renewability, environmental issues and health threats associated with the fossil fuels has resulted in expedition of alternative sources of energy to substitute the standard 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 could be used to run diesel engines. Vegetables oils like sunflower, rape seed, palm oil, soya bean, jatropha curcas etc can be subjected to oil processing to produce biodiesels. It includes no petroleum however can be combined with petroleum diesel for usage or could be utilized in its pure form.
Developed nations especially United States and European Countries have actually already made significant advances in the Biodiesel Technology. Biodiesel have found its use across industries and verticals and might become an ideal cleaner and less expensive alternative to gas, diesel and nonrenewable fuel sources. India has also started exploring the opportunities to produce and utilize bio-diesel. A number of plants for biodiesel transesterification are already operating in the nation where vegetable oils are reacted with alcohols (ethanol or methanol usually) to produce bio-diesel.
The main reason for the increasing demand for biodiesels is the truth that biodiesels are eco-friendly and carbon-neutral, thus having no net influence on the environment. Besides, bio-diesel runs in compression engines simply like regular petroleum diesel and hence can be used with little or no engine adjustments. Biodiesel do not require any different facilities for its storage and can be stored similar to the petroleum based fuels.
Considering the growing energy demand in the country, increasing petroleum rates and the environmental hazards of fossil fuels, the Indian Government has actually used up efforts to establish the Bio Diesel Technology in India and set up more oil processing systems. The Government announced its 'National Biofuel Policy' on 12 September 2008 which intends to satisfy 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 used as the pre-dominant raw products for oil processing and biodiesel production however in India the maximum potential to produce biodiesels is from jatropha curcas oil - a non-edible one produced from the seeds of the Jatropha curcas. The most significant advantage of utilizing Jatropha as a raw product is that this plant can be grown in big amounts in wastelands all across India needing extremely little water in comparison to other cash crops. Once grown, the plant has a useful lifespan of numerous years. The jatropha curcas seeds consist of 40% oil and are considered to be an exceptional source of bio-diesel. The Government of India has actually determined 400,000 square kilometres of land suitable for the jatropha curcas growing in the nation. India now
A research study estimates that even if a mixing initiative of 2% Jatropha based Biodiesel is accomplished 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 federal government is taking steps to motivate the growing of jatropha curcas in India providing free seeds, subsidized loans and other centers. India needs to now strengthen its efforts to make the maximum use of the Biodiesel Technology. Besides Jatropha, the avenues for extracting biodiesel from veggie oils, fats, sunflower, rape seed oil and palm oil should also be explored. It will not only supply a response to the difficulty of Global Warming but might reduce our dependence on foreign oil and contribute to our own economy.
