1 Biodiesel Technology Need of the Hour For India
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The non-renewability, ecological issues and health threats related to the fossil fuels has led to expedition of alternative sources of energy to substitute the traditional ones. An appealing innovation, still in its infancy, that might show us the way to the future ahead is Biodiesels. Biodiesels are diesel fuels originated from vegetable oil or animal-fat that could be used to run diesel engines. like sunflower, rape seed, palm oil, soya bean, jatropha curcas and so on can be subjected to oil processing to produce biodiesels. It contains no petroleum but can be blended with petroleum diesel for usage or could be used in its pure type.

Developed nations especially United States and European Countries have already made considerable advances in the Biodiesel Technology. Biodiesel have actually found its use across markets 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 utilize bio-diesel. A variety of plants for biodiesel transesterification are currently functioning in the nation where veggie oils are reacted with alcohols (ethanol or methanol usually) to produce bio-diesel.

The primary factor for the increasing need for biodiesels is the truth that biodiesels are renewable and carbon-neutral, hence having no net impact on the environment. Besides, bio-diesel runs in compression engines simply like regular petroleum diesel and hence can be utilized with little or no engine adjustments. Biodiesel do not require any separate infrastructure for its storage and can be stored similar to the petroleum based fuels.

Considering the growing energy need in the nation, increasing petroleum rates and the environmental hazards of fossil fuels, the Indian Government has taken up initiatives to develop the Bio Diesel Technology in India and established more oil processing units. 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 raw products for oil processing and biodiesel production however in India the maximum capacity to produce biodiesels is from Jatropha oil - a non-edible one produced from the seeds of the Jatropha curcas. The greatest advantage of using Jatropha as a raw material is that this plant can be grown in big amounts in wastelands all throughout India requiring extremely little water in comparison to other cash crops. Once grown, the plant has a beneficial life expectancy of numerous decades. The Jatropha seeds include 40% oil and are thought about to be an outstanding source of bio-diesel. The Government of India has actually identified 400,000 square kilometres of land suitable for the jatropha curcas cultivation in the nation. India now

A research study estimates that even if a mixing initiative of 2% jatropha curcas based Biodiesel is attained in 2011-12, India will save around Rs. 3000 crores. Besides, it will produce around Rs. 5500 crores in the rural economy and assistance in reduction of Green House Gas emission by 3 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) every year. The government is taking actions to motivate the cultivation of jatropha curcas in India offering free seeds, subsidized loans and other facilities. India needs to now strengthen its efforts to make the max usage of the Biodiesel Technology. Besides jatropha curcas, the opportunities for drawing out biodiesel from vegetable oils, fats, sunflower, rape seed oil and palm oil need to also be explored. It will not only offer a response to the difficulty of Global Warming however might reduce our reliance on foreign oil and contribute to our own economy.