The non-renewability, environmental concerns and health risks associated with the fossil fuels has actually caused exploration of alternative sources of energy to substitute the traditional ones. A promising technology, still in its infancy, that might reveal us the method to the future ahead is Biodiesels. Biodiesels are diesel fuels stemmed from vegetable oil or animal-fat that could be used to run diesel motors. Vegetables oils like sunflower, rape seed, palm oil, soya bean, Jatropha 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 might be used in its pure kind.
Developed countries particularly United States and European Countries have already made substantial advances in the Biodiesel Technology. Biodiesel have actually discovered its use across markets and verticals and might become a perfect cleaner and less expensive alternative to fuel, diesel and fossil fuels. India has also started checking out the opportunities to produce and use bio-diesel. A variety of plants for biodiesel transesterification are already operating in the country where veggie oils are responded with alcohols (ethanol or methanol typically) to produce bio-diesel.
The main reason for the increasing demand for biodiesels is the fact that biodiesels are eco-friendly and carbon-neutral, therefore having no net impact on the environment. Besides, bio-diesel runs in compression engines simply like typical petroleum diesel and for this reason can be utilized with little or no engine adjustments. Biodiesel do not require any separate infrastructure for its storage and can be kept just like the petroleum based fuels.
Considering the growing energy demand in the nation, rising petroleum rates and the ecological hazards of nonrenewable fuel sources, the Indian Government has taken up efforts to establish the Bio Diesel Technology in India and established more oil processing units. The Government announced its 'National Biofuel Policy' on 12 September 2008 which intends 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 used as the pre-dominant raw products for oil processing and biodiesel production but 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 most significant benefit of using Jatropha as a basic material is that this plant can be grown in big 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 decades. The jatropha curcas seeds consist of 40% oil and are thought about to be an outstanding source of bio-diesel. The Government of India has actually determined 400,000 square kilometres of land appropriate for the Jatropha growing in the country. India now
A study approximates that even if a mixing effort of 2% jatropha curcas based Biodiesel is attained in 2011-12, India will save around Rs. 3000 crores. Besides, it will generate around Rs. 5500 crores in the rural economy and assistance in decrease of Green House Gas emission by 3 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) every year. The government is taking steps to encourage the growing of jatropha curcas in India supplying totally free seeds, subsidized loans and other centers. India requires to now strengthen its efforts to make the fullest use 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 a response to the challenge of Global Warming however might reduce our reliance on foreign oil and contribute to our own economy.
