Biofuels from Biomass - Novel Combustion Concepts for Sustainable Energy Development - page 31

figures do not take into account municipal solid waste or gas wastes from
industry which could use technologies that are being rapidly developed globally to
add signi

These

cant capacity to India ' s ethanol production.

3.2 Current Ethanol Situation: India

India currently has a mandate for 5 % ethanol in fuel which equates to 1,050 million
liters of ethanol. Domestic sugar mills can only produce 550 million liters of
ethanol (52 % of demand) which leaves a 500 million liters shortfall which must be
met by oil marketing companies by importing ethanol from abroad at a higher price.
This pushes up the price of fuel and signi

cantly affects the Indian economy. For
this reason, cellulosic ethanol in India is a much needed technology which has great
potential to address this shortfall problem.

4 National Biofuel Policy

The informations given under Sect. 4 have been derived from http://mnre.gov.in/

le-manager/UserFiles/biofuel_policy.pdf .
Development objectives in Indian scenario are based on economic growth,
equity, and human well-being. Energy being a critical input for socioeconomic
development, the strategy of a country aims at ef ciency, and

security. Fossil fuels will continue to play a dominant role in the energy scenario in
our country in the next few decades. However, conventional or fossil fuel resources
are limited, non-renewable, and polluting and hence need to be used prudently.
India is endowed with abundant renewable energy resources which are indigenous,
non-polluting, and virtually inexhaustible. Therefore, every possibility for its
effective utilization should be encouraged.
The world market price of crude oil has signi

ciency, self-suf

cantly increased in recent years
and has reached higher than $ 140 per barrel. Petrol-based oil meets about 95 % of
the requirement of the transportation fuel, and the demand is still increasing stea-
dily. Only 23 % of oil requirement could be ful lled by nation and the rest are being

imported. India s energy security necessitates development of indigenous alterna-

tive source of energy. Biofuels derived from renewable biomass resources provide a
strategic advantage to promote sustainable development and to supplement con-
ventional energy sources. Biofuels can reduce the dependence on import of fossil
fuels and provide a higher degree of national energy security and therefore are
foreseen as a ray of hope in this direction being eco-friendly and sustainable.
The growth of biofuels around the globe is spurred largely by energy security
and environmental concerns, and a wide range of market mechanisms, incentives,
and subsidies have been put in place to facilitate their growth. The Indian approach
to biofuels, in particular, is somewhat different from the international approaches.

'