Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
nonedible oilseeds, nonedible oil waste, animal
fat, and used cooking oil as feedstock (USDA-
FAS
2009
).
Biodiesel production efforts in India are focused
on using nonedible oils since the demand for edible
oils exceeds the domestic supply. The Government
of India (GOI) had launched the “National Bio-
diesel Mission (NBM)” after identifying
Jatropha
curcas
as the most suitable tree-borne oilseed for
biodiesel production (USDA-FAS
2012
).
Jatropha
oil has been used in India for several
decades as biodiesel for the diesel fuel require-
ments of remote rural and forest communities;
Jatropha
oil can be used directly after extraction
(i.e., without refi ning) in diesel generators and
engines. Increased
Jatropha
oil production deliv-
ers economic benefi ts to India on the macroeco-
nomic or national level as it reduces the nation's
fossil fuel import bill for diesel production, mini-
mizing the expenditure of India's foreign cur-
rency reserves for fuel, allowing India to increase
its growing foreign currency reserves. And since
Jatropha
oil is carbon neutral, large-scale pro-
duction will improve the country's carbon emis-
sions profi le. Finally, since no food-producing
farmland is required for producing this biofuel, it
is considered the most politically and morally
acceptable choice among India's current biofuel
options; it has no known negative impact on the
production of the massive amounts of grains and
other vital agriculture goods. India produces to
meet the food requirements of its large popula-
tion. Other biofuels which displace food crops
from viable agricultural land such as corn ethanol
or palm biodiesel have caused serious price
increases for basic food grains and edible oils in
other countries. It is also estimated that the poten-
tial availability of nonedible oils in India amounts
to about 1 million tons per year. The most abun-
dant resources are sal oil (180,000 tons), mahua
oil (180,000 tons), neem oil (100,000 tons), and
karanja oil (55,000 tons). However, based on
extensive research carried out by various institu-
tions in the country, the government identifi ed
Jatropha curcas
oilseed as the major feedstock
for biodiesel in India (Gonsalves
2006
).
In India, ethanol is produced by the fermenta-
tion of molasses, a by-product of the sugar indus-
try. India has 330 distilleries which can produce
over 4 billion liters of rectifi ed spirit (alcohol) per
year in addition to 1.5 billion liters of fuel etha-
nol. Of this total, about 140 have the capacity to
distill around 2 billion liters (USDA-FAS
2012
)
of conventional ethanol per year and could meet
the demand for 5 % blending with gasoline.
Biofuel program in the country is at a nascent
stage. Ethanol is produced in India from sugar-
cane molasses for blending with gasoline.
Beginning January 2003, the Government of
India mandated a 5 % ethanol blend in gasoline
through its ambitious “Ethanol Blending Program
(EBP)”. Ethanol and alcohol production in India
depends largely on availability of sugar molasses
(a by-product of sugar production). Since sugar-
cane production in India is cyclical, ethanol pro-
duction also varies with sugar and sugarcane
production and therefore does not assure opti-
mum supply levels needed to meet the demand at
any given time (USDA-FAS
2012
).
Since early 2001, the Ministry of Rural
Development and several state governments have
carried out programs to encourage large-scale
planting of Jatropha on wastelands. States with
the largest potential include Madhya Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra
Pradesh, and Gujarat. The Planning Commission
set an ambitious target of 11 million ha of
Jatropha
to be planted by 2012 in order to gener-
ate suffi cient biodiesel to blend at 20 % with
petro-diesel. However, the total
Jatropha
planta-
tion area in the country is currently estimated at
approximately 450,000 hectare (ha), of which
about 60-70 % are new plantations and not yet
into full production. The new
Jatropha
planta-
tions are expected to come into maturity in the
next 3-4 years (USDA-FAS
2009
).
2.7
Other Renewable Energy
Technologies
Solar thermal technologies, particularly solar
water heating system, solar cookers, and solar
generation systems are the most commercial-
ized technologies among renewable energy
technologies in India. Policies are set to pro-
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