World Biofuel Day

World Biofuel Day is observed every year on 10^th August to create awareness about the importance of non-fossil fuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels and to highlight the various efforts made by the Government in the biofuel sector.

This day also honors the research experiments by Sir Rudolf Diesel who ran an engine with peanut oil in the year 1893. His research experiment had predicted that vegetable oil is going to replace fossil fuels in the next century to fuel different mechanical engines.

The World Biofuel Day is being observed by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas since 2015.

Biofuels

Biofuels are environment friendly fuels and their utilization would address global concerns about containment of carbon emissions. Biofuels are derived from renewable bio-mass resources and, therefore, provide a strategic advantage to promote sustainable development and to supplement conventional energy sources in meeting the rapidly increasing requirements for transportation fuels associated with high economic growth, as well as in meeting the energy needs of India’s vast rural population.

Biofuels have the benefits of reducing import dependency on crude oil, cleaner environment, additional income to farmers and employment generation in rural areas.  The biofuels programme is also in synergy with the Government of India initiatives for Make in India, Swachh Bharat and enhancing farmers’ income.

Important Biofuel categories in India

1. Bioethanol : Ethanol produced from biomass such as sugar containing materials, like sugarcane, sugar beet, sweet sorghum etc.; starch containing materials such as corn, cassava, rotten potatoes, algae etc.; and, cellulosic materials such as bagasse, wood waste, agricultural and forestry residues or other renewable resources like industrial waste;
2. Biodiesel : a methyl or ethyl ester of fatty acids produced from non-edible vegetable oils, acid oil, used cooking oil or animal fat and bio-oil;
3. Advanced biofuels : Fuels which are
• produced from lignocellulosic feedstocks (i.e. agricultural and forestry residues, e.g. rice & wheat straw/corn cob s & stover/bagasse, woody biomass), non-food crops (i.e. grasses, algae), or industrial waste and residue streams
• having low CO₂ emission or high GHG reduction and do not compete with food crops for land use. Fuels such as Second Generation (2G) Ethanol, Drop-in fuels, algae based 3G biofuels, bio-CNG, bio-methanol, Di Methyl Ether (DME) derived from bio-methanol, bio-hydrogen, drop in fuels with MSW as the source / feedstock material will qualify as "Advanced Biofuels".
4. Drop-in fuels : Any liquid fuel produced from Biomass, agri-residues, wastes such as Municipal Solid Wastes (MSW), Plastic wastes, Industrial wastes etc . which meets the Indian standards for MS, HSD and Jet fuel, in pure or blended form, for its subsequent utilization in vehicles without any modifications in the engine systems and can utilize existing petroleum distribution system.
5. Bio-CNG : Purified form of bio-Gas whose composition & energy potential is similar to that of fossil based natural gas and is produced from agricultural residues, animal dung, food waste, MSW and Sewage water.

Biofuel use in India 

Biofuels have the benefits of reduction of import dependence, cleaner environment, additional income to farmers and employment generation.

In India, the same cooking oil is used for repeated frying which adversely affects the health due to formation of polar compounds during frying. These polar compounds are associated with diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, liver diseases among others. UCO is either not discarded at all or disposed off in an environmentally hazardous manner choking drains and sewerage systems.

The National Policy on Biofuels, released by the Government of India in 2018 and amended in 2022, envisages production of biofuel from UCO. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is implementing a strategy to divert UCO from the food value chain and curb current illegal usage. The benefits of transformation of UCO will help bring health benefits as there would be no recycling of the UCO, employment generation, infrastructural investment in rural areas & cleaner environment with reduced carbon footprint.

Ethanol blending in petrol

• Under Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme, the blending of ethanol with petrol increased from 38 crore litres in Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2013-14 to 302.3 crore litres in ESY 2020-21 with corresponding increase in blending percentage from 1.53% to 8.17%. During the corresponding period, the consumption of petrol itself has also increased by approx. 64%. Ethanol blending in Petrol during the Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2021-22 (December 2021-November 2022) is estimated to have had impact of over Rs. 22,600 Crore on the import bill of crude oil and petroleum products.
• The production of fuel grade ethanol and its supply to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) has increased by more than 7 times from ESY 2013-14 to ESY 2020-21. Encouraged by this performance, Government decided to advance the target of 20% ethanol blending in petrol from 2030 to ESY 2025-26.
• OMCs achieved the target of 10% ethanol blending in petrol in June, 2022 i.e. five months ahead of the target during ESY 2021-22. Blending of ethanol with petrol further increased to more than 500 crore litres in ESY 2022-23 with corresponding increase in blending to 12.06%. During the ESY 2023-24, the blending percentage has already crossed 13%.

Ethanol blending in Diesel

Bio-diesel blending in the country started on a pilot basis in 2001.  At present, approximately 850 crore litres of High Speed Diesel (HSD) is consumed on a monthly basis in India. The National Policy on Biofuels - 2018 envisages a target of 5% blending of Biodiesel in HSD by 2030. In order to achieve the blending target, 500 crore litres of Biodiesel is required in a year. In India, approximately, 22.7 MMTPA (2700 crore litres) of Cooking Oil is used out of which 1.2 MMTPA (140 Crore) UCO can be collected from Bulk Consumers such as hotels, restaurants, canteens, etc. for conversion, which will give approximately 110 crore litres of Biodiesel in one year. Presently there is no established collection chain for UCO. Thus, there is a huge opportunity in production of biodiesel from UCO.

Initiatives taken by government for Biofuel promotion

The Government of India has taken a number of initiatives to increase blending of biofuels. The major interventions include administrative price mechanism for ethanol, simplifying the procurement procedures of OMCs, amending the provisions of Industries (Development & Regulation) Act, 1951 and enabling lignocellulosic route for ethanol procurement.

Sale of E-20 (20% ethanol blended petrol) fuel has also been launched in February, 2023. India’s ethanol capacity has increased from 1.53% during Ethanol Supply Year 2013-14 to 10% at ESY 2021-22. By 2025, at 20% blending level, ethanol demand will increase to 1016 crore litres. Ethanol supply has increased to 433.6 crore litres in 2021-22 from 38 crore litres in 2013-14. Due to demand growth, the ethanol distillation capacity too has doubled to 619 crore litre annually during 2021-22 from 215 crore litres; while number of distilleries has increased by 66% in 8 years to 262 in 2021-22 from 157 in 2014-15. One Crore litre of ethanol blended petrol can save around 20,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂ ) emission. Greenhouse gas emissions due to the EBP Programme were reduced by 318.2 lac tons during 2014 to November 2022. 

The Government approved the National Policy on Biofuels-2018 in June 2018.  The policy has the objective of reaching 20% ethanol-blending and 5% biodiesel-blending by the year 2030.  Among other things, the policy expands the scope of feedstock for ethanol production and has provided for incentives for production of advanced biofuels. The policy was amended during May 2022 due to advancements in the field of Biofuels. The main amendments include

• to allow more feedstocks for production of biofuels
• to advance the ethanol blending target of 20% blending of ethanol in petrol to ESY 2025-26 from 2030
• to promote the production of biofuels in the country, under the Make in India program, by units located in Special Economic Zones (SEZ)/ Export Oriented Units (EoUs)
• to grant permission for export of biofuels in specific cases

Some of the other intiatives taken for promotion of biofuels include

• In November 2022, the Government has increased the price of ethanol from C heavy molasses to Rs 49.41 per litre; from B heavy molasses increased to Rs 60.73/litre and sugarcane juice-based ethanol has been fixed at Rs. 65.61 / litre. The revised prices will be applicable during the ethanol supply year from  from 1st December 2022 to 31st October, 2023. The Government has reduced GST on ethanol for blending in fuel from 18% to 5%.
• As large quantity of ethanol is available right from the beginning of sugar season due to conversion of sugarcane juice and B heavy molasses to ethanol, it has been decided to redefine Ethanol Supply Year as a period of ethanol supply from 1st November of a year to 31st October of the following year from 1st November, 2023 onwards. 
• Lowered GST rate to 5% on ethanol for EBP Programme
• Amendment in Industries (Development & Regulation) Act for free movement of ethanol across states for blending;
• Interest subvention scheme for enhancement and augmentation of ethanol production capacity in the country; 
• Regular floating of Expression of Interest (EoI) by Public Sector OMCs for procurement of ethanol.

Source : PIB