Biofuel Economy Significant To India In The Coming Decade
On World Biofuel Day in 2017, Cabinet Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan announced that the government plans to bring a new policy to promote the use of biofuels in transport fuel. Apart from catalysing `1 lakh crore of investment in the entire value chain, the move is also likely to boost the sector and give it the much-needed impetus. Dr Anjan Ray, Director-CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum, speaks to Sapna Gopal for Energy Future on what this entails for the industry and for the country at large.
India is all set to unveil a new biofuel policy. In what way will it help the sector?
The previous biofuel policy has run its course. It got the nation thinking about biofuels, but set ambitious future targets of 20% ethanol blending in gasoline (petrol) and 20% biodiesel in diesel that were, in hindsight, not easy to achieve with the operating ecosystem that existed at the time when it came into force in 2009. A new policy is expected to be more holistic, less prescriptive of technology—leaving that as far as practicable to market forces and leaving room for rapid assimilation of new breakthroughs in applied science, and more focused on measurable outcomes year-on-year. The key needs are reduction in imported carbon-based fuels (which will help India’s balance of payment and drive energy self-reliance), reduced greenhouse gas emissions (which are essential for a secure future of our planet) as well as for the fulfillment of our national commitments to the CoP21 under the UNFCCC, amelioration of urban air pollution issues, and creation of income and job opportunities in the energy sector.
This story is from the October - December 2017 edition of Energy Future.
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This story is from the October - December 2017 edition of Energy Future.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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