Biofeuls- A Comprehensive Biofeul Policy

Introduction
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What is biofuel?

A biofuel is any liquid fuel derived from biological material such as tree, agriculture waste, crops, or grass. Biofuel can be produced from any carbon source that can be replenished rapidly, such as plants. 

Biofuel are used globally, and biofuel industries are greatly expanding in Europe, Asia, and North and South America. They contain NO sulphur and produce low carbon monoxide and toxic emission.

Biofuels are substitutes for conventional fossil fuels, such as petroleum, propane, coal, and natural gas.

Biofuels are grouped by categories- 1G first generation, 2G second generation, 3G third generation

First generation- 1G biofuels are produced from food crops. For ethanol production the feedstock includes sugar cane, corn, maize, etc. For Biodiesel- the feedstock is naturally occurring vegetable oil such as soybean and canola.

Second generation- 2G biofuels are produced from cellulosic material such as wood, grasses and inedible parts of the plants. This material is more difficult to break down through fermentation and therefore requires pre- treatment before it can be processed.

Third generation- 3G are produced using the lipid production from algae.

 Significance of biofuels

 1-      Energy security is the most constant need though energy is available and affordable for consumers as well as the industry yet it carries certain disadvantage of with it. Some of the many risks to energy security are disrupting the supply of fossil fuels, energy price the hikes and limited sources of fuel.

2-      Increasing the investment in biofuels will result in a boost of growth in the economy. Thus, means that there will be more jobs and new source of income for farmers in the industry. Developing countries will benefit from the economic growth in the demand for world energy. 

 3-      Biofuels can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy security by providing an alternative to fossil fuels. By 2050, biofuels could reduce our greenhouse gas emission by 1.7 billion tons per year – equivalent to more than 80% of current transportation- related emission.

 4-      The energy balance of fuel is the ratio of how much energy is required to produce, manufacture and distribute to compare to the amount of energy that is released when fuel is burned.

 5-      Biofuel is proven to be less toxic than diesel as its attributes make it less likely to harm the environment and cause less damage.

 Biofuel is found to be less toxic than common species of fish. Biofuel is proven to be safer to handle than petroleum fuel due to its low volatility.

Indian Government Initiatives to promote the use Biofuel

Central government recently unveiled a comprehensive biofuels policy, which allows farmers to divert excess crop produce for biofuels production. Government is going to establish second-generation (2G) ethanol refineries.

 The national biofuels policy 2018 seeks to expand the range of feedstock available for ethanol production beyond sugar molasses. Sugarcane juice, sugar- containing crops like beet, sorghum, corn and cassava and damaged grains unfit for human consumption, such as rotten potato, wheat and broken rice, cane be considering for ethanol production.

The policy will offer a mechanism to address the mounting municipal solid waste problem in the country by converting it into drop-fuels. 

The scheme will be in addition to other incentives and higher purchase price available to 2G biofuels as compared 1G biofuels (bioethanol and biodiesel). To synergise efforts to improve biofuels production, several Ministers and Department will play vital role to meet the increasing energy need of the country and provide energy security.

India’s First Biofuel Flight

India’s first- ever environment friendly biofuels powered flight between Dehradun and Delhi was blended of oil from jatropha seeds and aviation turbine fuel.

SpiceJet Airlines operated first biofuel flight using alternative environment friendly fuel for 10 minutes.

 India will be first developing nation to experiment biofuel test flight.

The objective of biofuel flight is to make air travel economical and bring some relief to airlines reeling under high fuel price through use of alternate fuel. Moreover, use of biofuel has the potential to reduce aviation’s carbon emission by up 80%.

The world’s first dedicated biofuel flight by (Dreamliner Boeing 787-9) was flown for first time from los Angeles (US) To Melbourne (Australia).

Some Controversies \\---\\\\ Try to understand this dimension too- Biodiesel: Cure worse than the disease, until we bring something to catch up with it :)