World Biofuel Day

(Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas)

 

WHAT

World Biofuel Day is observed every year on the 10th of August to create awareness about the importance of non-fossil fuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels.

• The day highlights the various efforts made by the Government in the biofuel sector.
• A number of initiatives have been undertaken to increase production and blending of biofuels since 2014.

 

THEME

This year the theme of the World Biofuel Day is “Production of Biodiesel from Used Cooking Oil (UCO)”.

 

BENEFITS OF BIOFUELS

• Reduction of import dependence
• Cleaner environment
• Additional income to farmers
• Employment generation

 

USED COOKING OIL

In India, the same cooking oil is used for repeated frying which adversely affects the health due to the 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.

 

NATIONAL POLICY ON BIOFUELS 2018

• It envisages the production of biofuels from Used cooking oil.
• 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,  employment generation, infrastructural investment in rural areas & cleaner environment with a reduced carbon footprint.

 

BIODIESEL

• The National Policy on Biofuels – 2018 envisages a target of 5% blending of Biodiesel in High-speed diesel (HSD) by 2030.
• At present, approximately 850 crore litres of High-Speed Diesel (HSD) is consumed on a monthly basis in India.
• In order to achieve the blending target, 500 crore litres of Biodiesel is required in a year.
• In India, approximately, 2700 crore litres of Cooking Oil is used out of which 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.

 

STEPS TAKEN

To facilitate the production of Biodiesel from UCO, the Oil Marketing Companies shall float an Expression of Interest (EOI) for procurement of Biodiesel from Used Cooking Oil across 100 cities.

The purpose of inviting this EOI is to encourage the applicants to set up Biodiesel producing plants from Used Cooking Oil (UCO), processing plants and further utilizing the existing potential of UCO based Bio-diesel in India.

 

Source: PIB

 

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