sharmila pn

Amidst, very colorful election events and dramatic railway accident, gossipy personal lives of obscure starlings  Times of India tucked in a small article on biofuel.  This is what I found when I actually tried to figure out the viability of it all.

Biofuel is defined as solid, liquid or gaseous fuel obtained from relatively recently lifeless or living biological material and is different from fossil fuels, which are derived from long dead biological material. Also, various plants and plant-derived materials are used for biofuel manufacturing .

These are usually sourced from:

·         Plants that produce oils including oil palm, jatropha, soybean and algae. These can be processed to form biodiesel

·         crops like sugarcane, sugar beet, corn, and maize. These are then turned to ethanol through yeast fermentation.

·         Wood: waste wood can be converted into biofuels including methanol and ethanol and wood gas.

Brazil produces ethanol from sugar cane. This year 1/3 America’s maize production has been diverted to biofuel. The govt.  as a fact gives incentives for maize grown for fuel.

Usually a blend of the diesel and biodiesel is used, with biodiesel being 5% as biodiesel can freeze  in winter not more than 50% is used.

      Biofuels are carbon neutral hence the green house gas emissions are reduced when compared to the conventional transport fuels. A relevant point to be noted is that the conversion of  crops to fuel requires energy. Despite this biofuels are more environment friendly.

      There is a technique called life cycle analysis ( LCA) according to which

·         60% of carbon emission is reduced when biofuels are used as opposed to fossil fuels.

·         80%would be reduction when second generation biofuels will be will be used.

There are several concerns about biofuels - and particularly including.

·      Biodiversity - A fear among environmentalists is that by adapting more land to produce crops for biofuels, more habitats will be lost for animals and wild plants. It is feared for example, that some Asian countries will sacrifice their rainforests to build more oil plantations.

·      The food V fuel debate - Another concern is that if biofuels become lucrative for farmers, they may grow crops for biofuel production instead of food production. Less food production will increase prices and cause a rise in inflation. It is hoped that this can be countered by second generation biofuels which use waste biomass - though again, this will impact the habitat of many organisms. The impact is particularly high in developing countries and it is estimated that around 100million people are at risk due to the food price increases.

·      Carbon emissions – Most LCA investigations show that the burning of biofuels substantially reduces greenhouse gas emissions when compared to petroleum and diesel. However, in 2007 a study was published by scientists from Britain, the USA, Germany and Austria which reported the burning of rapeseed or corn can contribute as much to nitrous oxide emissions than cooling through fossil fuel savings.

·      Non-sustainable biofuel production – Many first generation biofuels are not sustainable. It is necessary to create sustainable biofuel production that does not effect food production, and that doesn’t cause environmental problems.

The production of non-sustainable biofuels has been criticized in reports by the UN, the IPCC and many other environmental and social groups. As a result many governments have switched their support towards sustainable biofuels, and alternatives such as hydrogen and compressed air. During 2008, the Roundtable of Sustainable Biofuels is developing principles for sustainable biofuel production.

“biofuel is a crime against humanity”~Jean Ziegler UN right to food. Reporter.

Biofuel in india:

India is planning to be energy independent by 2012, hence cultivation of jathropa in wasteland is encouraged.

Jathropa grows well in dry marginal agricultural land providing a supplement income source for the farmer. out of the 600,000 km² of wasteland that is available in India over 300,000 km² are suitable for Jatropha cultivation. Once this plant is grown the plant has a useful lifespan of several decades. During its life, Jatropha requires very little water when compared to other cash crops. A shift to biofuel by the domestic industry would me a decrease in expenditure of import of fossil fuel. But shifting to biofuel crop production over food crop would cause serious food problems.

Indian railways is already trying biofuels is some of its tracks.

Andhra Pradesh has a MoU with reliance for utilizing the wastelands of Kakinada for biofuel.

Chattisgarh is planning to plant 160 million saplings of jatropha as it aims at becoming fuel-self reliant by 2015¹ it is already using biofuel for its state vehicles.

Karnataka along with Labland Biodiesel is a Mysore based Private Limited Company   has taken to jathropa farming in its semi-acrid area.    

Rajasthan agro-forestry department is using jathropa, for its green drive in the marginal areas of Bikaner, sirkar etc.

Other states Maharashtra, Tamil nadu are also looking at jathropa.

Biofuel to use or not to use:

Biofuel is a good choice under right circumstances. Biofuel could be a long term solution as it uses simpler technology and lower transportation costs along with increased labour. In many tropical countries if grown as hedge  and wind breakers it can be provide energy for domestic uses and small scale industrial activity.

But the fear of many species loosing habitat due to indiscriminating cutting of rainforest trees etc. could happen in the Asian countries.

Reference

^ ""Chhattisgarh to plant 160 mn jatropha saplings"". India eNews Pvt. Ltd.. http://indiaenews.com/2006-04/3049-chhattisgarh-160-mn-jatropha-saplings.htm. Retrieved 2006-04-23

""Kalam to attend jatropha planters’ convention"". India eNews Pvt. Ltd.. http://indiaenews.com/2006-06/10698-kalam-attend-jatropha-planters-convention.htm. Retrieved 2006-07-08. "

"Rlys to plant jatropha for captive use "". The Hindu Business Line. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/10/20/stories/2005102002021100.htm. Retrieved 2006-09-17.

"RIL enters bio-diesel farming". http://autofeed.msn.co.in/pandorav3/output/Business/05550e54-7612-43a4-8ab6-d08686d38cf9.aspx. Retrieved 2006-11-15. 

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