India to replace 10 pc transport fuels with biofuels in 10 yrs

NEW DELHI: India will replace 10 per cent of its transport fuels with environment friendly biofuels in the next 10 years to cut carbon emissions, Petroleum Secretary M S Srinivasan said on Tuesday.

India, which consumed 9.3 million tons of petrol and 42.8 million tons of diesel in fiscal 2006-07, is currently mixing ethanol extracted from sugarcane in petrol and experimenting with doping diesel with non-edible oils like ones extracted from jathropha.
   
Five per cent ethanol is being doped in petrol presently, he said addressing an International Symposium on Biofuels organised by PetroFed here on Tuesday.

The quantity of ethanol in petrol would be raised to 10 per cent upon adequate availability while viability of bio-diesel (doping of diesel with non-edible oil) is being tested on pilot basis.

"In ten years, 10 per cent of transport fuels will be replaced by biofuels," he said.

He, however, cautioned that mainland cultivable area should not be sacrificed for growing plants like jatropha as it may impact the country's food security.

The success of biofuels programme depended on the price at which they are produced, Srinivasan said. The energy consumption in production of biofuels and cost of production should be lower than fissile fuel cost.

The official said second generation biofuels, those produced from agriculture residue and household garbage, are the next area of research as the world looks at alternatives to cut down fossil fuel consumption.