India should take a lesson from Brazil which has successfully scaled up its bioethanol marketing by focusing on flexible fuel vehicles
Published Date – 11:45 PM, Fri – 29 September 23
By Nripendra Abhishek Nrip
The New Delhi Declaration adopted at the G20 Summit announced the setting up of the Global Biofuel Alliance. The three founding members of the alliance, the US, India and Brazil, contribute around 85% to the global production of ethanol. Apart from India, the member countries include the US, Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Italy, Mauritius, South Africa and the UAE. Canada and Singapore are observer countries. However, China and oil producers Saudi Arabia and Russia have decided not to be a part of the alliance.
Keeping the environment at the centre, biofuel is a good option. Biofuel means fuel made from trees, grains, algae, husk and food waste. They are extracted from many types of biomass and contain less amount of carbon. For the first time in 1890, German inventor Rudolf Diesel used vegetable oil to run an internal combustion engine for farming.
Due to the limited availability of fossil fuels and their harmful effects on the environment, biofuels are being adopted the world over. According to the International Energy Agency, the share of biofuel in the global transportation sector was more than four per cent in 2022. To achieve the goal of reducing carbon emissions to zero by 2050, the production of biofuel will have to increase, and. it will be necessary to triple it by 2030. The share of America and Brazil in the biofuel market exceeds 80 per cent. The European Union comes next. In such a situation, forming Global Biofuel Alliance can prove beneficial for the entire world, including India.
The Objectives
The alliance aims to facilitate cooperation across all sectors, including transportation, and accelerate the use of sustainable biofuels. Its focus is primarily on strengthening markets, facilitating global biofuels trade, developing concrete policies, lesson-sharing and providing technical assistance to national biofuels programmes around the world. To accelerate efforts to gradually reduce the use of coal as a fuel in line with national conditions, it is committed to maintaining the promise made in 2009 in Pittsburgh to rationalise fossil fuel subsidies.
The newly formed alliance has some goals. First, to create a favourable policy environment for biofuels so that no problem arises in their use at the global level. Second, the development of biofuels as well as its use will require technology, which member countries will commit to sharing with each other. Third, there will be a need for a market for the production and use of biofuels. Fourth, the environmental and social impacts will have to be assessed.
As India is moving towards sustainable energy resources, it is becoming a challenge to coordinate between its different needs. These challenges include reducing dependence on energy imports, connecting grids to green energy while maintaining electricity affordability, and changing old methods of energy production while increasing employment opportunities.
In this context, biofuels (ethanol, compressed biogas and biodiesel) have emerged as an important tool. Biofuels can be helpful in reducing oil import dependence and environmental pollution as well as providing additional income to farmers apart from generating employment opportunities in rural areas.
Gains, Challenges
Biofuels have many advantages over fossil fuels. First, they produce less carbon dioxide emissions, which can help mitigate climate change. Second, they are relatively renewable, which means they are likely to be available for a long time. Third, they can help boost local economies.
The major raw material used for ethanol production in India is sugarcane and its by-products account for 90% of the oil production under the ‘Ethanol Blending Programme’. This programme provides an alternative source of income to farmers while increasing liquidity in the sugar industry which is facing economic pressure. Using surplus rice and maize stored with the Food Corporation of India for ethanol production will provide them with an alternative market. Also, unlike the conventional energy source, biofuels are produced from renewable sources.
Biofuels are often more expensive than fossil fuels. Their production can sometimes cause environmental problems, such as soil erosion and excessive water use. Apart from this, food security and increase in the price of food items is also a big challenge. Many crops are mostly used as raw materials in biofuel production, which are used by people either directly (eg human food) or indirectly (eg animals). Using these crops for biofuel will increase the area of agricultural land and the use of polluting pesticides and fertilizers to increase their production.
There is also a danger of deforestation. Crops used as raw materials for the production of biofuels are grown on land cleared of tropical forests. Such a change in land use patterns releases terrestrial carbon stocks into the atmosphere. Free taxes could increase greenhouse gas emissions.
Government Efforts
The Government of India has formulated a national policy on biofuels under which it is planning to move forward with the ethanol blending target of 20% petrol containing ethanol by 2025-26 instead of 2030. It will promote the production of biofuels by units located in Special Economic Zones (SEZs)/Export Oriented Units under the Make in India programme.
The government has allowed the addition of new members to the National Biofuels Coordination Committee (NBCC). It was formed to provide overall coordination, effective end-to-end implementation and monitoring of the biofuels programme. Under this policy, ethanol production is permitted by allowing the use of sugarcane juice, sugar-containing items like beetroot, sweet sorghum, starchy items like corn, cassava, and waste grains unfit for human consumption. An effort has been made to widen the scope of raw materials.
To avail the full benefits of the sustainability scheme, it is important to simplify and speed up the process of obtaining government approvals required for setting up bio-refineries. In this context, setting up of environment portal for granting environmental clearance to projects is a positive step. Additionally, the enormous transformative potential of biofuels can be harnessed only through the collaboration of students, teachers, scientists, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders.
It is also important to promote the development of dedicated biodiesel engines for the commercialisation of biodiesel. For this, technical support is necessary. In this context, India should take a lesson from Brazil which has successfully scaled up its bioethanol marketing by increasing the development of flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs), which have dedicated engines for both ethanol and gasoline. In addition, there is also a need to invest in research and development of second and third-generation biofuels.
