Page 170 - CW E-Magazine (19-8-2025)

Special Report Special Report

India’s zero emission and eco-friendly energy biofuels – ethanol and biodiesel – for generation of algae-derived biofuels. cane. While the government is going
to the extent of using rice to produce
running automobiles. While the ethanol Algae typically have 20-25% oil con-
strategies have some way to go blending programme is gaining momen- tent and are quick growing, needing ethanol, it is surprising that it has not
tum, there are challenges related to only sunshine, carbon dioxide and taken any steps to promote sugar beet
PEC’s ‘World Oil Outlook 2025’ over the years, import N.S. VENKATARAMAN ensuring adequate ethanol supply and some minor quantity of nutrients as crop, even though it can produce sugar
has predicted that by 2050, crude dependency for crude Director managing potential impacts on other inputs. The tropical conditions preva- and ethanol.
Ooil would replace coal as India’s oil has risen from Nandini Consultancy Centre sectors. Government of India has gone lent in much of India are appropriate
key energy source, confi rming India’s 88.6% in March 2024 Chennai to the extreme measure of even allow- for algae cultivation and even waste- Methanol from municipal solid waste
continued dependence on fossil fuels for to 89.1% in March Email: nandinichemical@gmail.com ing use of foodgrains, such as rice and waters would be adequate for cultivation. India imports more than 3-mt of
meeting its energy needs. 2025. wheat, as feedstock for ethanol produc- Algae can be cultivated in wastelands, methanol, which is produced most
capacity is increasing, electricity genera- tion. which are plentiful, and do not come in competitively from natural gas. In view
At the same time, Government of In 2024, India’s LNG imports tion continues to remain more carbon- confl ict with food crops with regard to of the lack of natural gas availability
India has fi xed an ambitious Viksit increased to a record 27-mt, a 20% intensive (713 gCO /kWh) than the In any case, considering the steady land or fresh water requirements. The from domestic sources, India has to
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Bharat target for the year 2047, i.e., to year-on-year rise, as domestic natural global average (480 gCO /kWh), with increase in use of automobiles and biofuel produced from algae can be import methanol, with signifi cant
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make India a developed nation. This gas production was also stagnant. coal accounting for around 70% of increasing demand for auto fuels, any blended with diesel. outfl ow of foreign exchange.
initiative calls for rapid and compre- power generation. increase in production of biofuels can,
hensive development across multiple Use of coal and petroleum as energy at best, meet only the increasing year- Unfortunately, Government of India A few places are known to be pro-
sectors, which would inevitably in- sources result in emission of noxious While capacity for non-fossil fuel on-year demand and not the entire has not paid due attention to this ducing methanol from municipal solid
crease demand for energy and fuels. gases such as sulphur dioxide, nitrous energy sources, such a solar and wind, demand. In other words, use of petro- opportunity. waste (MSW), including a plant belong-
The progress achieved so is impressive, oxide and carbon dioxide. During the are increasing, the capacity utilisation leum fuels for automobiles is likely to ing to Canadian company, Enerkem.
and there is today worldwide recog- storage and transportation of natural of solar and wind farms is only around continue to increase. Biofuel from jatropha There is potential for decentralized
nition that India is one of the fastest gas, methane leaks occur and this too 20% due to various limitations. In such A few years back, jatropha was methanol production from MSW in
growing economies in the world, and contributes to global warming. a scenario, the actual production of re- Uncertain prospects for green considered as appropriate for production India, but unfortunately, this project
likely to stay that way. newable power is less than 30% of total hydrogen of biodiesel and an euphoria was raised has also not been pursued.
The increasing use of such fossil power need, with the majority (70%) India’s green hydrogen industry about its prospects to reduce import
Emission targets fuels is thus totally at odds with the met by fossil fuels. It appears that this is gaining signifi cant attention, driven dependence on crude oil. India has huge quantities MSW
India’s Prime Minister has assured target of reducing the emissions to ‘net situation will continue, particularly in by the National Green Hydrogen posing disposal problems, so produc-
the global community that India would zero’ level by 2070. the context of India’s energy require- Mission, which aims to achieve a The Jatropha tree has a lifespan of ing methanol from is is a strategy for
achieve its ‘net zero’ emission target by ment increasing at 7% per annum. 5-mtpa production capacity by 2030. around 40 years, and starts producing ‘Clean India’ besides lowering import
2070. To do so, India has to start cur- Renewable energy This mission has a fi nancial outlay of seeds within three years of planting. dependence on fossil fuels.
tailing use of fossil fuels and completely India is focusing on renewable Renewable fuels for transport Rs. 19,744-crore, with a focus on creating The seeds contain up to 40% oil. Jatropha
eliminate their use by 2070. energy generation and battery storage, The consumption of petrol in India an enabling ecosystem for production, can be successfully grown in tropical Future scenario
green hydrogen and promotion of for automobiles is steadily increasing at demand creation and infrastructure conditions. Government’s present plans to pro-
However, the reality is that in spite electric vehicles (EVs) to cut emissions around 6.4% year-on-year, while diesel development. mote eco-friendly renewable energy,
of eff orts to boost production of non- and reduce import dependence on crude use have been rising at around 2% Earlier, Government of India green hydrogen, EVs, etc. are unlikely
fossil energy source such as solar and oil and natural gas. annually. However, green hydrogen, while promoted jatropha cultivation under to reduce India’s consumption of fossil
wind, a steady increase in fossil fuel holding signifi cant promise for decar- various initiatives. The National Bio- fuels.
consumption (coal, crude oil and natural India’s total installed power capa- The government of India is bet- bonization, faces uncertain prospects fuel Policy, launched in 2008, focused
gas) is taking place for power generation city reached 476-GW as of June 2025, ting big on EVs, which presently con- due to high production cost and chal- on jatropha as a key feedstock for Steps to cut emissions and reduce
and for transport fuels. with a signifi cant shift towards non- stitute less than 8% of all the vehicles lenges in scaling up production and biofuel production. Unfortunately, the import dependence on fossil fuels
fossil fuel sources. India has achieved running in the country. Further, there infrastructure. These factors contribute idea was not pursued and ended up as seem to be only marginally preventing
In 2024, India’s coal production saw a major and impressive milestone have been reports about the lack of to a gap between announced proposals a half-hearted strategy. the increase in emission levels and
a signifi cant increase, reaching around reaching 50% of its installed electricity viability of electric trucks due to high and actual implementation. import dependence. The ground reality
1,047-mt, compared to around 997-mt capacity from non-fossil fuel sources initial costs and diffi culties associated Ethanol from sugar beet is that both will continue to increase
in the previous year, marking a 4.99% such as solar, wind, nuclear and hydro- with the charging, and CNG trucks are In short, the future of the hydrogen Sugar beet is extensively cultivated unless alternate options are boldly
growth. Further, in fi scal year 2024-25, power. Renewable power generation more preferred. Importantly, the power economy remains unpredictable. in Europe, Russia and other regions. pursued.
India’s coal import was around 244-mt. capacity will continue to grow with required for charging EVs mostly come As against sugarcane, sugar beet
India expected to add 32-GW of renew- from fossil fuels. Alternate options requires only half the cultivation time There is need for ‘out of the box’
In 2024, India’s crude oil imports able power this year. and half the quantity of water. The thinking. The suggestions given in this
increased by 4.2% to 242.4-mt. As Government of India has been tak- Algae biofuel yield of molasses from sugar beet crop article, though not new, deserve atten-
domestic production has been stagnant While India’s renewable power ing steps to increase production of One of the obvious solutions is to is almost on par with that from sugar- tion and action.

170 Chemical Weekly August 19, 2025 Chemical Weekly August 19, 2025 171

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