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An Assessment on Indian Government Initiatives and Policies for the Promotion of Biofuels Implementation, and Commercialization Through Private Investments

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Sustainable Biofuels Development in India

Abstract

Energy has emerged as one of the most critical issues governing the economic, political, environmental, and social development of countries directly or indirectly. Availability of clean, efficient, affordable, and reliable energy is at the center of global prosperity and sustainable development. For developing counties like India, expanded access to dependable and modern energy service is a must for their fight against poverty and low living conditions of their citizens, while meeting objectives like increasing productivity, growing competitiveness, and improving economic growth at the same time.

It has already been proved that the current energy portfolio dominated by fossil fuel is insufficient to meet the requirements of the present times. Increasing concerns like shrinking supplies and rising demands of fossil fuels leading to further rise of fossil fuel prices, fossil fuel-induced climate change, as evidenced by rising temperature and environmental pollution, and energy security needs from political perspectives have promoted Governments all over the world to switch to renewable energy as it offers the promise of continued energy supply at a local level without comparable harm.

Government of India approved the National Policy on Biofuels on December 2009. The main objectives of biofuel policy are to reach the target of 20% biofuel blending (both biodiesel and bioethanol) by 2017. The government declared Jatropha carcus as the most suitable tree-borne oilseed for biodiesel production and encouraged new and second-generation biofuels for both biodiesel and bioethanol. The Planning Commission of India had set the target of covering 11.2–13.4 million hectares of land under Jatropha cultivation by the end of the 11th five year plan. In order to achieve the goal, the central and state governments are providing financial incentives to farmers to encourage oil seeds plantations.

This chapter discusses the role played by the Indian government in promoting biofuels particularly biodiesel and bioethanol production from nonedible oil seeds and other second-generation feedstocks. Government-funded research and challenges are also discussed in this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biofuel Laboratory, Department of Energy, Tezpur University, Tezpur, 784028, Assam, India

    Rupam Kataki, Neonjyoti Bordoloi, Ruprekha Saikia, Debasish Sut, Rumi Narzari & Lina Gogoi

  2. Department of Energy Engineering, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, 793022, India

    Rahul S. Chutia

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  1. Rupam Kataki
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  2. Neonjyoti Bordoloi
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  1. Centro de Tecnologia Canavieira (Sugarcane Technology Centre, CTC), Piracicaba, Fazenda Santo Antonio, Santo Antonio, Sao Paulo, Brazil

    Anuj K. Chandel

  2. Centre for Biofuels Microbial Processes & Technology Division, CSIR, National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

    Rajeev K. Sukumaran

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Kataki, R. et al. (2017). An Assessment on Indian Government Initiatives and Policies for the Promotion of Biofuels Implementation, and Commercialization Through Private Investments. In: Chandel, A., Sukumaran, R. (eds) Sustainable Biofuels Development in India. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50219-9_20

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