http://ibnlive.in.com/news/the-alternative-to-expensive-fuel/217623-60-119.html

And according to the new data, the booming green-energy sector has a combined turnover of more than €125 billion, an increase of 15% on the previous year, with sales in the solar PV market overtaking wind power for the first time.

The hugely important milestone was revealed in a European Commission report published today.

The EurObserv’ER paper, ‘The State of Renewable Energies in Europe’, found solar photovoltaic installations in Europe accounted for three-quarters of all new PV capacity worldwide and the sector created more new capacity than any other renewable electricity source in 2010.

The renewable energy sectors in all 27 European Union countries together employ more than 1,144,000 people, a 25% increase on the 2009 figure of 912,220.

The top employing sector is solid biomass with more than 273,000 jobs followed by photovoltaic and wind power with respectively 268,110 and 263,145 jobs estimated for 2010.

Business in the PV sector surged across the EU which led to a 50% increase in job numbers and in countries such as Germany, France and Italy, job numbers expanded by more than 70%.

In the UK, 31,700 people are employed in the renewable energy industry with 9,200 jobs created and maintained by the wind energy industry, 5,000 in the solar PV sector, 900 in solar thermal, 250 in small hydropower, 50 in geothermal, 1,500 in ground-source heat pumps, 6,000 in biogas, 5,300 in biofuels, 1,500 in renewable municipal waste and 2,000 in solid biomass.

Germany still holds a huge lead over its nearest rivals in the jobs league with more than twice as many jobs as in France and over three times as many as in Italy. Germany also leads Europe for sales and its economic pulling power is slightly below that of Italy, France and Sweden put together.

The research report also claims the current solar PV targets are “seriously understated” and grid parity could occur in some countries before 2020.

However, the market for solar thermal technology shrank in 2010, which was blamed on a slowdown in the construction industry and the lucrative returns offered by solar PV.

The report authors say they believe the thermal market would have bounced back in 2011 with the introduction of new binding policies.

The UK rates near the bottom of the geothermal league table, which excludes ground source heat pumps, with no new installations reported in 2010.

However, the UK has overtaken Italy to grab third spot in the European wind power list.

The report stated: “The third millennium’s first decade finished on a high note for renewable energies. Renewable energy-sourced primary energy consumption sky-rocketed during 2010 to 172.5 Mtoe, which is an 11.3% leap on 2009, equating to an additional contribution of almost 17.5 Mtoe.

“Several factors came into play to achieve this result. The particularly long and harsh winter increased heating needs and so boosted renewable energy-sourced primary energy consumption.

“It was also a good year for rainfall, with hydropower output outmatching its 2009 performance.

“On the other hand, this growth is also structural. It can be explained by programmed investments made in production capacities (thermal and electricity), extending power grids and heating networks and households’, institutions’ and industries’ investments in renewable energy technology.”

It added: “Part of the growth in renewable primary energy consumption is due to the significant step-up in renewable-sourced electricity production.”

Only 12 of the EU 27 countries will have achieved their respective targets set by the first Renewable Energy Directive in 2001 – they were Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. The UK was described as an “also ran”.

William Gillett, head of the Renewable Energy unit within the Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation at the European Commission, said: “2010 was momentous in the evolution of the renewable energy market in Europe, measures were adopted by Member States to implement the Renewable Energy Directive and the first results can now be seen, despite the difficult economic climate.

“Renewable energy in the EU has show a growth of +11.3% between 2009 and 2010. Even though factors such as a cold winter and a high level of rainfall have surely helped, this figure highlights the positive impacts of support policies and additional investments by market players.”

The report’s authors also calculate the European Union is ahead of the energy trajectory mapped out in the National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAPs). Other key results, include:

* In 2010 the overall EU-27 renewable energy share accounts for 12.4% of overall gross final energy consumption, as against 11.5% in 2009, which amounts to a 0.9-point year-on-year increase compared to 2009.

* The 2009-2010 growth of the renewable energy share of overall gross final energy consumption is related to a bigger gross consumption of final energy from renewable sources: 145 Mtoe (against 131.6 Mtoe in 2009) for a gross final energy consumption of 1170.7 Mtoe (against 1146.3 Mtoe in
2009).

* From 2009 to 2010, gross consumption of final energy from renewable sources increased by 10.2% (+ 13.4 Mtoe), as against to a 2.1% increase (+ 24.4 Mtoe) of the overall gross final energy consumption.

* Contributions to the renewable energy growth can be found in the increase in final consumption of solid biomass for heating due to a long winter, but also the increase of renewable electricity technologies (hydropower, electricity from biomass, wind power and solar power (mainly PV).

EU countries must produce an extra hundred Mtoe of final energy from renewable sources to achieve the 2020 target of 20% of renewable energies in the EU-27 final energy gross consumption, which equates to an extra annual average of 10 Mtoe of final energy from renewable sources.

http://www.clickgreen.org.uk/analysis/business-analysis/123175-european-renewable-energy-sector-breaks-through-the-1-million-job-level.html

The publication warns that failure to recognise and back the UK’s huge community energy potential will have serious consequences on the Government’s climate change, emissions and fuel poverty targets. Community generation in Germany contributes one-quarter of all renewable energy – in the UK it’s less than one per cent.

The report, Re-energising our Communities: Transforming the energy market through local energy production, which is backed by Friends of the Earth, is being launched in response to the Government’s feed-in tariff consultation, which saw industry groups and green charities unite against proposals to reform renewable energy subsidies that threatened tens of thousands of jobs.

The report sets out a series of recommendations designed to open up the energy market which is dominated by the Big Six energy companies who currently produce and supply a staggering 99 per cent of the UK’s energy needs.

It says that the Government must “broker in the social, environmental and economic benefits of community energy” by putting local communities at the heart of the development of new projects and ensuring that they enjoy more of the economic benefits from sustainable energy production, which could culminate in communities owning their own local grid network.

It also points to successful schemes in the UK including the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust off the west coast of Scotland, Torrs Hydro Ltd in New Mills, Sheffield and Fintry Renewable Energy Enterprise in Stirling, which is it says could be replicated across the UK.

Ed Mayo, ResPublica Fellow and Director General of Co-operatives UK, said: “The beauty of co-operatively-owned, community-level renewable energy is that it solves the twin issues of social acceptance and economic efficiency.

“This report is right to call for intelligent nudges to make it easier for people to come together, reversing decades of energy policies limited to ‘big is beautiful’. Everyone benefits if we can draw community energy production into the centre of the new energy economy.”

Friends of the Earth’s Executive Director, Andy Atkins added: “Boosting community energy schemes will enable more cash-strapped households to free themselves from the power of the Big Six and earn money from clean British energy.

“It’s time for Ministers to really give power to the people.”

The report’s authors, Caroline Julian, the Senior Researcher at ResPublica, and Julian Dobson, a Research Associate at the think tank, acknowledge the Government’s desire to reform current market and increase community production, but argue the current approach to market reform is piecemeal and doomed to fail.

“There is currently no coherent mechanism for applying this aspiration within the energy sector. Instead DECC relies on ad-hoc announcements of support for community renewable scheme.”

And the report’s author’s are equally critical of the regulator.

“Ofgem’s approach to regulation largely ignores the social and economic potential of the community energy. Its review of the retail energy market recommended simplifying tariffs to make pricing clearer to consumers, and proposed that suppliers should auction off 20% of power generation in order to help new suppliers enter the market. This will not help community organisations, which are not in a position to buy bulk supplies, and will not change the type of energy that is generated.”

The report says that local people should be empowered to move beyond the status of passive users and consumers and instead become producers and distributors of their own energy supplies.

It concludes by arguing that to take community energy projects to a sustainable level, a new hybrid company structure should be introduced and accordingly incentivised.

Phillip Blond, Director of ResPublica, added: “Current politics places an unhealthy focus on either grandiose schemes that squeeze out small scale production, or an obsession with regulation with no pro-active solutions. To address the ‘closed shop’ energy market in any productive sense, Government must unleash community production and help small groups to either partner with the big energy providers, or make it easier for them to access finance to develop local solutions.

“The Government can rectify the mistakes of the past by recognising the potential of community-owned and led energy production and their ability to contribute towards a more efficient and effective market.”

Key recommendations of the paper include:

• The Government’s approach to promoting ‘community energy’ must extend to ensuring that communities are part of wider energy policy formation.

• DECC should recognise the need for a co-ordinated support programme for community energy. This could build upon existing coalitions, such as the Low Carbon Communities Network, or the recently established ‘coalition for community energy’ spearheaded by Co-operatives UK, Friends of the Earth, Forum for the Future and others.

• DECC and DCLG should produce guidance on how the new ‘rights’ within the Localism Act 2011 could be used to support community energy.

• DECC, the Cabinet Office and Treasury should conduct a cross-departmental review to examine the potential for community energy projects to significantly contribute toward achieving national renewable targets, reductions in fuel poverty and local and national energy market reform.

• Communities should have the right or entitlement to own their own local grid. Through upcoming reforms to the electricity market, communities should be entitled to bid for the ownership of their local grid by contractually partnering with energy suppliers.

• Local authorities should work with communities, local asset holders and the energy industry (private developers and suppliers) to highlight underused assets and space that could be utilised for community energy projects.

• DECC should work with DCLG to develop models of co-operation between local authorities and community energy projects, businesses, developers and private suppliers by using tools such as neighbourhood planning and community and area based budgets.

• Commissioning authorities should explore incentives and obligations on larger businesses and new developer entrants into the community to receive a certain portion of energy supply from community production.

• A new hybrid community-private company structure should be introduced, with accompanying tax incentives offered by the Treasury.

• The Treasury should extend the Community Interest Tax Relief, which could be made more effective for a variety of socially important schemes, including the promotion of direct investment in community energy.

http://www.clickgreen.org.uk/analysis/general-analysis/123172-green-community-energy-projects-need-more-support,-argues-new-report.html

The ministry hopes that power generation projects will revitalize rural areas by creating jobs and boosting incomes, sources said.

As early as Friday, the government will adopt legislation aimed at simplifying approval and notification procedures prescribed under seven laws including the agricultural land act, which restricts diversion of farmland, according to the sources.

The ministry estimates that approximately 170,000 hectares of abandoned farmland can be used for electricity generation.

By using such land for renewable energy projects, it aims to boost the share of renewable energy in total power generation in Japan by threefold from the current level of a little over one pct, the sources said.

Even under the current legal regime, it is possible to construct power generation facilities in abandoned farmland if the proper procedure is taken for farmland conversion.

Due to the difficulty of consolidating scattered farmland, however, there is a shortage of land suitable for large-scale panels for photovoltaic power generation or wind power generation facilities.

Also worried that disorderly development could cause a loss of land needed for cultivation, the ministry believes it necessary to set up a framework to help systematic consolidation of abandoned farmland, the sources said.

Under the new legislation, municipalities will be allowed to draw up basic programs that designate areas where establishment of power generation facilities will be promoted and include measures to reinvigorate the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries.

Once power business operators map out installation plans in line with the basic program and receive the approval of local authorities, they would be on a fast track to starting projects on former farmland thanks to simplified approval and notification procedures.

http://www.power-eng.com/news/2012/02/12/japan-to-help-farmland-diversion-for-renewable-energy.html

Energy Minister Stephen Robertson said Queensland was well positioned to become a major competitor for new renewable energy investment, projects and industry growth.

Mr Robertson told Parliament today the Bligh Government had released the Queensland Renewable Energy Plan (QREP) 2012, following a comprehensive review of the original plan first launched in 2009.

“The Bligh Government is strongly committed to a clean energy future for Queenslanders and addressing climate change through our ClimateSmart 2050 and Toward Q2 policies,” he said.

“QREP 2012 places Queensland front and centre of Australia’s clean energy future.

“It positions Queensland to leverage up to $8.9 billion in renewable energy investment and deliver 9000 gigawatt hours of renewable energy generation by 2020.

“It will help deliver on our original QREP goals to create up to 3500 new green jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 40 million tonnes.

“The plan also establishes Queensland’s case as a major competitor for new renewable energy investment, projects and industry growth in Australia.

“For example, the Australian Government’s Clean Energy Future Plan includes more than $10 billion in new clean energy funding and targets up to $100 billion in private investment by 2050.

“Substantial opportunities will emerge for Queensland from this national plan. With a strong ongoing program of initiatives and new focus on collaboration and capacity building, QREP 2012 aims to position Queensland as a primary beneficiary.”

Mr Robertson said Queensland’s renewable energy future looks bright.

“We have already achieved significant renewable energy success in just two years through the original QREP 2009,” he said.

“We have increased Queensland’s renewable energy generation capacity 66 per cent from 745 megawatts in 2008 to more than 1235 megawatts today – that’s enough to power roughly 640,000 homes per year.

“We also smashed our 500 megawatt Virtual Solar Power Station target three years early.

“Queensland’s renewable energy industry has attracted around $2.7 billion in total public and private investment and supports more than 1800 jobs.”

Mr Robertson said the Queensland Renewable Energy Plan 2012 will build upon Queensland’s early success with small-scale solar achieved with the help of Bligh Government initiatives like the Solar Bonus Scheme and Solar Hot Water Rebate Scheme.

“QREP 2012 seeks to scale up these efforts and accelerate deployment of medium and large scale renewable energy generation projects,” he said.

“We are already co-funding the world’s largest solar integration project at the Kogan Creek power station and have been chosen by the Commonwealth to host the proposed 250 megawatt Solar Dawn solar thermal power project at Chinchilla.

“There are also exciting developments ahead to harness Queensland’s abundance of other renewable energy resources like wind, geothermal, solar thermal and bioenergy.”

QREP 2012 refocuses the Queensland Government’s renewable energy agenda under three key objectives:

* Accelerating deployment of projects and renewable energy infrastructure;

* Promoting smart industry, jobs and investment through regulatory reform, innovation, industry and skills development and renewable energy zones; and

* Developing stronger partnerships and links to strengthen technology research and development and attract Commonwealth and private investment for new projects.

Mr Robertson said QREP 2012 includes a number of new Queensland Government initiatives to complement existing programs and projects and new national policy.

“For example, the Renewable Energy Industry Development Plan (REIDP) we announced last year delivers on QREP 2012 industry development objectives and over the next two years will focus on removing impediments to industry growth in areas such as regulation, technology innovation and skills development,” he said.

“It will promote new industry and jobs in our regions through the implementation of renewable energy zones and project incentives.

“The Bligh Government will also be identifying key bioenergy resources and releasing bioenergy guidelines to open up Queensland’s vast biomass resources and help farmers, landholders and proponents take advantage of national initiatives such as Carbon Farming.”

A copy of the new Queensland Renewable Energy Plan 2012 is available at: www.cleanenergy.qld.gov.au For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

http://www.electroiq.com/photovoltaics/2012/02/14/queensland-well-positioned-to-become-major-competitor-for-new-renewable-energy-investment-projects-a.html

London and New York, 13 February 2012 – World airlines could start sourcing a proportion of their fuel from vegetable-oil-based alternatives within the next few years. Research from analysis company Bloomberg New Energy Finance, published to its clients this month, forecasts that the cost of some biofuels – such as those based on non-food vegetable oils – could be close to that of conventional jet fuel by 2018, if production efficiency continues to improve.

While fuels based on non-food vegetable oils are looking promising, the best-known and longest established type of biofuel – based on edible vegetable oils such as soybean, rapeseed and palm – may never become fully competitive.

The third type of bio-based jet fuel covered in the study is those based on any type of woody feedstock, using a technology that has already been certified for aviation use. But Bloomberg New Energy Finances study finds that these – produced via the gasification of wood and the Fischer Tropsch process – are unlikely to be economical for airlines until well into the 2020s. Another wood-conversion process, pyrolysis, that might be certified by 2014, may be more promising for producing cost-competitive biojet fuel before the end of this decade.

The analysis concludes that airlines may end up using only a modest proportion of biofuels (2% or less) in their fuel mix in the next few years. What they do use will most likely be conventional biofuel based on edible vegetable oil – it will not be competitive as a fuel, but some carriers may judge that it is worth spending some extra money in order to improve their environmental credentials and to gain experience of biofuels technologies.

By 2018 or so, biofuels made from the hydro-treatment of non-food vegetable oils like jatropha or camelina, or from pyrolysis of cellulosic feedstocks, should be the first types to become properly competitive with the cost of fossil-based jet fuel (assuming that these include the cost of carbon) – after they move to large-scale production.

Harry Boyle, lead bioenergy analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said: “The problem is that for the foreseeable future, even when the economics make sense, there will simply be limited availability of certified and relatively low-cost biofuel. Airlines will have to compete with the road transport industry for the output of the biofuels industry.

“If governments want airlines to burn a significant proportion of non-fossil fuel before 2020, they will have either to subsidise advanced-but-not-yet-economic biofuels or, more likely, introduce mandates requiring carriers to use a certain percentage of sustainable biofuels in their mix, and put up with complaints that this is driving up ticket prices.”

Airlines have recently shown strong interest in the idea of using biofuels as a way of reducing their carbon emissions and improving their environmental credentials. The International Air Transport Association has said that it wants some 6% of jet fuel, or 8bn litres, to be met by biofuels by 2020.

The European Union has extended its Emission Trading Scheme to the airline industry this year, forcing carriers using EU airspace to buy allowances to offset their CO2 emissions. However the report shows that the cost of this will be relatively minor compared to the additional price airlines would have to pay to burn biofuels rather than conventional jet fuel in the next few years.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s report says that producers based on edible feedstocks have the potential to produce aviation fuel at $1.20/litre if they move to large-scale production, on the basis of current vegetable oil prices. This is well above current jet fuel prices, which are around $0.85 in early 2012.

A better result should be possible using jatropha. If production scales up, it could produce jet fuel at $0.86-a-litre by 2018. Pyrolysing wood may be able to produce jet fuel at $0.90/litre by 2018.

However, even with rapid efficiency improvements in the next few years, next-generation biofuels, using the Fischer Tropsch process to convert woody biomass, will still be producing fuel no cheaper than $2.60-a-litre in 2018. Aviation biofuel from algae is the pathway furthest from cost parity with fossil jet fuel, as we predict that large-scale, biofuel-producing algae farms will not appear this decade.

Boyle commented: “The US government has mandated that 18bn gallons (68bn litres) of road transport fuel will have to come from next-generation, or cellulosic, biofuel by 2022. Western governments could do the same for next-generation aviation biofuels, starting any time from 2018, as a way of stimulating a potentially significant industry and reducing air transport emissions.”

Michael Liebreich, chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance said: “The move by the European Union to bring all airlines into the EU-ETS carbon trading scheme has focused the minds of airlines around the world on reducing their carbon emissions. While European carbon credits at the moment are so cheap they have negligible effects on ticket prices, biofuels will be competitive within a decade. However, available volume is going to be limited and airlines will be in competition for it, so those airlines which move now are likely to have an advantage later.”
For further information:
Angus McCrone
Bloomberg New Energy Finance
+44 203 216 4795
amccrone1@bloomberg.net

http://bnef.com/PressReleases/view/188

GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney also sees energy security and energy independence as inextricably linked: “It doesn’t make sense to me to send $1 billion a day out of our country. We can be energy independent and should be.” This discussion may take the form of arguing for more drilling or it may make the case for developing more domestic renewable energy but most Americans seem to agree that energy security means less dependence on imported oil: A recent poll showed that 89% of consumers favor expanding the number of energy projects in the U.S.

Now take Australia. In December the Australian Ministry for Natural Resources, Energy and Tourism, released a draft energy White Paper entitled Strengthening the Foundation for Australia’s Energy Future. This strategy articulates a far different perspective on energy security: “The findings of the Australian Government’s 2011 National Energy Security Assessment show that energy security does not depend on energy independence or the ability to be self?sufficient.”

Given Australia’s growing importance as a strategic American ally, the U.S. should take a hard look at Australia’s new energy policy.

Unlike the U.S., Australia has made a policy decision that energy security is not based on energy independence or self-sufficiency but instead on an interconnected globalized energy market. According to the White Paper, “Pursuing self?sufficiency in energy resources such as liquid fuels can impose unnecessary higher costs on consumers without necessarily providing a material economic or strategic benefit.”

Australia consumes about 946,300 barrels per day and imports 716,700 barrels per day with nearly all the refined production coming from Singapore and small amounts from South Korea and Japan. The amount of imported refined oil will increase over the coming years because Australia’s seven major refineries have trouble competing with mega-refineries in Asia which means several will likely be shut down.

You might think that because of this trend Australia would be building up domestic strategic reserves. But that is not the case either.

Unlike other International Energy Agency member countries (most developed Western and Asian nations), Australia does not hold government?owned strategic stock to manage supply during a short?term shortage. Instead Australia’s strategy is to rely on markets to manage liquid fuel supply constraints without government intervention and to allow price increases to reduce demand.

As an IEA member Australia is required to hold stocks equivalent to 90 days of supply but in recent year Australia has fallen bellow 90 days usually to the 10-day supplies held at refining terminals.

With most refined product coming from Singapore there is reason for concern that a natural disaster, conflict in the South China Sea, or obstruction of the Straits of Malacca could leave Australia without adequate supplies of oil within 10 days.

Though, as the Australians argue, other routes could be used in the event of emergency, it is still worth closer U.S. examination of this strategy.

http://www.policymic.com/articles/4194/australia-provides-model-for-american-energy-independence

Details of the US Navy’s alternative fuels strategy were unveiled yesterday at the Pacific 2012 Maritime Conference in Sydney.

Dramatic and unprecedented plumes of methane – a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide – have been seen bubbling to the surface of the Arctic Ocean by scientists undertaking an extensive survey of the region.

The scale and volume of the methane release has astonished the head of the Russian research team who has been surveying the seabed of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf off northern Russia for nearly 20 years.

In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Igor Semiletov, of the Far Eastern branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that he has never before witnessed the scale and force of the methane being released from beneath the Arctic seabed.

“Earlier we found torch-like structures like this but they were only tens of metres in diameter. This is the first time that we’ve found continuous, powerful and impressive seeping structures, more than 1,000 metres in diameter. It’s amazing,” Dr Semiletov said. “I was most impressed by the sheer scale and high density of the plumes. Over a relatively small area we found more than 100, but over a wider area there should be thousands of them.”

Scientists estimate that there are hundreds of millions of tonnes of methane gas locked away beneath the Arctic permafrost, which extends from the mainland into the seabed of the relatively shallow sea of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf. One of the greatest fears is that with the disappearance of the Arctic sea-ice in summer, and rapidly rising temperatures across the entire region, which are already melting the Siberian permafrost, the trapped methane could be suddenly released into the atmosphere leading to rapid and severe climate change.

Dr Semiletov’s team published a study in 2010 estimating that the methane emissions from this region were about eight million tonnes a year, but the latest expedition suggests this is a significant underestimate of the phenomenon.

In late summer, the Russian research vessel Academician Lavrentiev conducted an extensive survey of about 10,000 square miles of sea off the East Siberian coast. Scientists deployed four highly sensitive instruments, both seismic and acoustic, to monitor the “fountains” or plumes of methane bubbles rising to the sea surface from beneath the seabed.

“In a very small area, less than 10,000 square miles, we have counted more than 100 fountains, or torch-like structures, bubbling through the water column and injected directly into the atmosphere from the seabed,” Dr Semiletov said. “We carried out checks at about 115 stationary points and discovered methane fields of a fantastic scale – I think on a scale not seen before. Some plumes were a kilometre or more wide and the emissions went directly into the atmosphere – the concentration was a hundred times higher than normal.”

Dr Semiletov released his findings for the first time last week at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/shock-as-retreat-of-arctic-sea-ice-releases-deadly-greenhouse-gas-6276134.html

You could in the future be stopping at green bunks to fill up on biofuel or biodiesel which could come up in the city and elsewhere with the state planning a tie- up with oil companies to establish them. The KSRTC is already running 1,000 buses on biodiesel as an experiment and is working on improving the blend of biofuel and diesel.

The University of Agricultural Sciences in the city too runs some of its vehicles on this eco- friendly fuel that is not only cheap but also holds out great hope for cutting down on pollution in Bengaluru and other towns and cities choking on the black smoke emitted by cars and buses on their roads.

The state may be on the right track and willing to increase the percentage of biofuel in biodiesel, but engines that are currently available in the market are not ready for such a mix as yet and may have to be altered to accept it, say experts.

But the important thing is moves are afoot to make biofuel a part of every day life. Massive plantations of biofuel plants are coming up in various parts of the state, helping to produce biodiesel from seeds of tree species like Pongamia, Simarouba, Neem, Mahua, Jatropha, Veteria indica and Calophyllum inophyllum.

Karnataka, which currently has vast stretches of land under Pongamia and Simarouba, may also set up a Biofuel Park in Hassan and a seed collection unit on the lines of the Karnataka Milk Federation.

To its advantage biofuel plants can be grown on barren land. The State Task Force on Biofuels says Karnataka has 13.5 lakh hectares of land which can be used to grow biofuel species, without ever touching agricultural land.

The task force is also encouraging research in biofuel. The Dharwad University of Agricultural Sciences is doing research on producing biofuel from Jatropha and the GKVK campus of the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bengaluru has a demonstration centre where people can see for themselves the entire process of producing oil from seed and understand its advantages both to their purses and the air around them.

‘Biofuel is a very cheap alternative’

Dr M. Prithviraj

Biofuels are the future as fossil fuels are growing rarer and costlier. Producing biofuel in large quantity will not only help save import costs of fossil fuel but also generate wealth for the country. Growing plants from which biofuels can be extracted is certain to enrich and empower the rural community and also create carbon credits for the country.

The biggest advantage with biofuel is that the plants can be grown on barren land. This not only makes it a cheaper alternative fuel but also enhances the productivity of land that is in disuse. Karnataka has enough land and the right climatic conditions for these plants.

We at the Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology are helping the Biofuel Board gather information based on studies of the biofuel capacity of the state.

Research work is on in identifying the right species that can be grown in a certain geo-climatic condition, improving the yield from biofuel plants, ways to optimise oil extraction from them and on methods for efficient storage of oil. Once we have better yield, we hope to increase the percentage of blending in bio-diesel. It may, however, be necessary to modify the engines of vehicles to accept it.

Extracting biofuel from Neem is expensive because it already has a higher commercial value due to its recognised medicinal properties. We are therefore looking at other species which can give good yield and still be less expensive. Pongamia has proved to be a good option for Karnataka and is being grown across the state.