New Delhi, Dec 2 (Agency) The National Policy on Biofuels (NPB) has set an ambitious target of 20% blending of ethanol in petrol by 2030 and 5% blending of biodiesel in diesel by 2030. To realise the goal, a slew of measures are being taken to support the policy on biofuels introduced in June 2018 and the process is gaining momentum with the Department of Biotechnology going all out to promote innovation research, development and demonstration in biofuel areas and through other measures like setting up Centre of Excellence, extramural projects, fellowship schemes, and international cooperation. The department is supporting projects to ease utilisation of biofuels by making them cost effective, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli stated in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Thursday.
The efforts are being ramped up with collaborative ventures in the area of bio-energy between the R&D division of Indian Oil Corporation and Department of Biotechnology. development of integrated 2G ethanol enzymatic technology using biomass feedstock such as rice straw, wheat straw, bagasse etc and development and successful demonstration of raw material agnostic high yield bio-methanation technology to produce bio-gas. Other steps include development of agri waste pre-treatment technology for in-situ preparation of feed for bio-gas units and collaborative research with IISC, Bengaluru, for development of technology to produce fuel cell grade hydrogen from biomass to tackle biomass challenge while improving ambient air quality. The Government is also promoting use of biofuels by allowing use of sugarcane and food grains (maize and surplus stocks of rice with Food Corporation of India) for conversion to ethanol and sale of bio-diesel (B100) for blending with high speed diesel. There has also been lowering of GST rate to 5% on ethanol and biodiesel for EBP and biodiesel blending programme respectively. In Gujarat a project on self-sustainable model for energy generation is being implementing by adopting clean technology for conversion of mixed organic waste into methane and bio-fertilizer.