New Delhi, Sep 9 (Mayank Nigam) In a bid to meet the net zero targets, India on Saturday launched the Global Biofuel Alliance (GBA) at the G20 Summit and called upon the leaders to join the initiative to boost the use of cleaner fuel. Announcing the the launch of GBA here, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Today, the need of the hour is that all countries should work together in the field of fuel blending. Our proposal is to take an initiative at a global-level to take ethanol blending in petrol up to 20 per cent,” India has been pushing the idea of setting up a Global Biofuel Alliance to help accelerate energy transition.
India is targeting to become carbon neutral by 2070 and is expanding use of biofuel in its transport sector. It has advanced the deadline by 5 years to 2025 for doubling nationwide ethanol blending in gasoline to 20%. Bio-energy or biofuel is generated from agricultural and organic materials called ‘biomass’. Its utilisation can help reduce emissions and enable countries across the globe to reach their net zero carbon emissions. The Prime Minister said, “Today India stands among the countries where a large-scale solar revolution is underway. Millions of Indian farmers have embraced natural farming”. “This is a big campaign to protect human health as well as the health of the soil and the Earth” he added. Modi said that India has also launched the ‘National Green Hydrogen Mission’ to boost green hydrogen production. He said that during India’s G-20 presidency, New Delhi has also taken significant steps toward creating a Global Hydrogen Ecosystem. PM also proposed to launch the G20 Satellite Mission for Environment and Climate Observation. “The climate and weather data obtained from this will be shared with all the countries, especially the countries of the Global South” he said.