The country needs biofuel to save foreign exchange although recently there has been a fall in the price of the diesel and petrol but how long it will stay, nobody knows. Even if, it continues to the present $40 per barrel, we are spending our foreign exchange. Hence, biofuel is needed.
Railways alone spends Rs. 8000 crores to purchase diesel and utilizes 2.2 billion liters of the diesel. This is one big organization that consumes maximum biodiesel. There are several other stakeholders of biodiesel. Biodiesel prepared from Jatropha Curcas plant and other non-edible oil producing plants are acceptable since biodiesel made from them meets required standards. The country has successfully run the Jan Shatabdi Express from biodiesel and several automobile companies have run their automobiles using different blends of biodiesel.
A Jatropha Brain Storming session was organized by Biotech Park, Lucknow in collaboration with Association of Knowledge Workers, Lucknow (AKWL) and Research Design & Standard Organization, Lucknow (RDSO) on March 7 th , 2009. The workshop deliberated on various issues related to biodiesel and other components of its value chain. There are several questions that needs to be answered:
- Is there any good and certified Jatropha plant variety identified for planting.
- Do we have protocols for plantation that can be used by user groups such as farmers, railways, industry, etc.
- Should Jatropha be used alone or other feed stock such as pongamia, neem, mahuwa, etc be also promoted.
- Availability of proven technologies for producing third generation biodiesel.
The workshop divided into three sessions namely, Inaugural Session, Session on Biodiesel for Railways; R&D & Biofuel and Session on R&D Needs was well attended by more than 80 participants from most parts of the country including RDSO, Ministry of Railways, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India; Forest Department; National Research Institutes; U.P. State Government and its Jatropha Mission; Industry including Shell Corporation, Green Oil, Hindustan Bioenergy, Power Corporation, Universities, Educational Institutions, Biotech Park and NGOs, etc.
Dr. P.K. Seth, CEO, Biotech Park, Lucknow welcoming the guests and the participants briefed about activities of Biotech Park, Lucknow and its role in promoting biodiesel. He offered to provide networking and coordination of Biotech Park between Government, industry and cultivators. He particularly emphasized the need of good planting material for optimization of seed production in Jatropha.
The Chief Guest of the function, Sri Shishir Dutt, Executive Director, RDSO briefed about the activities undertaken by RDSO such as testing of loco-engines, assessment of quality of biodiesel from different feedstock and feasibility of biodiesel run trains. He also informed about a test run of Janshatabdi by biodiesel from Lucknow to Allahabad for five days. He felt the need for proper plantation technologies so that sufficient feedstock is available to meet the demands of railways.
Dr. Rakesh Tuli, Director, NBRI in his Presidential address highlighted the need for R&D. He gave example of maize and cotton where agriculture and biotechnology inputs have resulted in increasing the yields of these crops to 4-10 times then the generic material. He said only concentrated research efforts can increase the yield and meet the expectations.
Dr. G.N. Pandey, Chairperson of a session and a Panelist proposed that it is important to use internet for sharing and disseminating issues and knowledge that various groups may have. He said these networks should also be linked for coherence.
Sri P.S. Ojha, State Coordinator, Jatropha Mission, U.P. gave a detailed overview of U.P. Public Private Partnership (PPP) model that the State Government has developed in partnership with a private company and an oil company.
Several other high profile dignitaries were also present during the occasion including Dr. Meenakshi Munshi, Advisor, DBT; Dr. A.N. Mukhopadhaya and Dr. Amit Walia, Shell Technologies.
Several issues came up such as: Is biodiesel produced from different feedstock useable, technologies for storing oil and biodiesel, issues related to degradation of biodiesel, productivity per plant, toxicity of Jatropha, economical feasibility of Jatropha Biodiesel, uncertainties in seed production, availability of certified seeds.
Most of the participants particularly from railways wanted to have plantation and management protocols for Jatropha cultivation.
Dr. H.M. Behl, Consultant, Biotech Park and Organizer of the Workshop answered several queries and offered to support RDSO, Indian Railways and also other stakeholders and invited them to partner with Biotech Park and make use of DBT Website (www.dbtjatropha.gov.in) for interaction, communication, knowing about outcomes of government projects related to Jatropha Biodiesel.
