India is one of the top crude oil buyers and consumers in the world. Our quest for rapid economic development is largely based on fossil fuels, a huge drain on our country’s foreign exchange reserves. The use of fossil fuels, apart from being very polluting, is also a driving force behind climate change. Thus, there is an immediate and urgent necessity to move away from a fossil fuel powered economy and embrace a renewable powered one.
In context of India’s renewable energy policy, an emphasis has been laid by the Ministry for New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) on renewables to make a major contribution to both the power and transportation sectors in the coming years. Currently, other renewable energy sources such as biofuels (obtained from biomass) especially bioethanol and biodiesel, biohydrogen, and fuel cells are being looked into as alternatives for the future of transportation in the country. 5 percent of blended petrol is already available across fuel stations in the country. Of these various renewable options mentioned, of particular importance is biodiesel. Owing to its close resemblance in physical properties to petroleum diesel and the country-wide availability of non-edible oil crops that are biodiesel sources, biodiesel has the potential to be used directly in existing diesel engines with little or no modifications.
MNRE believes that biodiesel can play a significant role in the years to come owing to over ninety species of biodiesel crops native to India alone and their geographical spread across the country. The tested and proven results of biodiesel as well as biodiesel blends with diesel use in existing diesel infrastructure such as the fuel delivery network, diesel engines, and generators also add to MNRE’s confidence.
India’s biofuel policy aims to mainstream biofuels that could likely play a central role in the transportation sector in the future. The goal of the policy is to have 20 percent blending in petrol and diesel for both bioethanol and biodiesel respectively, by the end of 2020. This target is unlikely to be met: the demand for petrol and diesel is only going to increase moving forward. The source of bioethanol will be the by-products of the sugar manufacturing sector that use sugarcane and sugar beet as raw materials while for biodiesel, non-edible oil seeds from plants grown on waste lands are the obvious choice to minimise the food versus energy debate. Especially in the case of biodiesel, an emphasis will be laid on enhancing the domestic production of non-edible oil seeds by providing minimum support and purchase prices and also by removing any taxes and duties levied on biofuels. Waste cooking oil, a prominent source for biodiesel, is abundantly available across major cities in the country.
Biodiesel and Green LAW
Biodiesel is a fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) that can be produced from edible and non-edible plant and animal oils by the process of transesterification. The fuel is renewable and environmentally friendly.
The Biodiesel unit at the Jyothy Institute of Technology (JIT) campus, the Centre for Incubation, Innovation, Research and Innovation (CIIRC), was established on the 10th of August 2017, marking the 125th anniversary of Rudolf Diesel’s peanut oil experiments on his diesel engine in 1893. At the outset, the installation at JIT has been regularly producing biodiesel on a weekly basis, with scope for increasing the production capacity, apart from producing other value added products such as floor disinfectants and glycerine-based soap from the waste generated during the biodiesel production process. All these concepts together have been incubated at CIIRC resulting in a start-up called ‘Green LAW’ which is being managed by Avinash Narayanaswamy and Dr. Gopalakrishna K.
The aim of Green LAW is to develop a green campus at JIT. The start-up’s functioning is in line with the Central government’s ‘Make in India’ and ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan’ initiatives. The source of biodiesel is primarily waste vegetable oil (WVO) that is procured from hotels and restaurants of Bengaluru city, as well as oils from Pongamia and Jatropha.
WVO is procured from various potato chips and bakery item manufacturers as well as some hotels in Bengaluru city at a price that ranges from 25-30 rupees for each litre. The processing time of WVO to be purified biodiesel takes roughly 5-and-a-half hours with a conversion efficiency of about 85 per cent. The cost of processing one litre of WVO to biodiesel is about 25 rupees, while the biodiesel is sold at 65 rupees for each litre.
The biodiesel produced at Green LAW has been used to power a Ford Figo car that has already covered close to 96,700 kilometers till date on various blends of biodiesel. The car, in which no modifications have been made, has been a part of several awareness drives in India. The car was also used as a setter car in the Asia Pacific Rally championship in 2016 held in Chikamagalur and in February 2017, it was part of the Eco Driveathon world record event wherein 54 biodiesel cars were driven from Bengaluru to Sringeri and back, covering over 750 kilometers. In July 2017, the car covered 5,900 kilometers in a biodiesel drive across sixteen states in India.
The future road map involves the launch of biodiesel blend powered taxis for the first time across Bengaluru that would cater to customers for local travel as well as for inter-state trips. Green LAW’s mantra is eco-friendly and affordable transportation.
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About Green Law
Green Law, is a partnership firm in Bengaluru, India. The firm is headed by Avinash Narayanaswamy and Dr. Gopalakrishna K, who run the firm under the flagship of the Centre for Incubation, Innovation, Research& Consultancy (CIIRC), also located in Bengaluru. The firm provides environmental consultancy services apart from producing and selling biodiesel, eco-friendly hand wash, herbal floor cleaners, and dish washing liquids based on the concept of sustainable development and the circular economy.
A double post graduate in Sustainable Energy Technology (2009) & Environmental & Energy Management (2015) from the University of Twente, The Netherlands. Currently working as an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Incubation, Innovation, Research & Consultancy (CIIRC) for the past 4 years . Parallelly, running a startup called Green LAW (incubated at CIIRC) that specializes in Eco-friendly products such as biodiesel, multi purpose surface cleaners, alcohol free sanitizers, natural hand wash and services such as state of the art tank and sump disinfection, chemical free deep cleaning and sanitization.