A big question has arisen in front of almost all the countries including India. The question is, what should be used instead of fossil fuels? Pollution is increasing due to fossil fuel.
These fuels are also not long-lasting, so the idea is to replace ‘black gold’ with ‘green gold’ i.e. biodiesel or vegetable oil instead of oil. This suggestion is being taken seriously in India, as we are heavily dependent on imported oil. Presently 73 percent oil comes from outside. By 2025 this figure will be 85 percent.
At present, the demand for diesel in the country is five times more than that of petrol. Rapid economic growth has meant that more people are traveling than ever before and that there is a greater volume of freight. At present also 80 percent passengers and 60 percent goods go by road.
In 2002, the central government prepared a roadmap for the use of bio-fuels in India. He made it mandatory to add a bio-fuel – ethanol to petrol, but it could not be implemented, because it is becoming difficult to get ethanol. Now bio-fuels are being promoted, so that they can be used in large quantities.
Petrol and diesel dominate the world today, but remember that Rudolf Diesel originally designed his revolutionary compression engine to run on vegetable oils. Modern vehicles do not run well on vegetable oils. They corrode engine parts, so the right way is to chemically modify vegetable oils and convert them into bio-diesel, which is similar to normal diesel.
At present, the availability of non-edible oils and oilseeds is limited in the country. Their plantations have been established in the states, but it will take two-three years to get sufficient amount of oil from them for bio-diesel. The question is, how much green diesel does India expect to make in the coming years? The Energy Research Institute (TERI) estimates that by 2030, only 40 percent of the country’s need for green diesel will be made, but even for this there is a long way to go.