Bio

fuels: tow

ards a greener and secure energy future

Coupled with increasing oil prices, increasing

awareness of the global impacts of greenhouse

gases has led to concerns over the continued

consumption of fossil fuels worldwide.

Consequently, many developed and developing

countries have considered the possibility of

large-scale production and use of biofuels, such

as bio-ethanol and bio-diesel, as alternatives to

hydrocarbon fuels.

Biofuels: towards a greener and secure

energy future provides an assessment of

current practices and knowledge on the

production, conversion, and use of biofuels,

and is the result of experiences provided by a

diverse group of distinguished persons who

have been dealing with this subject for some

time now. The book is intended to be a ready

reckoner for individuals, farmers, policy-makers,

researchers, automobile manufacturers, as well

as agencies and institutions interested in taking

forward the energy security agenda in general

and the promotion of biofuels in particular.

The Energy and Resources Institute

Biofuelstowards a greener andsecure energy futureEditor P P Bhojva id9 7 8 8 1 7 9 9 3 0 8 5 4

ISBN 978-81-7993-085-4

Biofuelstowards a greener and secureenergy future

EditorEditorEditorEditorEditor

P P Bhojvaid

The Energy and Resources Institute

© The Energy and Resources Institute, 2006 First reprint 2007Second reprint 2008Third reprint 2013Fourth reprint 2014Fifth reprint 2015

ISBN 978-81-7993-085-4

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, storedin a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without theprior permission of the publisher.

All export rights of this book vest exclusively with The Energy andResources Institute (TERI). Unauthorized export is a violation of termsof sale and is subject to legal action.

Suggested citationBhojvaid, P. P. 2006. Biofuels: Towards a Greener and Secure Energy Future.New Delhi: TERI

Published byThe Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) Tel. 2468 2100 or 4150 4900TERI Press Fax 2468 2144 or 2468 2145Darbari Seth Block India +91 • Delhi (0)11IHC Complex, Lodhi Road Email teripress@teri.res.inNew Delhi – 110 003, India Website www.teriin.org

Printed in India

ContContContContContentsentsentsentsents

Foreword vVinod Khosla, Partner, Khosla Ventures

Introduction viiR K Pachauri, Director-General, TERI

SECTION 1: Policy issues in biofuels 1Biofuels in the Indian perspective 3

Leena SrivastavaThe Indian biofuels programme: the National 13Mission on Bio-diesel

R Mandal and Parveen MithraBiofuels: helping India reduce its oil dependence 23

K S Sethi

SECTION 2: Bio-ethanol production 35Bio-ethanol: lessons from the Brazilian experience 37

Oswaldo LuconInternational experiences in biofuels 71

Prabha DhavalaAlternative feedstock for bio-ethanol production 89in India

Linoj Kumar N V and Sameer Maithel

SECTION 3: Bio-diesel from jatropha 105Bio-diesel from jatropha: the road map 107

H M BehlRaising large-scale jatropha plantation in India: 119present status and future prospects

Padam Prakash BhojvaidJatropha for wasteland development: TERI’s 137mycorrhiza technology

Alok Adholeya and Reena Singh

Recent trends in bio-diesel production 155A K Gupta

Quality considerations in Jatropha curcas 173Nutan Kaushik

Research issues in development of bio-diesel engines 181L M Das and Venu Madhav

Long-run marginal-cost-based economic evaluation 207of bio-diesel production from jatropha

Anandajit GoswamiEnvironmental impacts of bio-diesel 221

Shubha Pandey and T S PanwarClean development mechanism potential of 233bio-diesel projects

Vivek Kumar and Prabha Dhavala

SECTION 4: Biofuel experiences in the states 245of India

Experiences of the Chhattisgarh Biofuel 247Development Authority

S K ShuklaJatropha for sustainable employment, energy 255security, and for checking soil erosion

A K LohiaBiofuels: the Andhra Pradesh experience 263

M Prasad

Directory of websites on biofuels 269

Index 273

Contents

iv

The world’s increasing dependence on foreign oil posesproblems for the economy that go far beyond thoseassociated with our deficit in reserves, its price, and

volatility. Tenuous links to geopolitics have been made in thedebate about our ability to quench our thirst for oil. There is noneed for any of it. If the national imperative is to reduce ourenergy dependence and create cleaner, more cost-effectivetransportation solutions, one already well-established solution tothe problem is biofuels. This is not new technology, or a ‘pie-in-the-sky’ idea that will take years to get to market. It is alreadyhere.

Ethanol is currently used in vehicles across the world, both in‘low blends’ of gasoline such as E10 and in ‘high blends’ likeE85. Its use does not require major modifications to existingengines, transportation, delivery, or storage infrastructure, and itis a clean source of energy, getting cleaner by the day. Changesrequired for existing engines to run on ethanol are minimal, withengine technology nearly mirroring that in use today, meaningre-training of the mechanic at the corner garage is not anarduous task, nor is maintaining a readily available supply ofspare parts to service such engines.

Counter arguments to the adoption of ethanol are many, andgenerally are issued from large, influential interest groups like theoil industry lobby and environmentalists—many of whom call

Foreword

Biofuels: a responsible, sustainableenergy solution

Vinod KhoslaPartner, Khosla Ventures

into question ethanol’s ‘green’ credentials. On closer inspectionthese arguments are largely empty. Whilst emissions from ethanolengines and the refining process are higher than hydrogen, thisargument fails when the entire hydrogen production process,including the source of hydrogen, is considered. Further harmingthe hydrogen argument is the length of time, development risk,and investment required for it to be a viable solution (we have tore-train all those mechanics mentioned earlier). The USDepartment of Energy forecast is that we might have somethingworkable in a hydrogen-based transportation sense by 2040.Ethanol is available NOW.

The move to ethanol will also provide the much-needed boostto the agricultural sector. It has also been argued that we simplydo not have the land for these energy crops. But the argumentagain is based on old corn ethanol technologies. If we useagricultural waste like sugar-cane bagasse to produce cellulosicethanol and start developing new energy crops like elephant grass(Miscanthus) and switch grass, we have more than enough land.Further, new energy crops like elephant grass for biomass andjatropha for bio-diesel will dramatically improve the landavailability picture over time. And, these are much ‘greener’technologies than even corn ethanol.

And, let us not forget the automakers who are, unknown tomany, quietly embracing the ethanol change throughdevelopment of the flex-fuel vehicle, or FFV. They cost no moreto produce and give consumers a choice in fuels, either ethanolor gasoline. Globally, growth of FFVs is burgeoning, to a pointwhere Volkswagen in Brazil is giving serious consideration tophasing out gasoline-powered vehicles. It is easy to see why so,with FFV sales in December 2005 accounting for 71% of overallnew car sales in Brazil. Why can’t we do the same in the rest ofthe world? Ethanol and bio-diesel are the only near-termsolutions. Once ethanol and bio-diesel are established, many newtechnologies – from biochemical to thermo-chemical, fromchemical process technology to bioengineering, from newagricultural crops to crop rotation schemes – will appear toimprove availability and reduce cost.

Foreword

vi

Major changes have taken place recently in the globalenergy market. The most prominent among these isthe unexpected increase in oil prices during the past

few months, which went beyond the predictions andexpectations of most analysts who are knowledgeable aboutoil market developments. While the US (United States)continues to be the largest consumer and importer of oil,China and India – while registering rapid rates of economicgrowth – have also increased their imports of oil. These trendsand expectations of growth in the future have had an impacton the oil market, which generally exhibits extreme sensitivityto changes on both the demand and the supply sides.Combined with increased oil prices, the increasing awarenesson the global impacts of climate change, which is influencedby the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in theatmosphere, has led to concerns about increasing theworldwide consumption of fossil fuels. These and otherfactors have, therefore, recently created growing interest inthe possibility of large-scale production and use of biofuels.

If biofuel crops are cultivated and used on a sustainablebasis then this option not only becomes environmentallypreferred but also reduces threats to the security of energysupply in the future. At a basic level, the production ofbiofuels represents efficient conversion of solar energy for usein human activities, because the energy produced from crops

Introduction

Moving towards biofuels for a secureand clean energy future

R K PachauriDirector-General, T E R I, New Delhi, India

Biofuels: towards a greener and secure energy future

viii

is basically a process, which results from photosynthesis thatdraws on the energy of the sun. India is not only a largeimporter of oil with the prospect of increased imports in thefuture, but also has significant potential for production ofbiofuels in the country. India actually has large areas ofwasteland, which could be utilized for the production ofbiofuels, but there is also a substantial quantity of biomassresidue from agriculture and other activities, which presents ascientific and organizational challenge for conversion tousable forms of energy for a variety of applications.

This publication provides an assessment of the state-of-the-art knowledge on the production, conversion, and use ofbiofuels, which is the collective result of experiences providedby a diverse group of distinguished persons who have beendealing with this subject for some time now. In this era ofinformation flow and knowledge sharing, it is important thatany country that embarks on the path of innovation in anyfield builds on the experience and existing know-how andavoids the danger of reinventing the wheel. Since India andmany countries in the world are on the verge of devising andimplementing programmes for production, conversion, anduse of biofuels, it is essential to base these on the rapidlyexpanding knowledge that already exists in this area.

Currently, there are a number of liquid biofuels that can beused for various purposes.

Biologically produced alcohols

P Ethanol produced from sugar cane is being used astransport fuel in Brazil and to a very small extent in India.On the other hand, states in the USA are using ethanolproduced from corn. A new technology uses cellulosicbiomass from plants for ethanol production, but efforts inthis field need substantial development and scaling up.

P Methanol is being currently produced from natural gas, buttechnically it can also be produced from biomass. Thistechnology has significant potential, although the process isnot commercially viable at present. The methanol optionis an interesting alternative to the hydrogen option, but

Introduction

ix

again requires considerable R&D (research anddevelopment) efforts.

P Butanol is another fuel formed by ABE (acetone, butanol,ethanol) fermentation by the bacteria Clostridiumacetobutylicum. It can be burned directly in existing gasolineengines without any modifications; can produce largerquantities of energy (higher octane fuel value); and is lesscorrosive and less water-soluble than ethanol. Also, itdramatically reduces vehicular emissions and can bedistributed through existing infrastructures.

Biologically produced oils (bio-oils)

These can be used in diesel engines either directly or aftertransesterification.

However, not all these fuels are commercially viable atpresent. Our country has chosen two main biofuels for large-scale deployment— bio-ethanol based on ethanol producedfrom sugar cane (molasses) as a substitute for petrol(gasoline) and bio-diesel produced from oil-bearing seeds ofjatropha (Jatropha curcas) as a substitute for HSD (high-speeddiesel). The challenge here is to produce large quantities ofthese biofuels at prices competitive with those of currentlyused fossil fuel products.

For a country like India, biofuels, especially bio-dieselproduction promises a number of economic, environmental,and social benefits, such as large-scale employmentgeneration, particularly in the rural sector. The bio-dieselprogramme will open up a large number of land-basedemployment opportunities through the raising of plantationsand their subsequent maintenance, collection of seed, theprocessing of jatropha seeds into oil, and transesterification. Itis estimated that raising a plantation of jatropha over onehectare of land would generate an average employment of 116to 122 person-days. Large-scale jatropha plantations will alsohelp the country to achieve high agricultural growth, which isessential if the economy is to achieve and maintain theprojected overall growth rate of 8%.

Biofuels : Towards A Greener And SecureEnergy Future

Publisher : TERI Press ISBN : 9788179930854 Author : P P Bhojvaid

Type the URL : http://www.kopykitab.com/product/6060

Get this eBook

35%OFF