The curtains closed on the India Energy Week 2024, Betul, with government and energy stakeholders outlining the roadmap for achieving the Global Biofuel Alliance, reports Joao Sousa M
On the road to Vikisit Bharat, energy sector policy makers during the India Energy Week 2024, charted the strategy for energy transition from fossil fuels to bio-fuels and India’s emergence as a energy power house through the Global Bio-fuels Alliance.
In future India will be playing a significant role in achieving the goals of the alliance in Asia, Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific region.
Policy makers said that, the India, Brazil, and the United States, as leading bio-fuel producers and consumers, will work together during the next few months towards the development of a Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA) along with other interested countries.
The GBA was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with the leaders of Singapore, Bangladesh, Italy, USA, Brazil, Argentina, Mauritius and UAE in September 2023, on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi. It signaled India’s emergence on the global stage for energy transition.
A senior official from the ministry of petroleum and natural gas requesting anonymity said the alliance is an initiative by India at the G20, as it constitutes nearly 80 per cent of the global energy consumption. He said, India proposed the alliance to bring countries together and create new markets for sustainable bio-fuels.
He further stated that the alliance will also be working towards sharing of best practices. “The technical support and the capacity building that the GBA would bring are welcome additions to international efforts to expand sustainable bio-fuel production and use. It is a key step to decarbonising transportation and heat services with secure and affordable energy supplies,” he explained.
The official stated that while the alliance is still in the early stages since its formation, the Indian government is presently working on documenting the process to implement the GBA. The documentation process will be shared among the 22-member countries and agreed upon. Thereafter India could significantly benefit from sharing of technology from bigger countries like the US and Brazil which collectively make up 80 per cent of global energy requirements.
The transfer of technology is definite. However it will take some time as documentation process is in its initial stages and the focus now is on India reducing its reliance on fossil fuel. The official said over the next decade India has to prepare for the transition wherein the demand for fossil fuels will significantly decrease from the automobile sector despite the industry growing through the roof.
He said that, technology is improving every single day in the automobile industry with vehicles becoming more fuel efficient. “The rapid pace at which technology is developing within the country be it turning agricultural waste to ethanol or be it use of bamboo to produce ethanol or used cooking oil to make green aviation fuel has shown very encouraging signs. Over a period of the next decade India will have to start preparing to ensure there is sufficient market for the surplus fuel,” remarked the official.
“There is no shortage of raw material in India for producing ethanol with India confident of achieving the 20 per cent ethanol bio fuel by 2025. India is strategically placed to meet the growing global demands for bio-fuels especially in Asia, Africa and Europe especially in the aviation sector which will eventually make the transition to sustainable aviation fuel with up to 5 per cent ethanol. At present the global aviation industry is moving towards 1 per cent dilution in aviation fuel,” he said.
According to the petroleum ministry, the Alliance intends to expedite the global uptake of bio-fuels through facilitating technology advancements, intensifying utilization of sustainable biofuels, shaping robust standard setting and certification through the participation of a wide spectrum of stakeholders. The Alliance will also act as a central repository of knowledge and an expert hub. GBA aims to serve as a catalytic platform, fostering global collaboration for the advancement and widespread adoption of biofuels.
The Alliance shall work in collaboration with and complement the relevant existing regional and international agencies as well as initiatives in the bio-energy, bio-economy, and energy transition fields more broadly, including the clean energy ministerial bio-future platform, the Mission Innovation Bioenergy initiatives, and the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP).
Interestingly the second edition of IEW held in Goa underlined India’s growing influence on energy transition. The secretary, ministry of petroleum and natural gas, Pankaj Jain, stated, “Expediting and expanding adoption of biofuels was incumbent on scaling up production of the fuel at an affordable cost adding the recent progress in two key areas of bio-fuel production- feedstock collection and processing facilities will bode well for the future.”
He had further stated while the transition to greener fuels takes place, in India’s case our reliance on multiple fuels in this transition is going to be absolutely amazing.
“Yes coal is going to matter, oil is going to matter and is gas and we have to continue to work to switch to other fuels be it ethanol, compressed bio-gas, compressed natural gas and there is bio-diesel.”
The energy transition in India’s commitment to reduce its carbon footprints and India’s growing influence globally could bode well to achieve the target of Vikisit Bharat and a global power house in bio-fuels.
