India has begun trial runs of buses and locomotives using diesel blended with biodiesel made from plants to reduce the energy-deficient country's growing dependence on imported crude oil, government officials said.
Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar told parliament on Tuesday that the blended fuel was being tested in buses in Bombay and Haryana.
"If the field trials establish the efficacy of biodiesel and diesel blend and indicate the possibility of economic pricing of these products, then large-scale oil seeds plantations would have to be undertaken before commercial production begins," he said.
India, which imports 70 percent of its crude oil needs, began blending ethanol with petrol two years ago, but the savings are not substantial because petrol accounts for only seven percent of petroleum products sold in the country.
Government officials say the country will gain much more with the use of biodiesel as diesel accounts for about 36 percent of the fuels used in India.
Aiyar said the United States, European Union, Canada and some other countries had also undertaken biodiesel programmes using oils from soybean, sunflower and rapeseed, which are edible.
"India is short of edible oil, hence non-edible oils like Jatropha curcas and Pongomia are proposed for biodiesel production," he said.
Last week, D1 Oils, a UK biodiesel firm said it would assist Tamil Nadu promote the cultivation of Jatropha, a drought-resistant tree, which can grow on wastelands.
The company will provide seedlings to agricultural cooperatives, act as a buyer to guarantee farmers a market for seeds, and provide technology to extract and refine the oil from the plants.
Tamil Nadu has an estimated 130 million hectares of wasteland, of which 33 million hectares is available for reclamation.
Source: Sathish N
Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar told parliament on Tuesday that the blended fuel was being tested in buses in Bombay and Haryana.
"If the field trials establish the efficacy of biodiesel and diesel blend and indicate the possibility of economic pricing of these products, then large-scale oil seeds plantations would have to be undertaken before commercial production begins," he said.
India, which imports 70 percent of its crude oil needs, began blending ethanol with petrol two years ago, but the savings are not substantial because petrol accounts for only seven percent of petroleum products sold in the country.
Government officials say the country will gain much more with the use of biodiesel as diesel accounts for about 36 percent of the fuels used in India.
Aiyar said the United States, European Union, Canada and some other countries had also undertaken biodiesel programmes using oils from soybean, sunflower and rapeseed, which are edible.
"India is short of edible oil, hence non-edible oils like Jatropha curcas and Pongomia are proposed for biodiesel production," he said.
Last week, D1 Oils, a UK biodiesel firm said it would assist Tamil Nadu promote the cultivation of Jatropha, a drought-resistant tree, which can grow on wastelands.
The company will provide seedlings to agricultural cooperatives, act as a buyer to guarantee farmers a market for seeds, and provide technology to extract and refine the oil from the plants.
Tamil Nadu has an estimated 130 million hectares of wasteland, of which 33 million hectares is available for reclamation.
Source: Sathish N
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