Vadodara: In a breakthrough that could help power vehicles using milk byproducts, dairy giant Amul has achieved success in its large-scale trial to produce bioethanol from whey, the component of milk left behind while making cheese and paneer.
Until now, ethanol in India has been primarily derived from sources like sugarcane juice, molasses, maize, and Damage Food Grains. But with the success of this new process, Amul, India’s largest dairy cooperative, plans to invest Rs. 70 crore in a bioethanol plant. The proposed facility is expected to produce 50,000 litres of bioethanol daily. The company is also exploring the opportunity of working with existing bioethanol plants in Gujarat’s sugar cooperatives sector.
According to The Times of India, Jayen Mehta, Managing Director of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets the Amul brand said, “To become more sustainable, we conducted a large-scale trial of bioethanol production from cheese/paneer whey. It aimed to upcycle and create a new revenue stream for our 3.6 million farmer-owners.”
Using 4.5 lakh litres of cheese whey, the trial yielded 20,000 litres of rectified spirit with an ethanol content of 96.71%.
According to Mehta, this recovery rate of 4.4% can be raised to 8% in the future. He also noted that the process produces useful byproducts, including methane gas, dry ice, and water.
“The idea behind this trial was to support the government’s ethanol-blended petrol (EBP) programme, which aims to increase ethanol content in petrol to 20%,” Mehta added.
The pilot project was carried out at the Dharikheda unit of Shree Narmada Khand Udhyog Sahkari Mandli Ltd, a sugar cooperative in Bharuch district. The unit is managed by Ghanshyam Patel, who also heads Bharuch Dairy, one of GCMMF’s member dairies.
Amul currently handles around 3 million litres of whey every day. In Gujarat, the cooperative runs three major cheese plants located in Khatraj, Palanpur, and Himatnagar, operated by Amul Dairy, Banas Dairy, and Sabar Dairy, respectively. It also operates more than 15 paneer production facilities across India.
