According to the latest report from Niti Aayog titled “Scenarios towards Viksit Bharat and net zero; Sectoral insights: Transport,” India is at a critical juncture in its transition to clean energy. A combination of rising domestic demand, abundant agricultural and waste-sourced feedstocks, and increasing refining and distillery capacities places India in a unique position to lead the world in biofuel innovation and exports.
The report highlights that achieving the above-mentioned goals will require significant financial mobilisation, especially within the power, industry, and transportation sectors.
Biofuel: Key advantages
Abundant feedstock availability: India has one of the largest sustainable biomass supplies worldwide, which includes:
- Ethanol feedstocks derived from sugarcane and grains
- Agricultural residues
- Municipal solid waste
- Used cooking oil (UCO)
- Waste-to-energy outputs from agricultural by-products
The above-mentioned feedstocks not only enhance supply resilience but also lower long-term production costs for biofuels.
Refining capacity
The ongoing development of distilleries, second-generation (2G) ethanol facilities, and CBG units, backed by the National Biofuel Policy, enables India to scale up production rapidly. These operations also foster rural income growth, minimise waste, and promote circular economy advantages.
Domestic mobility market
With one of the largest transportation systems globally encompassing roadways, railways, aviation, and shipping, India has the necessary scale to foster new biofuel technologies while reducing costs.
Export potential
As regions such as Africa, Southeast Asia, and parts of Latin America look for affordable low-carbon fuel solutions, India is positioned to become a technology provider as well as an exporter of biofuels and related technologies.
The report talks about how India is transitioning from fossil fuels towards a more diverse low-carbon energy mix:
- Electric Vehicles (EVs) are growing in number. However, it requires substantial investment in charging infrastructure alongside battery supply chains.
- Hydrogen mobility, along with flex-fuel/low-carbon fuels are currently under preliminary development.
- Ethanol, biodiesel, and CBG represent immediate, scalable options for reducing emissions while decreasing dependence on oil imports and safeguarding the environment.
The report, most importantly, underscores the way forward for making India a Global Biofuel Hub:
Prioritising feedstock security
- Expand systems for aggregating sustainable agricultural waste.
- Ensure farmers are given incentives to deliver residues and
- Encourage farmers to grow more energy crops on degraded lands.
Accelerate biorefinery deployment
- Supporting plants which produce 2G ethanol, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and CBG.
- Facilitate co-processing of biofuels within petroleum refineries
- Offering viability-gap funding for initial projects.
Develop Export-proof standards
- Align fuel standards with international norms.
- Create export-oriented corridors for biofuels.
- Foster bilateral agreements focused on biofuel trade.
- Mobilise International Climate Finance
- Enhance frameworks for green bonds.
- Strengthen collaborations with multilateral climate organisations.
- Provide risk guarantees to attract private investments.
Promote R&D
- Invest in advanced technologies like enzyme research, gasification processes, and synthetic fuels development.
- Establish public-private innovation clusters.
- Encourage partnerships with leading global clean technology enterprises.
The report talks about financing gaps in realising the full potential of the green movement, which could be catered to by foreign funding.
We will take a deeper look into it in the next article.
