About Biofuels  

• These are hydrocarbon fuels.
• They are produced from organic matter such as plants, agricultural and domestic wastes, etc.
• These may be solid, liquid or gaseous in nature.
  • Solid: Wood, dried plant material, and manure.
  • Liquid: Bioethanol and Biodiesel.
  • Gaseous: Biogas.
• Benefits:
  • Renewable source of energy.
  • Causes less pollution.
  • Can be produced industrially.
  • Can be used to replace or can be used in addition to diesel, petrol or other fossil fuels for transport, stationary, portable and other applications.
  • They can also be used to generate heat and electricity.
• Basics of the Policy
  • Launched: 2018
  • Ministry: the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to promote biofuels in India.
  • Vision and Goals of the Policy
    • Reinforcing ongoing ethanol/biodiesel supplies through increasing domestic production.
    • Setting up Second Generation (2G) bio refineries.
    • Development of new feedstock for biofuels.
    • Development of new technologies for conversion to biofuels.
    • Creating a suitable environment for biofuels and its integration with the main fuels.

Salient Features of the Policy

• The Policy categorizes biofuels as "Basic Biofuels" viz.
  • First Generation bioethanol & biodiesel and advanced biofuels
    • These are produced from food sources such as sugar, starch, vegetable oil, or animal fats using conventional technology.
    • These include Bioalcohols, Biodiesel, Vegetable oil, Bioethers, and Biogas.
  • Second Generation ethanol, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to drop-in fuels
    • These are produced from non-food crops or portions of food crops that are not edible and considered as wastes, e.g., stems, husks, wood chips, and fruit skins and peeling.
    • Thermochemical reactions or biochemical conversion processes are used for producing such fuels.
    • They include cellulose ethanol and biodiesel.
    • They emit less greenhouse gases when compared to first generation biofuels.
  • Third Generation biofuels, bio-CNG etc.
    • These are produced from micro-organisms like algae.
    • They include Butanol.
    • Micro-organisms like algae can be grown using land and water unsuitable for food production, therefore reducing the strain on already depleted water sources.
  • Fourth Generation Biofuels
    • These are produced from crops that are genetically engineered to take in high amounts of carbon and are grown and harvested as biomass.
    • The crops are then converted into fuel using second generation techniques.
    • The fuel is pre-combusted, and the carbon is captured. Then the carbon is geo-sequestered, meaning that the carbon is stored in depleted oil or gas fields or in unmineable coal seams.
    • Some of these fuels are considered carbon negative as their production pulls out carbon from the environment.
• It expands the scope of raw material for ethanol production by allowing use of Sugarcane Juice, Sugar containing materials like Sugar Beet, Sweet Sorghum, etc.
• Allows use of surplus food grains for production of ethanol for blending with petrol with the approval of National Biofuel Coordination Committee.
• Viability gap funding scheme for 2G ethanol Bio refineries of 5000 crore in 6 years in addition to additional tax incentives, higher purchase price as compared to 1G biofuels.
• It encourages setting up of supply chain mechanisms for biodiesel production from non-edible oilseeds, used cooking oil, short gestation crops.