Energy scenario of the world

It has been estimated that there is a total of 2,390 billion barrels (380 km³) of crude oil on
Earth, of which about 30% has been used so far, the estimated remaining world oil
reserves are about 1012 barrels, and current estimates place the exhaustion of the
remaining known reserves within the next 50 yrs.

--- Next powehouses of the world

with the recent economic development of asian countries ( china,india ) and the revival of
economies of asian tigers , asia is posed to be the next production and service hub for the
world. With this comes the large apetite for consumption of energy in these countries .
both china and india are expected to increase there demand of oil by 5 to 7 % every year.

---Indias growing apetite

Like China, India is a growing giant facing the critical challenge of meeting a rapidly
increasing demand for energy. With over a billion people, a fifth of the world population,
India ranks sixth in the world in terms of energy demand. Its economy is projected to
grow 7%-8% over the next two decades, and in its wake will be a substantial increase in
demand for oil to fuel land, sea, and air transportation.

While India has significant reserves of coal, it is relatively poor in oil and gas resources.
Its oil reserves amount to 5.9 billion barrels, (0.5% of global reserves) with total proven,
probable, and possible reserves of close to 11 billion barrels. The majority of India's oil
reserves are located in fields offshore Bombay and onshore in Assam. Due to stagnating
domestic crude production, India imports approximately 70% of its oil, much of it from
the Middle East. Its dependence is growing rapidly. The World Energy Outlook,
published by the International Energy Agency (IEA), projects that India's dependence on
oil imports will grow to 91.6% by the year 2020. India has oil reserves to last only till
2016, if no new discovery is made, the Petroleum Minister, Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar said
in an interview.

so in the midst of these energy crisis the panacea for these countries lies in the
development of alternative sources of energy . so among one of these resources is
Biodiesel . I would focus more on the Indian aspect of Biodiesel and business
opportunities linked with it .

India's demand for diesel fuel for transport is rising rapidly as it economy expands, and
much of the increase has to met with expensive oil imports. In addition, local pollution
and poor air quality are becoming more serious as the use of fossil fuels increases.
However, inexpensive biodiesel produced from India's vast agricultural resources offers a
clean substitute for expensive fossil fuel imports. Domestic biodiesel production could
enable India to meet the three often conflicting objectives of economic growth, fuel
security and cleaner air.
 Bio diesel

What I s Biodiesel ?

Biodiesel is a domestic, renewable fuel for diesel engines derived from natural oils like
soybean oil, and which meets the specifications of ASTM(American society of testing
and materials) .Biodiesel can be used in any concentration with petroleum based diesel
fuel in existing diesel engines with little or no modification.

How to produce bio diesel ?

Bio-diesel is an eco-friendly, alternative diesel fuel prepared from domestic renewable

resources i.e. vegetable oils (edible or non- edible oil) and animal fats. These natural oils
and fats are made up mainly of triglycerides. These triglycerides when rea w striking
similarity to petroleum derived diesel and are called "Bio-diesel". As India is deficient in
edible oils, non-edible oil may be material of choice for producing bio diesel . For this
purpose Jatropha curcas considered as most potential source for it.

Jatropha is a drought resistant perennial growing shrub, non demanding, tolerant to

extremes, suitable to tropical and non tropical climate and considerable climatic changes,
even upto light frost. It grows considerably easily and lives producing seeds for nearly 50
years.

The various benefits of growing Jatropha are –

-Jatropha Curcas is a widely occurring variety of TBO
-It grows practically all over India under a variety of agro climatic conditions.

-Can be grown in arid zones (20 cm rainfall) as well as in higher rainfall zones and even
on the land with thin soil cover.
-Its plantation can be taken up as a quick yielding plant even in adverse land situations
viz. degraded and barren lands under forest and non-forest use, dry and drought prone
areas, marginal lands, even on alkaline soils and as agro-forestry crops.
-It grows as a tree up to the height of 3 - 5 mt.
the most important characteristic of this plant is that its life is for 50 yrs which means if
once sown it can give lifetime benefits.

Foreign assistance –
D1 the pioneer in research over Jatropha seeds is aggressively pursuing its interest in
India . D1 will select and propagate strains of jatropha that produce the best quality seeds
and the highest oil yields under different climatic conditions. D1 is currently exploring
micropropagation techniques for mass production of seedlings with the necessary
characteristics for each planting area.

Government assistance –
The Indian government’s $300 million national biofuels programme has the potential to
create the world’s first large-scale national biodiesel industry. The State Bank of India has
provided support to D1's operations by agreeing to loan 1.3 billion Indian rupees
(approximately £15 million) to local farmers in Tamil Nadu to purchase seedlings and
fertiliser for planting on the initial 40,000 hectares of jatropha to be cultivated by our
joint venture, D1 Mohan Bio Oils.

Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA), as a registered society under

Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, was created in 1978 to formulate strategies and
to promote measures for accelerating conservation of petroleum products. One of its main
objectives is to support and facilitate efforts for adoption and information dissemination
for substitution of petroleum products with alternate and renewable fuels.

Recent developments
DaimlerChrysler announces further milestones of Jatropha-Biodiesel Project-
In the frozen deserts of leh and Himalayas Daimler Chrysler in association with Central
Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) and the University of
Hohenheim tested the 2 C-Class Mercedes-Benz cars and an additional Mercedes-Benz
Via no (van) across the most severe and demanding terrains of the Himalayan ranges. The
tests were successful. The company has now decided to spend more on development and
have decided to establish a Biodiesel institute in haryana.

Chhatttisgarh- in Chhatttisgarh, the Chief Minister Mr. Raman Singh has been driving his
Tata Safari for close to four months on Jatropha oil. His state has also set up a 3 tonnes
per day refinery to promote the use of oil in tractors, jeeps and pump sets.

Recently the Indian government has allowed 20 % blended diesel with diesel

Environmental aspect –
With the increase in the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the
implementation of Kyoto protocol it has become imperative to switch to clean fuel .
Biodiesel fuel ha s decreased levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitrated
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which have been identified as cancer causing
compounds .

Performance –

One of the major advantage of Biodiesel is that it can be used in existing engines and fuel
injection equipment with no impact on performance. Biodiesel has higher citane number
than most u.s diesel fuels In more than 50 million on-road miles and countless marine and
off-road applications, Biodiesel shows similar fuel consumption, horsepower, torque, and
haulage rates as conventional diesel fuel.

Opportunities for India –

Railways can have great synergies with Biodiesel use. It is the largest consumer of
diesel oil in the country. And it is one of the largest land owner too. It has enough land
along its tracks that will enable all its trains to run on 10% Biodiesel blend. What is
more, its lands along the tracks, are distributed throughout the country. That will
ensure low processing costs and easy transportation to points of use, while generating
employment across the country. There can’t be a greater advertisement of Biodiesel
relevance to India.
Railways choice of Jatropha is understandable, because for engine drivers, visibility is
important and Jatropha, being more bush-like is suited for planting along the tracks.
[About 500 hectares in collaboration with IOC are now being planned.].

Business opportunity –
The pcra set up by the govt of India has given these offers to purchase the fuel –
Received two offers to buy Biodiesel :
1) 4,00,000 Ton / Annum
2) 1500 KL / Annum at a price of Rs 23 to 25 per litre
3) Purchase of 150 KL per month at a price of Rs.27 per liter
4) Purchase of 20,000 mt - 50,000 mt per month as per ASTM D6751 specification @Rs
26per liter.

20 procurement depots will be laid down all over India . While Indian Oil Corp would set
up 10 collection depots, both Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp
would set up five depots each, the official said.

Moreover the govt is providing for this which is as follows –

SNO Programmed Phy.Target (No. of plants) Subsidy Provision Total financial

provision(Rs.in lacs)
1 Jatropha nursery 1.25 lacs Rs.4/- plant 5.00
2 Jatropha plantation 1.25 lacs Rs.8/- plant 10.00
3 Training 6 Rs.20000/- Trg. 1.20
4 Oil expeller 1 Rs.1.00 lacs 1.00
Total 17.20.

End-

India has tremendous potential as a producer of jatropha biodiesel, and India’s national
biofuels program emphasises jatropha production. More than 60 million hectares of waste
and marginalised land, representing 20% of the total national area, lay barren or
underutilised. Such land has little agricultural value at present, but D1 estimates that up to
20 million hectares of this area would be suitable for growing jatropha. .