INTRESTING NEWS

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 2005 02:14:04 AM]

NEW DELHI: ‘TEL jhaari se ayega, khaari (Gulf) se nahin,’ says Hari Ram, a young farm enthusiast from Haryana, for whom jatropha farming is a mission. After all, this new-age crop could well transform his life and convert him into India’s neo-oil sheikh. Sounds ambitious? So what if India imports more than 70% of its crude oil requirement from West Asia, there’s always time for a new beginning. Bio-fuel has already become the rage in Brazil, Ghana, Sweden, Germany and even the US, and could end up playing a larger role in India’s quest for energy security. After all, acquiring equity oil in foreign lands to meet energy demands is not an easy game and India will need to increasingly look for homegrown solutions to fuel its economy. So, while oilmen spend time and money wringing Mother Earth for that extra drop of oil, Indian farmers could turn vast farmlands into new oilfields for India. Says RK Pachauri, director general, TERI, “Progressive farmers are beginning to discover the market for this crop. This could be India’s biggest source of bio-fuel with a little push from the oil companies and customers in the auto-segment.” Farming of jatropha — commonly known as ‘Rattanjot’ — growing wild in arid Rajasthan, is catching on. Farmers from Andhra Pradesh to Haryana, Madhya Pradesh to Karnataka are cashing in on the crop with fuel-potential. Jatropha is fast-growing, has high seed yield and is usually not eaten by animals. Around 10 lakh hectares across India have been identified for jatropha plantation. Jatropha biodiesel has an extra edge in its particularly favourable ignition performance, besides being sulphur-free and therefore a clean, low-emission fuel.

No wonder then, that customers such as Daimler Chrysler, IOC, Indian Railways, Tata Motors and state roadways companies in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Gujarat are ready to bet on biofuel. Daimler Chrysler has already tied up with the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research to set up a research project. Increasing crop yield, however, remains a big challenge. “The sustainability of the fuel would depend on the economic viability of the crop,” says Mr Pachauri. So far, the yield in India is below average. Every hectare of crop yields about 900 litres of fuel. Another grey area is sustained availability, so Indian oilcos are looking for foreign options to keep the biofuel tap flowing. Says NG Kannan, director marketing of IOC, “One of the major problems with large scale use of biodiesel is cost and availability. To be viable, biodiesel has to be available at Rs 17-27/litre.” IOC is planning to collaborate with Lubrizol to source biodiesel. Lubrizol will supply 2,000 kiloliters of biodiesel this year, 5,000 KL next year and 7,000 KL the year after, according to Mr Kannan. Although the prices will be high in the initial years, it will progressively come down as scales of operation kick in. Right now, it hardly makes sense to opt for this fuel. “In the first year, biodiesel should sell for Rs 43/litre. This should come down to Rs 37/litre and Rs 34/litre in subsequent years,” says Mr Kannan. So unless oilcos subsidise the retail price, there may be no buyers. Even so, farmers growing jatropha have already started using the green fuel in their home applications. Small quantities of jathropa oil are already being used to light lamps in village homes, while others are even using them to run gensets and tractors.
Jatropha oil can be used as is, unlike ethanol, a sugar cane extract that needs to be doped with petrol. “It could be doped as much as 20% with the regular diesel for trucks,” Mr Pachauri says. Leading automakers such as Mahindra, Tata Motors and Maruti are collaborating with Indian oilcos on viable alternate fuel from jathropa. Says Anand Mahindra of Mahindra & Mahindra, “The increasing requirement for greener fuels and India’s over dependence on imported fossil fuel has driven us to look for alternatives.” The planning commission estimates that the use of biodiesel blends would lead to an annual saving of Rs 20,000 crore on crude oil import. India has the potential to produce 13m tonnes alternate fuel every year. That would need 11m hectares of land and create 11m jobs. Not surprisingly then, there is plenty of excitement in the air.