Every year on August 10, World Biofuel Day is observed to create awareness about fossil fuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels and highlight the various efforts made by the government in the biofuel sector.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas will organize World Biofuel Day at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi and the program will be inaugurated by Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan.
This year the theme of the World Biofuel Day is “Production of Biodiesel from Used Cooking Oil (UCO)”
Significance of World Biofuel Day
Biofuels have the benefit of reduction of import dependence, a cleaner environment, additional income to farmer and employment generation. The program related to biofuel also compliments the Government of India’s initiatives for Make of India, Swacch Bharat and increasing farmers income. Since 2014, a number of initiatives have been undertaken to increase production and blending of biofuel.
In India, the same cooking oil is used for repeated frying which adversely affects the health due to the formation of polar compounds during frying. These polar compounds are associated with diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, liver diseases among others. UCO is either not discarded at all or disposed of in an environmentally hazardous manner choking drains and sewerage systems.
The National Policy on Biofuels, released by the Government of India in 2018, envisages production of biofuel from UCO. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is implementing a strategy to divert UCO from the food value chain and curb current illegal usage. The benefits of transformation of UCO will help bring health benefits as there would be no recycling of the UCO, employment generation, infrastructural investment in rural areas & cleaner environment with a reduced carbon footprint.
Interactive sessions on Second Generation Ethanol & Biodiesel from UCO shall also be held. The sessions will focus on issues and hurdles being faced by the sector and dwell on how to overcome these hurdles for effective implementation of the blending program across the country.
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