Biofuels, as an alternative fuel resources, have a strong potential to provide immediate solutions for the problems of environmental degradation, energy security and rising import bills. The biofuels, which at present can be blended with transportation fuels, comprise of ethanol and biodiesel. Though the production practices in producing biodiesel are uniform in most of the countries (transesterification), the source of raw material varies depending on agroclimatic conditions. Many countries in the world use edible oil as source of raw material for the production of biodiesel. Compared to ethanol blending, the biodiesel industry is still at a very nascent stage. This article aims to show the recent progress and the potential of biodiesel industry at the global level.
The
global crude oil prices are threatening the world. The rate at which our oil consumption
is growing, it will not be long before the crude oil prices touch US$100 a barrel.
On the other hand, the oil reserves are depleting at an alarming rate. The rate
at which our consumption is growing, it far exceeds the rate at which new oil
reserves are being discovered. According to estimates, we consume three to four
barrels of crude oil for every one barrel of crude oil discovered. Adding fuel
to fire are issues like terrorism and world's dependence on Middle East countries
for sourcing their oil requirement. Any hostile situation developing in this region
could seriously jeopardize the supply of global oil in the world. It would not
be surprising, if we face another oil crisis in the years to come. The high crude
oil prices have a potential of causing serious imbalances in the global economic
conditions.
China,
for instance , is going through a tremendous growth phase. It alone accounted
for 44% of the rise in global demand for oil. Countries like India are not far
behind. India in the year 2004-2005 consumed around 127 million tones of Crude
Oil, according to its Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Out of this, we imported
95.857 million tons of crude oil whose value was around US$29.8 bn. This value
shot up to US$43.8 bn in the year 2005-2006. As our annual growth rate continues
to be around 8%, the consumption of oil is going to grow at an increasing rate.
This huge oil import bill is causing a major strain on our current account balance.
Surely in near future countries will have to devise strategies in order to reduce
their dependence on fossil fuels as source of energy. If energy security and economic
imbalances are not enough reasons, then at least the environmental hazards caused
by burning of fossil fuels should motivate the governments to promote the development
of alternate renewable sources of fuel. As we all know that using fossil fuels
is increasing the emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide which is causing
a rise in the global temperature. To mitigate these problems we have to develop
alternate sources of fuel. Many options are available from developing hydel power,
geothermal energy, wind energy, bio fuels etc. |
