The non-renewability, environmental concerns and health risks connected with the nonrenewable fuel sources has actually caused exploration of alternative sources of energy to replace the traditional ones. A promising innovation, still in its infancy, that could show us the method to the future ahead is Biodiesels. Biodiesels are diesel fuels derived from grease or animal-fat that could be utilized to run diesel engines. Vegetables oils like sunflower, rape seed, palm oil, soya bean, jatropha curcas and so on can be subjected to oil processing to produce biodiesels. It includes no petroleum however can be combined with petroleum diesel for usage or could be used in its pure form.


Developed countries particularly United States and European Countries have already made significant advances in the Biodiesel Technology. Biodiesel have discovered its use across markets and verticals and could emerge as an ideal cleaner and cheaper alternative to gas, diesel and nonrenewable fuel sources. India has actually also started checking out the opportunities to produce and use bio-diesel. A variety of plants for biodiesel transesterification are already operating in the country where vegetable oils are reacted with alcohols (ethanol or methanol typically) to produce bio-diesel.


The main factor for the increasing demand for biodiesels is the truth that biodiesels are sustainable and carbon-neutral, thus having no net effect on the environment. Besides, bio-diesel runs in compression engines much like normal petroleum diesel and thus can be used with little or no engine adjustments. Biodiesel do not require any separate infrastructure for its storage and can be kept much like the petroleum based fuels.


Considering the growing energy demand in the nation, increasing petroleum costs and the environmental hazards of fossil fuels, the Indian Government has used up initiatives to develop the Bio Diesel Technology in India and established more oil processing systems. The Government announced its 'National Biofuel Policy' on 12 September 2008 which intends to fulfill 20% of India's diesel need with bio-fuels in the coming years.


Globally, edible vegetable oils like sunflower, soya bean, rape seed, palm oil are utilized as the pre-dominant basic materials for oil processing and biodiesel production but in India the optimal capacity to produce biodiesels is from jatropha curcas oil - a non-edible one produced from the seeds of the Jatropha curcas. The biggest advantage of using jatropha curcas as a raw material is that this plant can be grown in huge quantities in wastelands all throughout India requiring very little water in contrast to other cash crops. Once grown, the plant has a useful life-span of a number of decades. The jatropha curcas seeds consist of 40% oil and are considered to be an exceptional source of bio-diesel. The Government of India has determined 400,000 square kilometres of land appropriate for the jatropha curcas cultivation in the nation. India now


A research study estimates that even if a blending initiative of 2% jatropha curcas based Biodiesel is attained in 2011-12, India will save around Rs. 3000 crores. Besides, it will create around Rs. 5500 crores in the rural economy and aid in decrease of Green House Gas emission by 3 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) every year. The federal government is taking steps to encourage the cultivation of Jatropha in India offering free seeds, subsidized loans and other facilities. India requires to now strengthen its efforts to make the fullest use of the Biodiesel Technology. Besides jatropha curcas, the avenues for extracting biodiesel from veggie oils, fats, sunflower, rape seed oil and palm oil ought to also be explored. It will not just offer a response to the challenge of Global Warming however might decrease our dependence on foreign oil and contribute to our own economy.