India’s bioenergy policy

On December 31, 2002, the Shatabdi Express, one of the top trains in India, ran from Amritsar to New Delhi using fuel blended with Jatropha curcas L. (Jatropha) seed oil. After this, very ambitious goals were set by India in 2003 to blend 20% Jatropha seed oil and ethanol in diesel and petrol by 2017, respectively, and this was expected to reach 30% by the end of 2020. During the last decade, India has undertaken various programs like Ethanol Blended Petrol Program, National Biodiesel Mission, Biodiesel Blending Program, etc., to promote the use of biofuels. Currently, the blending of ethanol in petrol and biodiesel in diesel is only about 2 and 0.1%, respectively. On June 4, 2018, India has revamped its National Policy on Biofuels, with few modifications in earlier bioenergy policies and almost same target of 20% blending of ethanol in petrol and 5% biodiesel oil in diesel by 2030. Within 3 months of release of this policy, Jatropha biodiesel has energized Indian aviation to fly its first biofuel-based flight to cover about 126 miles of air distance on August 27, 2018. Here, I am briefly sharing my views about the journey of bioenergy globally and mindset of Indian policy makers regarding potential developments of bioenergy in India.