Bio-diesel units in India are facing the heat of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, as Asian and West Asian countries have stopped importing buffalo and goat meat, leading to a drop in animal tallow production, a key raw material of biodiesel.
Tallow is a rendered form of beef or mutton fat, used as a feedstock by the bio-diesel industry in winter. “Animal fat or tallow is used by a majority of manufacturing units as other sources like palm oil are costly. The problem is that animal fat is a by-product of the meat industry. After the outbreak of Covid-19, meat exports declined and our plants started running at around 30-40 per cent capacity since December,” said Shiva Vig, director, BioD Energy, a Haryana-based bio-diesel manufacturer.
