Cabinet may approve development of Global Biofuel Alliance
The Union Cabinet is likely to approve development of the Global Biofuel Alliance on Wednesday, reported ET Now, citing sources.
The Global Biofuel Alliance has been one of the priorities under India’s G20 Presidency and was announced by Hardeep S Puri, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Housing & Urban Affairs during India Energy Week 2023.
In February 2023, Brazil, India and the United States, as leading biofuel producers and consumers, had decided to work together during the next few months towards the development of a Global Biofuels Alliance along with other interested countries.
The alliance is aimed at facilitating cooperation and intensifying the use of sustainable biofuels, including in the transportation sector. The objective of this alliance is to emphasis on strengthening markets, facilitating global biofuels trade, development of concrete policy lesson-sharing and provision of technical support for national biofuels programs worldwide. It will also emphasize the already implemented best practices and success cases, as per a government press release.
“The Alliance shall work in collaboration with and complement the relevant existing regional and international agencies as well as initiatives in the bioenergy, bioeconomy, and energy transition fields more broadly, including the Clean Energy Ministerial Biofuture Platform, the Mission Innovation Bioenergy initiatives, and the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP),” said the release.
Prime Minister Modi had also pitched for the global alliance on biofuels saying it will help accelerate sustainable biofuels deployment in support of the global energy transition.
The biofuels alliance, which the world’s third biggest oil consumer wants to push during its G20 presidency, mirrors the International Solar Alliance (ISA) piloted by New Delhi and Paris in 2015 to bring clean and affordable solar energy within the reach of all.
“Such (biofuel) alliances are aimed at creating options for developing countries to advance their energy transitions,” PM told PTI in an exclusive interview late last week.
“Biofuels are also important from the perspective of a circular economy. Markets, trade, technology, and policy – all aspects of international cooperation are crucial in creating such opportunities,” he said.
Biofuel is a renewable source of energy which is derived from biomass. India, which imports over 85 per cent of its crude oil needs, is gradually building capacity to produce fuel from items including crop stubble, plant waste, and municipal solid waste.
“Such alternatives can enhance energy security, create opportunities for domestic industry, and create green jobs – all crucial elements in ensuring a transition that leaves no one behind,” Modi said.
While India is on schedule to double the mixing of ethanol extracted from sugarcane and agriculture waste to 20 per cent with petrol by 2025, dozens of compressed biogas (CBG) plants are being set up.
The alliance is aimed at facilitating cooperation and intensifying the use of sustainable biofuels, including in the transportation sector. Its focus primarily is on strengthening markets, facilitating global biofuels trade, development of concrete policy lesson-sharing, and provision of technical support for national biofuels programs worldwide.
Such an initiative is also aimed at helping India’s transition to alternative fuels and cutting its import bill, as it aims to achieve its net zero carbon emissions goal by 2070.
Liquid biofuels provided more than four per cent of the total transport energy supply in 2022.
