SATAT Initiative - Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation

Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation, acronymed as SATAT is an initiative by the Government of India to promote Compressed Bio-Gas as an alternative, green transport fuel.

Being an initiative by the government of India, SATAT initiative is an important topic from the point of view of competitive exams. Aspirants preparing for different Government exams must carefully go through the topic for their general awareness section.  

Candidates who are preparing for the IAS Exam might question the SATAT initiative in the prelims and general studies paper of UPSC. 

Hence the article aims to upkeep all the aspirants with various aspects of SATAT initiative.

Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation – SATAT Overview

1. SATAT is an initiative launched by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship in October 2018.
2. The initiative aims to set up Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) production plants and make available CBG in the market for use in automotive fuels.
3. It was launched on the penultimate day of the ongoing Swachhta Hi Seva fortnight, a mass movement to fulfil Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of a Clean India. You can read more on the Swachchta Hi Seva Campaign on the linked page. 
4. The objective of SATAT initiative is to boost the availability of more affordable transport fuels, better use of agricultural residue, cattle dung and municipal solid waste as well as to provide an additional revenue source to farmers.
5. SATAT was launched in association with the Public Sector Undertakings and Oil Marketing companies such as Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.
6. The Compressed Bio-Gas plants are proposed to be set up mainly through independent entrepreneurs. 
7. It is planned to roll out 5,000 Compressed Bio-Gas plants across India in a phased manner in the next 4 years.

Go through the relevant details on other government initiatives for clean India-

SATAT Initiative – Aim

1. The initiative is aimed at providing a Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation as a developmental effort that would benefit both vehicle-users as well as farmers and entrepreneurs. 
2. The SATAT initiative holds great promise for efficient municipal solid waste management and in tackling the problem of polluted urban air due to farm stubble-burning and carbon emissions. 

Candidates can go through the relevant information on Stubble Burning on the linked page.

1. Use of CBG will also help bring down dependency on crude oil imports and in realising the Prime Minister’s vision of enhancing farmers’ income, rural employment and entrepreneurship.

SATAT Initiative – Significance

1. SATAT initiative has the potential of addressing environmental problems arising from stubble burning.
2. It will help in efficient municipal solid waste management and in tackling the problem of polluted urban air and carbon emissions
3. Through the use of CBG – Compressed Bio-gas SATAT will help bring down dependency on crude oil imports and in enhancing farmers’ income, rural employment and entrepreneurship.
4. This initiative is expected to generate direct employment for 75,000 people and produce 50 million tonnes of bio-manure for crops.
5. Compressed Bio-Gas is exactly similar to the commercially available natural gas in its composition and energy potential. With similar calorific value and other properties similar to Compressed Natural Gas, CBG can be used as an alternative, renewable automotive fuel. 
6. Given the abundance of biomass in the country, Compressed Bio-Gas has the potential to replace CNG in automotive, industrial and commercial uses in the coming years.

Candidates preparing for various competitive exams can visit the link provided to prepare even better for the examination-

1. Government Exams Free Mock Test Series
2. Government Exam Previous Year Question Papers with Solution PDFs

Government Support Schemes

1. Earlier, the Government of India had launched the GOBAR-DHAN (Galvanising Organic Bio-Agro Resources) scheme to convert cattle dung and solid waste in farms to CBG and compost.
2. The National Policy on Biofuels 2018 emphasises the active promotion of advanced bio-fuels, including CBG. Read in detail about the National Policy on Bio Fuels 2018 on the link provided here.
3. The programme will be funded under Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) component of Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin (SBM-G) to benefit households in identified villages through Gram Panchayats. 

Way Forward with Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation

1. Compressed Bio-Gas can be produced from various bio-mass/waste sources which include agricultural residue, municipal solid waste, sugarcane press mud, distillery spent wash, cattle dung and sewage treatment plant waste.  
2. The other waste streams cover rotten potatoes from cold storages, rotten vegetables, dairy plants, chicken/poultry litter, food waste, horticulture waste, forestry residues and treated organic waste from industrial effluent treatment plants (ETPs) can be used to generate biogas. Therefore, the potential for Compressed Bio-Gas production from various sources in India is estimated at about 62 million tonnes per annum. 
3. Compressed Bio-Gas networks can be integrated with city gas distribution (CGD) networks to boost supplies to domestic and retail users. It can also be injected into city Gas Distributors pipelines too for efficient distribution and optimised access of a cleaner and more affordable fuel.

Every bit of biomass can be used to produce bio-gas and bio-manure. This will go a long way in making India energy self-reliant, help combat global warming and mitigate climate change.

SATAT Initiative – Related Links

Aspirants preparing for the UPSC exam can check the links given below –

1. UPSC 2021
2. UPSC Calendar 2021
3. UPSC Syllabus
4. Analysis of the Press Information Bureau

You can also check out the preparation strategies for competitive exams to fine-tune your exam prep.