Biofuels [UPSC Notes]

On the last day of the India Energy week held in Bengaluru, India, in February 2023, leveraging its position as the current President of G20, India launched the Global Biofuels Alliance. Apart from this, the Prime Minister also launched the E20 fuels in India across 83 cities.

In this context, know what are biofuels, what are their advantages and associated concerns, what are the types of biofuels, etc. Biofuels are an important topic for the IAS exam environment and ecology segment.

What are Biofuels?

Biofuels refer to any fuel produced from Biomass. What differentiates them from other biomass-based fuels like fossil fuels, is the factor of time. Biofuels are produced in a very short time, ranging from a few days to a few weeks or months. Fossil fuels on the other hand take millions of years for their production.

Biofuels Classification

Biofuels can be classified based on:-

1. Type of fuel:
   1. Solid Biofuels: They include fuels that are solid, and can be directly burnt to produce energy. E.g. wood, grass, straw, cow dung, etc.
   2. Liquid Biofuels: They are very important for us when it comes to the blending of these fuels with petrol or diesel for running vehicles. E.g. ethanol, biodiesel, etc. Know more about the ethanol blended petrol programme and E20 fuel in the linked article.
   3. Gaseous Biofuels: They are in a gaseous state and their components include inflammable gasses like methane. E.g. Biogas.
2. Generation of Biofuel:
   1. First Generation: They are produced from food crops like corn, sugarcane, or vegetable oils, etc, by processes like fermentation. They are very easy to produce, however, they can lead to the issue of food security.
   2. Second Generation: These biofuels are produced from either the non-food crops like Jatropha or the parts of the food crops which are not edible like straw, husk, skins, wood chips, etc. These fuels do not affect food security, however, compared to the first generation, the process for the production of these fuels is complicated.
   3. Third Generation: In this generation, microorganisms like algae are used for the production of biofuels. They can be grown on land and water that is not suitable for the cultivation of crops. However, one disadvantage related to these biofuels, apart from the complicated production process, is the pollution that the fertilizers used to aid the growth of the microorganism can cause.
   4. Fourth Generation: This generation uses biotechnological tools to create genetically modified plants which absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while growing. Once the plants mature, biofuels can be made out of them using the same technology used for 2nd generation fuels. Such fuels are considered Carbon Negative because their production extracts carbon from the environment.

Benefits of Biofuels

• Improve our energy security: India produces about 450-500 million tonnes of Biomass each year. If we can convert this into biofuels successfully, that might help reduce our dependency on other countries for our fuel needs. Just an example, between 2014-21, ethanol blending helped us save 26,509 crore rupees in fuel import bills.
• Can be produced from diverse sources: Biofuels can be produced from a diverse variety of materials ranging from food crops to microorganisms. This will further help in their decentralized production.
• Reduced carbon emissions: Blending fossil fuels with biofuels can help in reducing carbon emissions. For e.g. one crore litre of ethanol-blended petrol can prevent the emission of 20,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the environment.
• Improvement of air quality: These fuels are much cleaner than fossil fuels, and can help in the improvement of air quality. This is especially important for India, as we top the list of the most polluted countries of the world according to the World Population Review.
• Reduce carbon footprint associated with the import of fuels: Since India is not self-sufficient in terms of fuels, they are imported from many countries. The oil containers that carry them use a large amount of fuel to move from one location to another. This increases the fuel import-related carbon footprint which can be reduced by the decentralized production of biofuels.
• Economic benefits to farmers, sugar mill owners, etc: The farmers can grow biofuel-related raw materials in the less fertile lands as well. Even the sugar mill owners can sell the ethanol produced from the sugarcanes to the Oil Marketing Companies. This can add an income stream for the sugar mills.
• Job creation: From farming to the manufacturing process, the biofuel sector has a promise of generating many jobs throughout its life cycle.
• Longer engine life: The use of blended fuels helps in reducing the wear and tear of the engines, thereby increasing the life of the engine and the vehicle as a whole.
• Carbon Sequestration in the longer run: This is a significant benefit associated with the 4th generation of biofuels. Know more about carbon sequestration in the linked article.

Concerns related to Biofuels

• Food Security v/s Fuel Security: This is important in the case of the 1st and the 2nd Generation Biofuels. If the food crops are diverted for the generation of fuels, then the amount available for people to consume will reduce. Also, even if we start growing non-food crops for biofuels, this would include the diversion of agricultural land for growing such products. However, the land used for the 2nd generation of crops is usually not fit for growing food crops. Notably, the 3rd and 4th generation fuels might help in resolving this issue.
• Life Cycle Pollution: Currently, a lot of machines are used for the production of crops for biofuels. The fertilizers are used to aid their growth. This causes a large amount of water and soil pollution associated with biofuels. However, in the longer run, the development of carbon sequestration technologies and the 4th generation of biofuels will help in allaying these concerns.

Global Biofuels Alliance

The Alliance created under the leadership of India includes multiple governmental and private stakeholders, which have come together in order to increase the use of biofuels, give a push to their development and create more awareness about them.

• The members include India, the USA, Brazil, the European Union, the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Biofuels Alliance (a group of 20 countries that wish to promote sustainable, innovative and scalable low-carbon bio-economies), the Indian Sugar Mills Association and the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.
• The USA and Brazil are leaders when it comes to both the production and consumption of biofuels. In fact, Brazil has also been using 100% ethanol for running its vehicles already.

Globally, the IEA has projected that the demand for ethanol will increase by 28% between 2021-26. So it is important that proper facilities are in place to cater to this demand so that the world does not have to experience yet another shortage.

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