The non-renewability, environmental issues and health hazards associated with the nonrenewable fuel sources has actually led to exploration of alternative sources of energy to substitute the conventional ones. A promising technology, still in its infancy, that might reveal us the way to the future ahead is Biodiesels. Biodiesels are diesel fuels stemmed from grease or animal-fat that could be used to run diesel motors. Vegetables oils like sunflower, rape seed, palm oil, soya bean, jatropha curcas etc can be subjected to oil processing to produce biodiesels. It contains no petroleum however can be blended with petroleum diesel for use or might be utilized in its pure kind.

Developed countries especially United States and European Countries have actually currently made significant advances in the Biodiesel Technology. Biodiesel have discovered its usage throughout industries and verticals and could become an ideal cleaner and less expensive option to gas, diesel and nonrenewable fuel sources. India has also started exploring the opportunities to produce and use bio-diesel. A variety of plants for biodiesel transesterification are currently functioning in the country where vegetable oils are responded with alcohols (ethanol or methanol generally) to produce bio-diesel.

The main factor for the increasing demand for biodiesels is the reality that biodiesels are eco-friendly and carbon-neutral, thus having no net influence on the environment. Besides, bio-diesel runs in compression engines just like normal petroleum diesel and hence can be utilized with little or no engine adjustments. Biodiesel do not need any different infrastructure for its storage and can be stored much like the petroleum based fuels.

Considering the growing energy need in the country, rising petroleum costs and the ecological risks of fossil fuels, the Indian Government has used up efforts to establish the Bio Diesel Technology in India and set up more oil processing units. The Government announced its 'National Biofuel Policy' on 12 September 2008 which aims to meet 20% of India's diesel need with bio-fuels in the coming years.

Globally, edible vegetable oils like sunflower, soya bean, rape seed, palm oil are used as the pre-dominant basic materials for oil processing and biodiesel production however in India the optimal capacity to produce biodiesels is from jatropha curcas oil - a non-edible one produced from the seeds of the Jatropha curcas. The greatest advantage of using Jatropha as a basic material is that this plant can be grown in big amounts in wastelands all throughout India requiring very little water in contrast to other cash crops. Once grown, the plant has a helpful life expectancy of a number of decades. The jatropha curcas seeds contain 40% oil and are considered to be an exceptional source of bio-diesel. The Government of India has actually determined 400,000 square kilometres of land ideal for the jatropha curcas growing in the country. India now

A research study approximates that even if a mixing initiative of 2% jatropha curcas based Biodiesel is accomplished in 2011-12, India will save around Rs. 3000 crores. Besides, it will around Rs. 5500 crores in the rural economy and help in reduction of Green House Gas emission by 3 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) every year. The federal government is taking steps to motivate the cultivation of Jatropha in India supplying free seeds, subsidized loans and other facilities. India requires to now reinforce its efforts to make the maximum use of the Biodiesel Technology. Besides jatropha curcas, the opportunities for drawing out biodiesel from veggie oils, fats, sunflower, rape seed oil and palm oil need to likewise be explored. It will not just supply an answer to the obstacle of Global Warming however could reduce our dependence on foreign oil and contribute to our own economy.