Move over bio-diesel, the new green diesel is all set to revolutionalise the fuel market by offering cost-effective and environment-friendly solution for the transport sector in the country. US-based diversified technology and manufacturing company, Honeywell, is planning to launch its new technology for the production of green diesel in India soon. Green diesel is similar to the petroleum diesel in chemical composition and can replace the conventional bio-diesel which has the disadvantage of limited shelf life.
The offer from the $34-billion company will be through its wholly-owned subsidiary UOP, which is a leading international supplier of process technology and plants to the petroleum refining, petrochemical and gas-processing industries. The company is also registered in the country.
?We are planning to introduce green diesel technology in the Indian market and looking for partners,? Anjan Ray, regional commercial director, renewable energy and chemicals, UOP, said.
?Green diesel is similar to petroleum diesel in chemical composition and has unlimited shelf life unlike bio diesel. The use of blended green diesel can lead to a 60-80% reduction in carbon footprint,? Ray said.
The government targets to achieve blending 20% bio-diesel with petroleum diesel for use as automotive fuel by 2017. However, there is not much progress in this direction.
The national bio-fuel policy has envisaged using oil from non-edible seeds for use as feedstock in production of bio-diesel. Jatropha plantations are the preferred source for feedstock in the Indian bio-diesel industry. However, oil production from one hectare of Jatropha plantations are about 3 tonne a year.
As a result, feedstock shortage has emerged as a key bottleneck in scaling up the capacity of bio-diesel manufacturing units.
Green diesel offer proposes to address this issue by reducing the size of area required for feedstock development programme as well as providing wider option of product for use as feedstock.
?We are looking to partner companies who have access to feedstock,? Ray said adding that they have an MoU with Indian Oil Corporation for its green diesel project.
UOP is investing $ 34 million to set up an R&D centre in Gurgaon which will also act as centre to guide technology developments in green diesel suited for Indian feedstock.
The government has tightened emission norms for petrol and diesel. The objective is to reduce air pollution and also increase energy efficiency of vehicles. As a result, refineries have invested hugely to implement projects to produce Euro-III and Euro-IV-compliant auto fuels. Use of green diesel can help in achieving the twin target of reduction in vehicular pollution and improvement in energy efficiency.
?Use of blended green diesel would help improve energy efficiency of engines and also bring down sulphur content,? he added. Unlike bio-diesel, green diesel could also be used directly in automobiles. Honeywell has used its green jet fuel successfully to power first transatlantic bio- fuel flight.
?The UOP?s technology is adapted to run on local feedstock. It can also run on feedstock available from Salicornia which grows up in marshy lands. Feedstock accounts for 80-85% of the green diesel price. Price of the green fuel would be in the same range as the current market price of diesel,? the UOP executive said.
?A green diesel manufacturing plant is coming up in the US. It may start production by 2014,? Ray said.
?It is high time the government takes step to build capacity for indigenous feedstock for bio-diesel production. Otherwise, this will remain a non-starter,? Sandeep Chaturvedi, president, Bio-diesel Association of India, said.