Indian Railways Going Green the Bio-Diesel Way
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Feature
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The
Bio-Diesel
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*Sachinder Mohan
Sharma
With
growth in the world economy the demand for energy and transportation has been
increasing. The BRICS nations have been growing and China and India today are
consuming higher levels of fuel to sustain their growing economies. The
overall energy requirement in India is likely to increase from 549 Million
tonne oil equivalent (mtoe) in 2011-12 to 1433 mtoe by 2031-32, a 2.6 fold
increase. The transport sector which currently consumes 86 mtoe which is about
16% of the energy consumption is likely to increase to 360 mtoe by 2031-32 and
would be 25% of the total energy consumption. The transport sector would grow
by 4.2 times. The transport sector consumed 57% of the oil in 2011-12 and this
would go up-to 73% by 2031-32 in the business as usual scenario. About 97% of
the fuel basket for transportation is based on petroleum and the balance 3% is
equally shared by CNG, bio-fuels and electricity. As per the current trends
this mix would continue even in 2031-32. If we look at the consumption pattern
in the transport sector, the road vehicles consume 93% of the oil, 3% each is
consumed by Railways and Airways and the balance 1% by waterways.
Indian
Railways (IR) today has the largest passenger operation in the world and
carries about 23 million passengers every day. Recently it has also entered
the billion tonne club and is expected to carry more than 1100 million tonne of
freight traffic in the current year. For providing transport services Indian
Railways consumes 2.7 billion liters of high speed diesel and 13.9 billion
units of electricity. Most of the electricity consumed is also produced using
fossil fuels like coal, diesel etc. Higher use of fossil fuels means higher
carbon foot prints in transpiration. It is in this context that IR has
envisaged in its vision 2020 to ensure that 10% of its energy needs are met
through renewable. Bio-diesel is a substitute for diesel and can be sourced
from various raw materials. It is green and renewable and can be blended with
diesel and used without any modification to the locomotives. Use of B5 blend
translates into a requirement of about 0.13 billion litres. However,
volatility of the oil market also impacts the demand/supply of bio-diesel since
it is a substitute for diesel.
In
this context a bio-fuels 2014 conference which was recently held in Delhi on 5th
November, 2014 was relevant for the transport sector. The theme of the
conference was “Energize Growth & Business opportunities in Biodiesel
Sector in India”. It provided opportunity for policy makers, researchers,
consultants, industry professionals, consumers, manufacturers and sellers from
both private and public sector to interact and share their views on a common
platform. The inaugural address was delivered by the Hob’ble Union Minister of
Railways, The Hon’ble Union Minister for Shipping Road Transport and National
Highways, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj the Hon’ble Minister of State
for Railways and Dr. Suresh Prabhu, ex. Power Minister, Government Of India. The
meeting was also attended by the Chairman, Railway Board, Member Staff/Member
Electrical, Ministry of Railways and other senior officials. They stressed the
importance of alternate fuels especially bio-fuels to reduce oil imports and
carbon emissions.
Indian
Railways has already conducted trials with 20% blending on diesel engine test
bed at RDSO. Field trials have also been done with B5/B10 and many units like
Shakurbasti, Kharagpur, Perambur etc. have manufactured bio-diesel using small
plants of upto 2000 literes per day. Railways also tried to plant Jatropha
trees along the tracks but were not very successful.
Issues
of transportation, blending, storage and dispensing were deliberated during the
conference. The manufacturers gave their prospective on raw material,
bio-diesel plants and technology for production. Singapore based manufacturers
JOil provided ideas on how to improve the yield and adopt best practices in
production of seeds. Bio cube from Australia show cased their technology for
off grid bio diesel production with zero discharge. The socio-economic impact
of bio-diesel was also deliberated upon by looking at linking science, living
hoods and polices for sustainable bio fuels. The conference tried to outline
the road ahead for proliferation of bio fuel in the transport and Railway
sector.
Railways
being the single largest bulk consumer have to set an example in the use of
green fuels for sustainable transportation. These efforts are essential as it
is estimated that climate change mitigation and adaptation measures will cost
around 5% of the world GDP and the developing countries would be worst
affected.
*Sachinder
Mohan Sharma is Director E&R, Railway Board
(PIB Features)
Email: - featuresunit@gmail.com
himalaya@nic.in
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