Bhubaneswar: Oil marketing companies under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas celebrated World Bio Fuel Day at the Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology here Friday.
Every year August 10 is observed as World Bio Fuel Day to create awareness about non-fossil fuels (Green Fuels).
On this day in 1893, Sir Rudolph Diesel (inventor of the diesel engine) successfully operated a mechanical engine with peanut oil. His experiment proved that vegetable oil can replace fossil fuels in the next century to fuel mechanical engines. World Biofuel Day is observed every year on August 10 to mark this achievement.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural gas started observing World Bio Fuel Day from 2015. On August 10, 2015, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Skill Development Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan launched the Bio Diesel blending programme in New Delhi, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Haldia.
An international conference on ‘Energy Security for India – Creating a Bio Fuel Economy’ was organized by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on August 10, 2016, at the Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.
The National Bio Fuel Policy 2018 aims to achieve 20 per cent Ethanol blending in Petrol by 2030.
Surendranath Pasupalak, Vice Chancellor, OUAT, Pritish Bharat, Chief General Manager, IOCL, Samir Mohanty, social activist, Dr NK Dhal, HoD, Environment and Sustainability Department attended the function.
- Reduction in the burning of agricultural residues/biomass, reducing release of harmful air pollutants.
- Enhances the nation’s self sufficiency by reducing crude oil imports and saving forex.
- Additional revenue for farmers
- Employment generation in rural areas.
- Conversion of 120-160 million tons/year of agricultural residue into alcohol using new technologies.
- Bio-ethanol derived from agricultural residues cut GHG (Green House Gas) emissions by approximately 92 per cent compared to fossil fuels.
The World Bio Fuel Day is being celebrated this year in three different places in Odisha – Bhubaneswar, Bargarh and Bhavanipatna with the participation of students, farmers and the public.
The theme for this year’s Bio Fuel Day is ‘Making our Planet a Better Place with Bio Fuel’. Quiz and Painting Competitions were held in various schools in these places. A rally will also be taken out to spread the message of Bio Fuel.