India’s successful execution of the EBP over the last 10 years has created an unparalleled model for the world. It demonstrates how to adopt biofuels efficiently and seamlessly in a record time. Indian endeavours, now, towards increasing the availability of biogas for replacing fossil-based gases for energy consumption also promise to leave positive impact on both the country’s carbon footprint and general rural welfare.
Strategic importance of biofuels in India's sustainable future
With a population surpassing 1.4 billion and an economy poised for exponential growth, the need for India to balance burgeoning energy demands with environmental imperatives cannot be overstated. The country needs to envision a future where its citizens can get rightful access to clean air, water, plenty of natural resources, and, all this with an ecosystem supporting a sustainable environment. To expedite this progress, India needs to increase its reliance on sustainable energy solutions like biofuels.
Derived from renewable resources such as biomass and agricultural waste, biofuels provide a cleaner alternative to conventional fossil fuels in our energy palettes, for meeting needs, whether it is surface mobility, aviation, shipping, or even power production. Today, it is possible to leverage bioenergy to fuel each of these energy needs and that also with lower permanent emissions. India has achieved an avoidance of as much as 1.5 tonnes of GHG emissions per kilolitre of bio-ethanol replacing petrol in our cars, amounting to more than 40 million tonnes of savings in GHG emissions over the last decade.
Considering India's socio-demographic structure, where more than 60% of our working population is dependent on agrarian activities; by encouraging biofuel adoption, India can not only reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports and save on its import bill but also create jobs in agriculture to advance its economic growth. And, with the global demand for biofuels expected to rise by 30% over the next 5 years, with almost 2/3 of the demand for bio-ethanol and 1/3 for Sustainable Aviation Fuel, India also has the potential to be one of the world’s largest suppliers of both these commodities, and for the first time, the Indian farmer’s role will further build on huge success in ethanol to become an energy supplier to the world – from “Annadata to Urjadata”. With an estimated ethanol supply of 400-450 Cr litres valued at around INR 25000 - 28000 @INR 63 per litre (assumed as average current price), these additional avenues have potential of adding further to incomes to Indian farmer community and of course much more.
With the success of technology like 2-G, the opportunity for the Indian farmer to profit from what was earlier discarded as waste is now very much a reality. This waste, which posed a huge management problem (Google stubble burning and Delhi air pollution for more information), could inculcate the much-needed Green Revolution 2.0 across India.
Food security and biofuels
Food security is a global concern and in a "food vs fuel" debate, it's important to consider the food security as a higher pedestal imperative and demonstrate backed by the solid scientific evidence that the increased usage of biofuels does not in any way militate against mandate of food systems.
Using crops like sugarcane for biofuel can, besides, taking care of food security related concerns will result in further boosting farmer incomes, improved domestic sugar production resulting in near surplus stocks, paving the way for enhanced diversion for production of ethanol – having contributed nearly 80% of bio-ethanol for India’s EBP program. If harnessed properly, sugar cane can become a key contributor of bio molecules in national E 100 journey.
Government initiatives: Ensuring bharat harnesses the strategic potential of its bio-future
India has a natural affinity for biofuels. The government advanced the 20% blending target from 2030 to 2025, recognizing the sector's rapid growth. The phenomenal scale was achieved mostly on the back of policy support but with minimal or no major budgetary allocation. In case of India, with so many urgent requirements competing for limited capital and financial support, it is critical that the adopted transition pathway involves minimal capital outlay. Biofuels are an ideal candidate, as promoting biofuels not only helps bring down the carbon footprint, it also helps strengthen the rural economy and provide much needed bottom-up push to the Indian Economy. So beyond abated carbon emissions, biofuels also end up an ideal solution for a country like India due to all-round positive ESG credentials of this energy sourcing pathway.
Balancing taxation & incentives and policy representation
As the global automotive industry witnesses a shift towards electrification, the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles will still play an integral role in India's clean mobility transition. While EVs are gaining traction in the market, their high upfront costs, limited charging infrastructure, and the need for sustainable electricity generation need to be addressed before they can replace ICE vehicles at scale
In this scenario, biofuels emerge as a perfectly viable option to reduce the carbon footprint of the existing vehicle fleet, representing a unique India led transition pathway checking all the right boxes. By blending biofuels with traditional fuels, we can achieve a substantial reduction in emissions from ICE vehicles without the need for major modifications to the existing infrastructure or vehicle engines. For instance, ethanol blends of up to 20% can be used in most petrol engines with minor modifications, making it a practical and cost-effective solution, meeting the needs for the transition to be both orderly as well as affordable.
It is the need of the hour for the government to balance its decarbonisation approach for surface mobility for all available technologies.
A 2023 McKinsey report shows 60% of an EV's emissions come from battery manufacturing, which also has a large water footprint due to lithium mining. At present India's electricity grid is 60% powered by fossil fuels, mainly coal, making EV charging indirectly carbon-intensive. It is critical that India chooses pathways that result in reduced emissions when emissions across all three scopes, scope, 1, 2, scope 3 upstream and downstream are factored in. Not only, India needs to continue adding to clean electricity supply options, it is necessary that excess electrons are diverted to the usages with maximum impact in terms of abating carbon, again on this count it is arguable if the additional electrons, if available merit being used in surface mobility or its deployment in use like hard to abate sectors, may end up being far more impactful from overall desirability perspective.
India's energy mix includes solar (19%), wind (10%), and coal (49%), with solar and wind being inconsistent. Most EV charging happens at night, so significant investments in energy storage and grid infrastructure are essential to reduce coal reliance and maximise renewable energy for EV charging.
Moreover, biofuels produce biogenic emissions, which are captured cyclically with the continuous crop growing and harvesting processes every year. The carbon neutrality of biofuels is well acknowledged by international bodies like the UNFCCC and IEA. It is the fulcrum of India’s efforts towards creating a global alliance for biofuels.
Th carbon benefits of biofuels are grossly under-represented in the Indian policy space and it is time that biogenic emissions are not treated the same as fossil-based emissions when taking even critically impacting policy decisions like setting up of CAFÉ norms for vehicle emissions.
The CAFÉ norms, intended to reduce import of crude oil for augmenting energy security objective of country, can accelerate the efforts in this direction by correct and just accounting of non-fossil CO2 from ethanol combustion. This is also as per IPCC guidelines. Considering Bio-fuel energy pathways into CAFÉ norms can promote the uptake of Bio-fuels in compatible ICE vehicles from OEMs leading to faster energy security.
Conclusion
Linking biofuels with their carbon impact could help India capture the growing market for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), as seen in Brazil and the USA with policies like RenovaBio and the Inflation Reduction Act 2022. India aims to blend 1% SAF by 2027 and 5% by 2030, and with the right policy incentives, Indian farmers could become key SAF suppliers to both domestic and international aviation markets, particularly in South Asia and MENA regions.
Given India’s remarkable leadership of the G20 and the Global Biofuels Alliance, as well as its enormous and yet only partially tapped potential for producing bioenergy, the country must undertake strategic actions to ensure a level playing field for the clean mobility option impacting millions of Indian farmers. They should capitalise on rising global demand for biofuels (expected to increase by 30% by 2027, according to the IEA) and ensure that holistic and carbon-focused policies are the way forward for India above all other considerations. This is an opportunity for BHARAT to become a role model for the rest of the world, assuring other economies that local resources can be harnessed to achieve carbon reduction and fulfill the aspirations of large strata of its population.
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