The non-renewability, ecological concerns and health dangers related to the nonrenewable fuel sources has resulted in exploration of alternative sources of energy to substitute the standard ones. A promising technology, still in its infancy, that could show us the method to the future ahead is Biodiesels. Biodiesels are diesel fuels derived 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 includes no petroleum but can be combined with petroleum diesel for use or could be utilized in its pure kind.

Developed nations particularly United States and European Countries have actually currently made considerable advances in the Biodiesel Technology. Biodiesel have actually found its usage throughout markets and verticals and could become an ideal cleaner and less expensive option to petrol, diesel and fossil fuels. India has actually likewise begun checking out the chances to produce and use bio-diesel. A variety of plants for biodiesel transesterification are already operating in the nation where veggie oils are responded with alcohols (ethanol or methanol generally) to produce bio-diesel.

The main reason for the increasing need for biodiesels is the fact that biodiesels are eco-friendly and carbon-neutral, hence having no net impact on the environment. Besides, bio-diesel runs in compression engines similar to typical petroleum diesel and hence can be utilized with little or no engine modifications. Biodiesel do not require any different infrastructure for its storage and can be stored similar to the petroleum based fuels.

Considering the growing energy demand in the country, increasing petroleum prices and the ecological risks of nonrenewable fuel sources, the Indian Government has used up initiatives to develop the Bio Diesel Technology in India and established more oil processing systems. The Government announced its 'National Biofuel Policy' on 12 September 2008 which intends to fulfill 20% of India's diesel demand with bio-fuels in the coming years.

Globally, edible veggie oils like sunflower, soya bean, rape seed, palm oil are utilized as the pre-dominant raw materials for oil processing and biodiesel production but in India the optimal capacity to produce biodiesels is from Jatropha oil - a non-edible one produced from the seeds of the Jatropha curcas. The biggest advantage of utilizing jatropha curcas as a raw material is that this plant can be grown in huge quantities in wastelands all across India requiring extremely little water in contrast to other cash crops. Once grown, the plant has a useful life-span of a number of decades. The Jatropha seeds contain 40% oil and are considered to be an outstanding source of bio-diesel. The Government of India has actually determined 400,000 square kilometres of land suitable for the Jatropha cultivation in the country. India now

A research study estimates that even if a blending initiative of 2% Jatropha based is achieved in 2011-12, India will conserve around Rs. 3000 crores. Besides, it will create around Rs. 5500 crores in the rural economy and assistance in reduction of Green House Gas emission by 3 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) every year. The federal government is taking actions to motivate the growing of jatropha curcas in India supplying complimentary seeds, subsidized loans and other facilities. India needs to now reinforce its efforts to make the maximum usage of the Biodiesel Technology. Besides jatropha curcas, the avenues for extracting biodiesel from vegetable oils, fats, sunflower, rape seed oil and palm oil ought to also be explored. It will not only supply a response to the difficulty of Global Warming but could reduce our dependence on foreign oil and add to our own economy.