India and U.S. join hands to transit from fossil fuels to bio fuels; target set for 2025

Union Petroleum and Natural Gas minister (MoPNG) Hardeep Singh Puri and U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm on September 10 announced the launch of the India-US Task Force on Biofuels. The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) is said to serve as the Secretariat for the Task Force.

The launch of the task force is timely as the Government of India has set a target of 10% ethanol blending of petrol by 2022 and to raise it to 20% by 2025 under the ethanol blending program to curb carbon emissions and reduce India's dependence on imported crude oil.

Characteristics of the India-US Task Force

The newly launched India-US Task Force on Biofuels will integrate private and public sector inputs towards energy security. It will further promote the exchange of the latest technology and encourage the adoption of business models in the Indian and U.S. markets to accelerate the development of the biofuels sector and further strengthen the US-India relationship.

The task force will report its findings to the US- India Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP). To match India's proposed level of biofuel production, it needs to produce 22% more biofuel by 2030.

The task force will provide Indian and U.S. industry stakeholders with a platform to interact with each other in a meaningful way. The Task Force will be co-led by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Reasons for implementation of the task force

The ideologies involved in the implementation of the task force involve moving away from fossil fuels to biofuels. Ethanol, in particular, can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) pollutant emissions and exhaustible resource depletion, and help mitigate climate change. This task force will assist in expanding the source of biofuels and provide a strategic opportunity for India to promote clean energy.

Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, USISPF said,

"USISPF members are represented across the biofuels supply chain, and we are very excited about the launch of this new public-private partnership. The U.S. industry runs a highly successful ethanol domestic blending program and can support India with best practices resulting in economic benefits, including octane economics, output optimization, eventually feeding into the overall economic health of the consumers and country at large."

With inputs from ANI

Image Credits - ANI