Use of jatropha oil can solve energy crisis: Study

With the cost of power and fuel on the rise, jatropha oil may well spell a boon for farmers, if the studies conducted on that front are to be believed. Studies prove that jatropha oil helps reduce energy and fuel consumption.

Jatropha oil can be effectively used to meet the energy needs of agricultural activities such as operation of water lifting pumps and farm machineries, according to P Radhakrishna, regional director (technical), ministry of non-conventional energy sources, Chennai.

In a study conducted by the Centre on 'Jatropha Oil & Power Cost Savings', Radhakrishna found that if all the pumps in the country could be operated using jatropha oil, it would result in an energy savings to the tune of 25-30 per cent.

While underlining the need for taking a policy initiative to promote the use of non-edible oils in the farm sector, he said the efficiency of seed collection should be improved from the present 10 per cent to 30 per cent so that eight million tonnes of seeds could be collected by 2010 to meet the growing energy crisis.

"Agriculture consumed 30 per cent of the total energy produced from all forms of energy sources. In fact, 48 per cent of the total land irrigated is dependent on open wells and bores, while the remaining is dependent on electric power," Radhakrishna added.

However, the recovery of power cost was very poor due to factors like tariff concession and free power to the farming activity, he pointed out. The recovery of power cost in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh is eight and four per cent respectively while in Tamil Nadu, it is only 0.42 per cent.

"This encourages increased use of ground water using pumps. The number of dug wells registered a steep annual rise, while that of bore wells increased by four-fold. Today, there are 21 million pumpsets in the country which require some kind of power to operate them," he added.

He suggested that a separate permanent board or directorate for biofuels be created exclusively for agricultural operations. Local engineering bodies could be made as resource centres with the central government providing them the necessary infrastructure, he pointed out.

"A proper mechanism to deliver energy products locally to all the farmers should be devised and the electricity boards of all the states can consider offering a concessional tariff, by measuring the actual energy saved by using jatropha oil, to encourage farmers to shift to the use of biofuels," he added.