Used cooking oil over ethanol: Govt's new route to 5% biodiesel blending

The government had been planning to use ethanol to meet its target of blending 5 per cent biodiesel in diesel sales by 2030, but the volatility in ethanol production volumes has forced it to shelve the plan, officials said. Instead, it is now focusing on used cooking oil (Uco), with plans to expand the repurpose used cooking oil (Ruco) initiative launched in 2019, officials said.

Widely used in Europe, biodiesel refers to biodegradable fuel traditionally manufactured from vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled restaurant grease. However, large-scale blending has faced multiple hurdles in India due to the limited availability of feedstock notified for biodiesel production by the government. This includes non-edible oilseeds, animal tallow, acid oil, and most importantly, Uco.
 

Blending of biodiesel in diesel stood at less than 0.1 per cent in August 2021, the petroleum ministry had informed the Lok Sabha. Despite more than 980 million litres of biodiesel having been procured by the oil-marketing companies (OMCs) for blending with diesel since 2015-16, this had reached 0.8 per cent by the end of 2023-24, a senior official from an OMC said.
 

The Centre’s ethanol blending programme has been a major success for petrol, with E20 (20 per cent ethanol-blended) petrol being sold at all retail fuel outlets across the country in 2024. During the current Ethanol Supply Year 2023-24, which runs until October, the blending percentage in petrol has already crossed 13 per cent.

This is in line with the Centre’s plan to achieve 20 per cent blending in petrol by 2025-26, which will require up to 10.16 billion litres of ethanol.
 

After the US and Brazil, India is the world’s third-largest producer of ethanol, according to the International Energy Agency. However, the focus on petrol has kept ethanol away as an alternative blend for diesel.
 

“The usage of traditional domestic feedstock was initially aimed at for the first few years. Then ethanol was tried, and that too successfully. But securing a sustained supply (of ethanol) has been a challenge,” a petroleum and natural gas ministry official said.
 

State-owned OMCs Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation have also completed pilot projects to run vehicles on diesel mixed with ethanol.
 

“Initially, the sense was that biodiesel supply would rise, outstripping the availability of flexible-fuel vehicles in the domestic market. But now that is not a problem anymore,” the official added.
 

The current 5 per cent biodiesel blending target was announced in the National Policy on Biofuels, 2018. It also reduced the goods and services tax rate for biodiesel and offered remunerative prices for procurement. An amendment to the policy in 2022 saw the government stick to the 2030 deadline, which is when the Centre plans to tentatively begin direct sales of biodiesel in the country as well.
 

An exercise to tune the existing national biodiesel policy with more incentives saw the expansion of the Ruco scheme being accepted as the most viable way forward, officials said. The scheme involves the collection of Uco for conversion into biodiesel.

“As a result, the three OMCs are expected to float expressions of interest for the supply of biodiesel from Uco from more locations in the coming months,” an official said.
 

Currently, OMCs receive Uco supplies at 200 locations. The government will also enrol more non-food production units for collecting Uco from food business operators, the official added.
 

In 2023, India produced 200 million litres of biodiesel, of which 35 per cent came from Uco, and just 3 per cent from animal fat and tallow, according to data from the United States Department of Agriculture.
 

Studies are also ongoing to see if other compounds can be blended in diesel, including methanol obtained from sustainable biomass, often called biomethanol, and dimethyl ether, a synthetically produced gas extensively used as an aerosol propellant, officials said.

Used cooking oil powers 35% of biodiesel
 

·         Volatile ethanol supply and high petrol demand restrict ethanol use for diesel blending

·         Government turned to ethanol due to a shortage of traditional biodiesel feedstock

·         Oil-marketing companies may expand from 200 locations to source used cooking oil

·         India produced 200 million litres of biodiesel in 2023

·         35% of this biodiesel was derived from used cooking oil