Jatropha is not the only option for producing biodiesel. The Botanical Survey of India has identified over 300 species with non-edible, oil-rich seeds. As India has a chronic shortage of edible oils and imports it, non-edible oils are recommended for using in transport and other sectors.

In Food or Fuel, the second episode of the Future Food series, Kenyan Farmer and campaigner, Moses Shaha is cynical about ‘biofuels’, energy extracted from crop plants. He journeys through southern Kenya where farmers are starting to grow jatropha, to understand if this biofuel crop is a threat to farmland and food security as he fears, or whether growing energy crops can inspire innovation and help the environment long-term.

Note: A series of 6 x 25-min films exploring key questions around global food security

The global push towards a more biomass-based energy sector is ramping up efforts to adopt regionally appropriate high-yielding crops. As potential bioenergy crops are being moved around the world an assessment of the climatic suitability would be a prudent first step in identifying suitable areas of productivity and risk.





ADB initiated the study on the Cross-Sectoral Implications of Biofuel Production and Use with the objective of generating scientific information on biofuel production and its use to facilitate implementation of the biofuel policy by the Government of India.

RICH DIVIDENDS FOR OMCs, NO REAL BENEFIT FOR CONSUMERS & FARMERS

ONE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION TO ASK over ethanol pricing even as a panel chaired by Planning Commission member Saumitra Chaudhuri examines a

Praveen Kumar Singh

New Delhi: Indian Railways has planned to set up four bio-diesel plants to reduce its carbon footprint and take forward its experiment with non-conventional form of energy. It is already planting saplings of jatropha, one of the sources of bio-diesel, on pilot basis in partnership with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).

Mass planting of jatropha as a biofuel crop could benefit poor
areas as well as combating global warming, but only if a number of
scientific and production issues are properly addressed, a review has
warned.

Recent increases in production of crop-based (or first-generation) biofuels have engendered increasing
concerns over potential conflicts with food supplies and land protection, as well as disputes over greenhouse gas reductions. This has heightened a sense of urgency around the development of biofuels produced from non-food biomass (second-generation biofuels).

With petrol and diesel prices increasing by the day, focusing on alternative energy sources, especially bio-fuel, would be the logical step.

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