It is commendable that India is finally inching towards using biofuel for aviation. But there’s a long way to go before we start commercialising it
As the nation reels under the ever-increasing fuel and Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices, SpiceJet quietly tested the country’s first biofuel powered commercial flight from Dehradun to Delhi on August 27. The SpiceJet Q400 turboprop, also called ‘Haldi’, changed the definition of aviation fuel by becoming the first aircraft with passengers to fly on biofuel when it flew from Dehradun to Delhi. With this, hopes for low emission flights, that are less dependent on increasingly expensive jet fuel, have justifiably soared. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, who flagged off the aircraft in Dehradun, said, “It is a major achievement for the Himalayan State”.
Biofuel, derived from jatropa plants, grown by 500 farmer families in Chhattisgarh, was first tested for a 20-minute flight on Haldi with crew only in Dehradun a day earlier. Following better-than-expected performance of the green fuel, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation cleared the first-ever flight with passengers this week. The flight result showed biofuel had 1.8 per cent higher energy density than regular aviation turbine fuel.
According to scientists at the Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP), who were instrumental in the creation of the biofuel, the right engine of the aircraft was filled with 75 per cent regular ATF and 25 per cent biofuel. On the other hand, the left engine had regular ATF. While generally, fuel tanks below the two engines are interconnected, for this flight, they were not, so that there could be no cross feed. This enabled the IIP to measure engine performance separately, based on the fuel feed. IIP experts further stated that the biofuel used is of ‘drop in’ variety, which can be used in existing engines without modifying them at all. This makes it user friendly with no need for costly engine modifications.
The Bombardier aircraft (VT-SUI) got 1,300 kg for the Dehradun-Delhi flight, of which 325 kg was biofuel. This shows the potential of the alternate fuel, which can effectively substitute the more expensive, and polluting conventional ATF. Besides the low cost, biofuel has lesser carbon emission signature and has the capability to reduce dependence on ATF by about 50 per cent. This will invariably bring down costs and reduce airfare as well. Post this successful experiment, SpiceJet itself is planning to undertake operations using a blend of 75 per cent ATF and 25 per cent of BioJet fuel, which has the potential of reducing carbon footprint by 15 per cent.
India has the fastest growing aviation market in the world and there is an urgent need to grow responsibly clean and sustainable technologies. The road transport sector is already undergoing intense trials and experiments for newer fuels that are more cleaner and powerful. However, the aviation sector is stuck on the aviation turbine fuel, which has serious carbon emission issues. The surprising aspect is that jatropa is not a new discovery and yet it is after ages that this plant-based biofuel is able to show its mettle to the world.
As jet fuel prices surged in the past decades, the Government should have initiated research and development for this wonder plant in right earnest. But that was not so. And now, after enormous delay, one is able to see the true potential of what nature can give. Jatropha biofuel has been active on the periphery of the energy mix options available today but could not emerge as a serious option till the flight on August 27 changed all that.
Jatropa plant seeds are very rich in oil, which is nearly up to 40 per cent and the oil has been under use in India for several decades as biodiesel for diesel fuel requirements of remote rural and forest communities. An amazing attribute of this oil is that it needs no refining and can be used directly after extraction in diesel generators and engines. Jatropha has the potential to provide economic benefits at the local level since under suitable management, it has the potential to grow in dry marginal non-agricultural lands, thereby allowing villagers and farmers to leverage non-farm land for income generation.
Given these unsurpassable advantages, the Government must have already provided enough push to this sustainable alternative to fossil fuel. The most effective manner in which the Government can still regain lost ground is by first of all making its policy clear on the issue of biofuel and ensuring that prospective and potential cultivators of jatropa are encouraged to undertake jatropa cultivation on large-scale. Existing cultivators must be consulted to understand the current difficulties faced for not only farming but also ensure that the harvest purchase agreements need to be put in place with the oil extraction units. The farmers can also be given subsidies to purchase oil extraction machinery on favourable terms.
The Government must also attach scale to the buyers of jatropa oil. For this, buyers and sellers or the cultivators must be brought together. Cultivators must also be sensitised regarding quality requirements of buyers as the combustion point of the oil is dependent on the quality of the same. This is an exciting opportunity to change the energy scenario in India and the Government can undertake endless initiatives in order to popularise biofuel.
(The writer is an environmental journalist)
