To cut down input costs and carbon emission, plans are afoot to introduce solar powered steam distillation units and junk conventional wood/straw stubble-fuel based tech which is presently being widely used by farmers and industries for extraction of aromatics and medicinal oils from flowers and herbal plants.
Essential oils are complex mixtures of volatile organic compounds distilled from various plants and flowers and find huge demand in various industries like cosmetics, food and pharmaceuticals. As more and more farmers and entrepreneurs are showing interest in growing aromatic plants that offer higher and assured returns, it is being felt that water-steam distillation run on wood fuels/electricity for extracting essential oils will become major energy guzzlers in near future.
Hence, as an alternative, solar energy can be used to generate heat for the distillation of essential oils.
“Designing solar distillation units to reduce carbon emissions is the need of the hour,†said Dr Prabodh Kumar Trivedi, Director, of the Palampur-based Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, a lab of the Central Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) under the Union of Science and Technology Ministry.
He was speaking at a workshop organized recently by the Essential Oils Association of India (EOAI) with CSIR-IHBT Himalayan Phytochemicals and Growers Association (HIMPA), Mandi (Himachal Pradesh), and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mandi (HP) in Palampur, HP. The workshop on Himalayan Damask Rose under the theme “Development of Aromatic Cultivation and Essential Oil Industry of Western Himalayan Region†was attended by around 200 delegates from across India including scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs, and farmers in the field of essential oils.
Developing the solar powered steam distillation system is one of the mandates of the Aromatic Mission which would soon enter in its third phase. It was launched in 2017 by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help farmers add up their income through aromatic plant cultivation.
“Soon our scientists will commence R&D in the direction of developing solar based distillation units. The idea is to cut down carbon emission as well as check on air pollution, since present fuels are carbon intensive,†explained Dr. Rakesh Kumar, co-nodal of Aroma Mission at CSIR-IHBT and coordinator of the workshop,
Sanjay Varshney, President of, EOAI stressed on promoting aromatic crops and the essential oil industry which was presently being catered through imports. “India imports about 2 tons of rose oil every year worth Rs 200 crores, which is a huge expenditure, so we should emphasize the production of rose oil in India. The Himalayan region has the potential to produce quality roses, so we should focus on its cultivation in this particular region,†he added.
Under the Mission in the last six years, the IHBT has already brought 3000 hectares of area under aromatic crops and set up 61 processing units across India. The global essential oil market demand is projected to expand at a compounded annual growth rate of 8.6 per cent from 2019 to 2025.
