Green Options

In the India Energy Conference 2008 just held in New Delhi by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in association with Petroleum Federation of India (PetroFed) reiterated the fact that as one of the fastest growth economies of the world, India’s energy strategy is critical for achieving her development objectives and that government and corporations must improve access to economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sustainable energy sources.

It’s official, India must work towards the use of biofuels. On September 12th the Indian government announced a new national biofuels policy: By 2017 it will aim to meet 20% of India’s diesel demand with fuel derived from plants rather than fossils.

But where will it come from? According to the National Council of Applied Economic Research, a Delhi think-tank, it means setting aside 14m hectares of land, for the growth of jatropha, a key biofuels raw material.