18th July 2024 (13 Topics)

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Global Biofuels Alliance

Context

The Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA), launched by key G20 members including India, the US and Brazil in September 2023, is all set to get its diplomatic status, with New Delhi likely to sign a headquarters agreement with the agency soon.

About:

GBA is an India-led Initiativeto develop an alliance of Governments, International organizations and Industry to facilitate adoption of biofuels.
Objective:Bringing together the biggest consumers and producers of biofuels to drive biofuels development and deployment, the initiative aims to position biofuels as a key to energy transition and contribute to jobs and economic growth.
Joining Members: 19 countries and 12 international organisations have already agreed to join.
- G20 countries (07) supporting GBA: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, India, Italy, South Africa, USA
- G20 Invitee Countries (04) supporting GBA: Bangladesh, Singapore, Mauritius, UAE
- Non G20 (08) supporting GBA:Iceland, Kenya, Guyana, Paraguay, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, and Uganda have agreed to be initiating members of GBA, and Finland.
- International organizations: World Bank, Asian Development Bank, World Economic Forum, World LPG Organization, UN Energy for All, UNIDO, Biofutures Platform, International Civil Aviation Organization, International Energy Agency, International Energy Forum, International Renewable Energy Agency, World Biogas Association.

Fact box

National Biofuel Policy

The policy is aimed at taking forward the indicative target of achieving 20% blending of biofuels with fossil-based fuels by 2030.
The policy intends to ensure the adequate and sustained availability of domestic feedstock for biofuel production, increasing farmers’ income, import reduction, employment generation and waste to wealth creation.
This policy clearly exhibits the Centre’s push towards strengthening the energy infrastructure of the country while promoting the agenda of sustainability.

Fact Box

Biofuels

Biofuels are liquid fuels produced from renewable biological sources, including plants and algae.
Biofuels offer a solution to one of the challenges of solar, wind, and other alternative energy sources.

Advantages of Biofuels

Availability: since biofuels only require biomass for their production, which is ubiquitous, biofuels are easy to produce.
Reduction in waste: biofuels can also be produced using waste materials such as municipal sewage waste, inedible parts of the crops. This effectively aids in the reduction of waste.
Reduce dependency on crude oil and non-renewable sources of fuels.
Economic development: the production of biofuels can be a labour-intensive process thus resulting in the creation of jobs. This can provide a source of employment. It can aid in the development of rural areas when the second generation biofuel production units are set up there.

Disadvantages of Biofuels

Low Efficiency: The efficiency of biofuels is much lesser compared to fossil fuels, as fossil fuels produce more energy on burning.
Loss of biodiversity: the genetically modified crops used for the production of fourth-generation biofuels could result in a loss of biodiversity.
Less availability of space: production of biofuels requires land, and in the case of second-generation biofuels, the crops used are mostly non-food crops, thus the production of biofuels requires a lot of space.
Food shortage: The first generation biofuels make use of food sources and there is an imminent threat of facing food shortage if the production of biofuels is carried out extensively.
Water usage: Massive quantities of water are required for proper irrigation of biofuel crops as well as to manufacture the fuel, which could strain local and regional water resources. This is, however, not the problem in case of the third generation biofuel.

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Global Biofuels Alliance

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