Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral lending agency, on Monday said it has agreed on USD 2.5 million (~Rs. 18 crore) technical assistance for supporting advanced biofuel development in India.

It is funded from the Asia Clean Energy Fund, which is financed by the Government of Japan, through the Clean Energy Financing Partnership Facility, and the Republic of Korea’s e-Asia, and Knowledge Partnership Fund.

An ADB statement says, “The technical assistance (TA) will support development of advanced bioethanol, bio-compressed natural gas, and biodiesel plants to demonstrate the best practices for suitable feedstock, efficient conversion technology, and sustainable biofuel value chain.”

This will also support for incorporation of gender main-streaming design in the feedstock value chain for promotion of the rural women in agriculture empowerment.

With this novel technology, advanced or termed as second-gen biofuels could be produced from non-edible sources like agricultural residue, municipal solid waste, and used cooking oil. These can be utilized to bioethanol, biogas, and biodiesel for energy, transport, manufacturing, and medical purposes.

The statement also included, “This renewable energy will lower net greenhouse gas emission without threatening food security. India has a massive amount of wastes, but crop burning causes severe air pollution. If agricultural waste can be collected effectively as feedstock for biofuels, its sales will be able to supplement rural farmers’ income and negate the need to burn crop waste.”

The advanced biofuels will provide simultaneous solutions addressing energy security waste recycling, climate change, and air pollution reduction.

Headquarter in Manila, the organization further included that the technical and financial barriers discourage commercial production of biofuels like absence of technology standards, lack of feedstock supply chain mechanism, limited access to finance, and resultant high production costs and financial viability risks.

It added, “The ADB’s TA will help address these obstacles and prepare for advanced biofuels’ commercial application and large-scale production.”

ADB Finance Specialist for South Asia Jongmi Son said, ADB supports the government of India’s National Policy on Biofuels established in 2018 to promote advanced biofuel market, which will harness waste, strengthen energy independence, create new industries and jobs, and mitigate global warming. The TA will take a cross-sector approach to tackle various thematic issues, such as energy security, transport mobility, agribusiness, financial stability, air and water pollution, waste disposal, public health, climate change, and the urban-rural divide.”

According to the statement, holistic studies will be conducted for aiding of establishment of technical designs, effective business models, catalytic financing schemes, regulatory frameworks, and awareness programmes.

For boosting advanced biofuel investments, ADB will be collaborating with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the Oil Industry Development Board, and Public Financial Institutions like the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.

ADB also to include working collaborations with public oil companies, including the Indian Oil Corporation Limited and the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited.