Biofuels offer a viable solution to reducing dependence on imported fossil fuel while providing cleaner energy, states Kishan Karunakaran, CEO of Buyofuel. In an interview he speaks about how agro-waste and even plastics and tyres can be utilised for producing biofuels, thus supporting a circular economy
How important is it to integrate biofuels into the current energy mix, and where has India reached in this endeavour?
It is extremely important for three reasons. First because India is a large consumer of fuels, importing more than 80 percent of its requirement, and a large emitter of greenhouse gas (GHS) and carbon di oxide emissions. India also has the unique potential of being one of the largest producers of waste and waste management is another major issue that the country needs to tackle. For all the above reasons, India needs to integrate biofuels in its energy mix because it is essentially a waste to fuel activity as we at Buyofuel define it. That being the definition of biofuels from any waste of human activity, it is very critical that we reduce our carbon dioxide emissions, move towards our net zero goals, and decrease our dependence on imported fuel.
Over the five to seven years, we have been doing well in the production of biofuels. I set up my first biodiesel plant, the first such commercial venture in Tamil Nadu, in 2008, besides jatropha cultivation inspired by former late president APJ Abdul Kalam. But those days it was difficult as the policies were not favouring biofuels. After India’s biofuel policy came into being in 2018, and a much stronger mandate to blend biofuel into fossil fuel, our country has done better. India has set a target to replace 10 percent of fossil fuel with biofuel by 2030 and we are at 2-3 percent currently.
How is Buyofuel addressing the challenge of a fragmented supply chain?
The supply chain fragmentation is the biggest problem in this sector. A few things need to be resolved to tackle this problem. One is sectoral expertise to know what kind of waste – bio and agro waste are available in each state, as all have different profile of waste and quantum of waste available. The expert team is also required to know how these wastes can be aggregated in a more efficient manner. The second is to have a good technology platform that can aggregate the sellers in a more efficient manner as although the initial reaching out may be easy, the goal of scaling up of that supply chain happens only when the tech platform starts integrating and helps in aggregating that supply. So sectoral expertise, tech platform and a very strong on-field team, are very important. Buyofuel.com is the first tech platform, with 50 years of collective experience in Biofuels, which meets all three important aspects to promote biofuel production.
What are the raw materials Buyofuel sources?
We don’t restrict ourselves to any kind of waste. We help in collecting and aggregating plastic and tyre waste as we know even this waste can be better utilised instead of ending up in a landfill. Because of our sectoral expertise we ensure all wastes like mango seeds, guava seeds and other food pulp and seeds, wood chips, waste from the coir industry, chilli industry, etc., get utilised. Lot of these wastes traditionally never found purpose in the value chain, but we are now able to change this.