World Biofuel Day is celebrated annually on August 10 to highlight the importance of biofuels, which are produced from animal waste, algae, and industrial and agricultural waste. Biofuels, unlike fossil fuels, are produced in a short amount of time and are liquid or gaseous. They are environment friendly, sustainable, renewable and biodegradable.
In India, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoP&NG) and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) started celebrating World Biofuel Day, 2015 onwards.
August 10 was chosen as World Biofuel Day since it was on this date in 1893 that German inventor Sir Rudolf Diesel successfully ran his diesel engine on peanut oil. This was a path-breaking discovery as it created a safer, renewable and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.
BIOFUEL TYPES
Bioethanol, biodiesel, and biogas are the three types of biofuels used in India. Bioethanol is made from sugar and starch-heavy crops and surplus agricultural waste and biomass. Biodiesel is produced from various types of vegetable oil and biomass wastes from agricultural farms and forests. Biogas is produced via anaerobic digestion of biomass wastes and animal wastes.