Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

Experts' meet on bio-fuel

Staff Reporter

CHENNAI: The road to use of jatropha plant oil as a blend in diesel on a wide scale may not be a smooth one considering the bottlenecks, including those pertaining to the processing technology and infrastructure.

But farmers engaged in the cultivation of the plant need not despair, as the Union Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources is keen on exploring the possibility of generating power from non-edible vegetable oils such as jatropha and nearly 25 other plant species.

As a first step, it is hosting a deliberation of experts and scientists in the field of bio-fuels here on Monday.

The discussion, according to P. Radhakrishna, director at the Ministry's regional office in Chennai, was to evolve a suitable methodology to use vegetable oil for power production. Related issues, including the need for a bio-fuel board in every State to spearhead power generation from plant oils, would be discussed he told press persons here on Saturday.

The meeting was convened following the concern of the Ministry over the issues associated with the use of jatropha as a transportation fuel blend.

Though thousands of hectares of land have been brought under jatropha cultivation in the last couple of years, a policy to promote the blend was yet to be announced.

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