Bhubaneswar: Governor Ganeshi Lal and Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan will lay down the foundation stone of second-generation ethanol bio-refinery plant at Baulsingha village in Bargarh district on October 10.
Here’s all you need to know about the plant
- Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited’s Bargarh plant will be the first of 12 such second-generation ethanol refineries.
- Being set up at an estimated cost of Rs 1,000 crore, this bio-refinery will have a capacity to produce three crore litres of fuel grade ethanol annually, using rice straw as feedstock. The ethanol produced from this plant will be blended with petrol, said BPCL’s Chief General Manager Sanjeev Paul.
- The Bargarh bio-refinery will utilize about two lakh tonnes of rice straw annually and these will be sourced from nearby Bhatli, Ambabhona, Attabira, Sohela, Burla and Lakhanpur.
- Blending ethanol with petrol will enhance self-sufficiency of the nation by reducing crude oil imports, thereby saving foreign exchange.
- The state government has already handed over 58 acre of land for the plant. The project is expected to be completed by December 2020.
- Biofuels have assumed importance of late due to the growing energy security needs and environmental concerns. Several countries have put forth different mechanism and incentives to encourage biofuels to suit their domestic requirements. India has surplus biomass availability of about 120-160 MMT annually, which if converted, has the potential to yield 3,000 crore litres of ethanol annually.
- The National Biofuel Policy of India 2018 targets 20% ethanol blend in petrol by 2030, however due to non-availability of ethanol, the current blending is only around 3% to 4%.
- The bio-refineries contribute to a cleaner environment due to the usage of waste rice straw for ethanol production, thereby, reducing waste burning in fields. Blending ethanol with petrol also reduces Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. The plant is based on a zero liquid discharge plant (ZLD) technology where all the water will be recycled back into the plant.
- In addition to a cleaner environment, this project will also help improve the socio-economic conditions of the farmers. They will be able to earn additional income by supplying waste rice straw to the refinery.
- This will also generate employment for around 1,200 people (both direct & indirect) during construction, plant operation and supply chain management of biomass.