Coimbatore: In a bid to empower farmers by transforming them from food producers to fuel producers, Buyofuel, an online marketplace for green fuels has decided to purchase Agri- Waste directly from the farmers to produce green fuels.
Initially, the company will purchase the agri-waste from seven states, such as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, and claimed that it will soon expand its reach across other untapped states of the country.
Talking about the decision, Founder & CEO of Buyofuel Kishan Karunakaran said that “India is leading the global missions to combat the alarming climate challenge. Here, it becomes critical to engage every stakeholder to achieve our sustainable development goals.
“The agritech sector has played a transformative role in empowering farmers and as industries are switching to biofuels, there lies a great opportunity for farmers to sell their agri-waste for alternative fuel production to make profits and help address challenges like air pollution, food wastage and depleting natural resources,” he said.
Krishan said,” With digitalization, it has become much easier to provide a transparent, open, accessible and direct channel to farmers to connect them with opportunities and the results will be visible soon”.
As per estimates, India generates about 350 million tonnes of agricultural waste every year which can generate more than 18,000 MW of power every year apart from generating green fertilizer for use in agriculture (Ministry of New & Renewable Energy).
“Apart from providing a common platform for buying and selling green fuel in an organised manner, the company will also encourage the farmers to sell their waste to Buyofuel, make commercial benefits and become important players in India’s transition towards clean energy” the company said in a statement.
“At this stage, Buyofuel is serving as a link between the alternate fuel producers and the consumers to balance the supply-demand ratio, provide commercial and environmental benefits to farmers, and help companies meet the government mandate of biofuel usage” it said.
Buyofuel has already purchased agro waste from farmers such as rice husk, cotton stalk, groundnut shell, coffee husk, soybean residue and others.
Replacing conventional fuels with alternate fuels has significant advantages for industries such as reduction in emissions, cost-efficiency, offering better prices, and lower dependence on fossil fuel imports.
There is a huge demand for alternate fuels from industries that are fast switching to alternate fuels to combat climate change.
There is a high demand for alternative energy sources like biofuel in power plants, logistics fleets, cement manufacturing, steel industry, pharmaceuticals, infrastructure, and large foundries.
