G20 Summit: India launches Biofuels Global alliance to push clean energy transition

New Delhi: In a bid to meet the net zero targets, India on Saturday launched the Biofuels Global Alliance (GBA) at a G20 Summit and called upon the leaders to join the initiative to boost the use of cleaner fuel.

Announcing the Alliance at the G20 meeting, Prime Minister Modi said, “Today, the need of the hour is that all countries should work together in the field of fuel blending. Our proposal is to take an initiative at a global-level to take ethanol blending in petrol up to 20 per cent,”.

“The launch of the Global Biofuels Alliance marks a watershed moment in our quest towards sustainability and clean energy. I thank the member nations who have joined this Alliance” PM Modi said.

Meanwhile, 19 countries and 12 international organisations have already agreed to join the alliance.

India has been pushing the idea of setting up a Global Biofuels Alliance to help accelerate energy transition. India is targeting to become carbon neutral by 2070 and is expanding use of biofuel in its transport sector. 

It has advanced the deadline by 5 years to 2025 for doubling nationwide ethanol blending in gasoline to 20%.

Bio-energy or biofuel is generated from agricultural and organic materials called ‘biomass’.  Its utilization can help reduce emissions and enable countries across the globe to reach their net zero carbon emissions.

The Prime Minister said, “Today India stands among the countries where a large-scale solar revolution is underway. Millions of Indian farmers have embraced natural farming”.

“This is a big campaign to protect human health as well as the health of the soil and the Earth” he added. Modi added that India has also launched the ‘National Green Hydrogen Mission’ to boost green hydrogen production. 

He added that during India’s G-20 presidency, New Delhi has also taken significant steps toward creating a Global Hydrogen Ecosystem.

Prime Minister Modi also proposed to launch the G20 Satellite Mission for Environment and Climate Observation.

“The climate and weather data obtained from this will be shared with all the countries, especially the countries of the Global South” he said.

The Prime Minister said, “Today India stands among the countries where a large-scale solar revolution is underway. Millions of Indian farmers have embraced natural farming”.

“This is a big campaign to protect human health as well as the health of the soil and the Earth” he added.

Modi added that India has also launched the ‘National Green Hydrogen Mission’ to boost green hydrogen production. 

He added that during India’s G-20 presidency, New Delhi has also taken significant steps toward creating a Global Hydrogen Ecosystem.

Prime Minister Modi also proposed to launch the G20 Satellite Mission for Environment and Climate Observation.

“The climate and weather data obtained from this will be shared with all the countries, especially the countries of the Global South” he said.

India achieved 10% ethanol blending target 5 months in advance in June 2022 while the availability of E20 blended petrol was also advanced to 2025, 5 years from the earlier planned 2030. In fact 20% ethanol blended fuel is already available across 1650 bunks.

India’s ethanol demand is poised to grow to 10.16 billion liters by 2025. 12 commercial plants and 10 demonstration plants of 2G biorefineries (using agricultural waste) have already been proposed.

The global ethanol market was valued at USD 99.06 billion in 2022 and is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 5.1% by 2032 and surpass USD 162.12 billion by 2032.

As per IEA, there will be 3.5-5x biofuels growth potential by 2050 due to Net Zero targets, creating a huge opportunity for India.