Biofuels pact aims for $ 200 billion global market: Puri

Union minister for petroleum and natural gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, stated that the global biofuel market was poised to increase from its present value of $ 92 billion to $ 200 billion due to the launch of the biofuels alliance. While addressing the inaugural session of the 26th Energy Technology Meety, Puri emphasised that this marked the beginning of the biofuels story, not its conclusion. Puri's speech served as evidence of India's rapid progress in embracing green and clean energy. He mentioned that the country had achieved its 10% biofuel blending target for November 2022, five months ahead of schedule. He also revealed that the subsequent goal of achieving 20% blending by 2030 had been advanced to 2025. Addressing the challenges in the energy sector, namely availability, affordability, and sustainability, Puri commented, We didn't allow our sustainability challenge to hinder our progress. In fact, we are consistently intensifying our efforts. He further highlighted India's proactive measures in adopting newer blends. Initially, the 20% blend was a limit we set ourselves, influenced by concerns from automobile manufacturers. However, with the current availability of 20% blended fuel and the establishment of biogas and ethanol plants, we are witnessing a significant shift, he said. Referring to the recently introduced Green Hydrogen Bus by India Oil, the minister stressed, Our technological approach is evolving. We are not confining ourselves to electric cars only; flexi-fuel vehicles represent the next frontier.