{"id":42231,"date":"2024-09-01T11:56:12","date_gmt":"2024-09-01T06:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=42231"},"modified":"2025-05-05T00:29:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-04T18:59:10","slug":"efforts-to-boost-ethanol-production-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/efforts-to-boost-ethanol-production-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Efforts to Boost Ethanol Production in India"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in News?<\/li>\n<li>What is BioE3 Policy for Fostering High Performance Biomanufacturing?<\/li>\n<li>Ethanol Requirements in India<\/li>\n<li>Efforts to Boost Ethanol Production in India<\/li>\n<li>Significance of Establishing Enzyme-Manufacturing Facilities in India<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Department of Biotechnology is considering establishing enzyme-manufacturing facilities to support ethanol production.<\/li>\n<li>This comes after the Center&#8217;s announcement of its BioE3 (Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment) policy aimed at promoting biotechnology-centric manufacturing in India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>What is BioE3 Policy for Fostering High Performance Biomanufacturing?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>What is high-performance biomanufacturing?<\/strong> It involves &#8211;\n<ul>\n<li>The production of products ranging from medicine to materials, tackling farming and food challenges, and<\/li>\n<li>Promoting the manufacturing of bio-based products through the integration of advanced biotechnological processes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Focus areas of the policy:<\/strong> It primarily concentrates on the following <strong>6 strategic sectors<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>High-value bio-based chemicals, biopolymers &amp; enzymes;<\/li>\n<li>Smart proteins &amp; functional foods;<\/li>\n<li>Precision biotherapeutics;<\/li>\n<li>Climate-resilient agriculture;<\/li>\n<li>Carbon capture &amp; its utilisation; and<\/li>\n<li>Marine and space research.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Key features of the policy: <\/strong>The BioE3 policy&#8217;s key aspects involve &#8211;\n<ul>\n<li>Supporting i<strong>nnovation-driven R&amp;D and entrepreneurship<\/strong> across various thematic sectors.<\/li>\n<li>Expedite the development and commercialisation of technology through the establishment of Biomanufacturing &amp; Bio-AI hubs and Biofoundry.<\/li>\n<li>Bolster the Government&#8217;s initiatives such as<strong> &#8216;Net Zero&#8217;<\/strong> carbon economy and<strong> &#8216;Lifestyle for Environment&#8217;.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Guiding India towards accelerated <strong>&#8216;Green Growth&#8217;<\/strong> by encouraging <strong>&#8216;Circular Bioeconomy<\/strong>&#8216;.<\/li>\n<li>Nurture an advanced future that is more sustainable, innovative, and responsive to global challenges and sets out the <strong>Bio-vision for Viksit Bharat<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Significance:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It will address some of the critical societal issues-such as<strong> climate change mitigation, food security and human health.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It is important to build<strong> a resilient biomanufacturing ecosystem<\/strong> in India to accelerate cutting-edge innovations for developing bio-based products.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Ethanol Requirements in India:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>According to the NITI Ayog estimates, India will need about <strong>13.5 billion litres of ethanol annually<\/strong> by 2025\u201326.<\/li>\n<li>Of this, about 10.16 billion litres will go towards meeting the fuel-blending mandate of <strong>E20<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme <\/strong>was launched by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in <strong>2003.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Under this, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) would sell petrol blended with ethanol up to <strong>10% (E10).<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The all-India average blending of ethanol with petrol has risen from 1.6% in 2013-14 to <strong>11.8% in 2022-23<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>India&#8217;s goal is to grow this ratio to 20% (E20) by 2025.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Efforts to Boost Ethanol Production in India:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>2G ethanol plant in Panipat, Haryana:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u20182G\u2019 or second-generation<\/strong> bioethanol is ethanol that is produced from rice-straw as opposed to the conventional method of sourcing it from molasses (sugarcane).<\/li>\n<li>In 2022, the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. set up a first-of-its-kind 2G ethanol plant in Panipat that uses rice stubble as a feedstock.<\/li>\n<li>The facility has the potential to produce 1,00,000 litres of ethanol per day. <strong>However, the burning of rice stubble spikes pollution in north India.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>The BioE3 policy:<\/strong> Among other things, it aims to set up \u2018bio-foundries\u2019 that will produce biotechnology-developed feedstock and catalysts.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Establishing enzyme-manufacturing facilities:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The enzymes in question are derived from tweaking a fungus (through several steps of genetic engineering) that belongs to a broader family of fungi called Penicillium funiculosum (derived from rice stubble and soil).<\/li>\n<li>Such enzymes then act as an efficient hydrolyser of organic refuse such as rice stubble.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The first such plant<\/strong> to produce the necessary enzymes may come up in Manesar, Haryana.<\/li>\n<li>It is expected to provide the required enzymes to the existing plant in Panipat (Haryana) and the proposed 2G bioethanol plants in Mathura (UP) and Bhatinda (Punjab).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Significance of Establishing Enzyme-Manufacturing Facilities in India:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Support ethanol production:<\/strong> A combination of enzymes and the right kind of treatment are essential for turning stubble into ethanol.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reduce import bill and cost of ethanol production:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>As of today, these enzymes are imported and constitute a significant component of the cost of the 2G-ethanol production process.<\/li>\n<li>If India&#8217;s ethanol requirements in the future were to be met by locally produced enzymes, <strong>the cost of obtaining the enzymes might be reduced by about two thirds.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"media\">\n<div data-oembed-url=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9Pmo_nDlSVE\">\n<div><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9Pmo_nDlSVE\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q.1. What is &#8216;Circular Bioeconomy&#8217;?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>A circular bioeconomy is an economic model that uses renewable natural resources to minimise waste and maximise resource value. It aims to replace non-renewable fossil-based products with sustainable production using biological resources like plants, animals, and micro-organisms.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q.2. How burning rice stubble spikes pollution in north India?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Stubble burning emits toxic pollutants in the atmosphere containing harmful gases like Carbon Monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds (VOC).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/energy-and-environment\/to-boost-ethanol-production-centre-moots-dedicated-enzyme-manufacturing\/article68588895.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>To boost ethanol production, Centre moots dedicated enzyme manufacturing<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Department of Biotechnology is considering establishing enzyme-manufacturing facilities to support ethanol production in India<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":42232,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-42231","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}