Biofuel In India's Cars and Planes? Hardeep Puri Explains

Bio-fuel mixes are being across the world and there is no reason a Japanese or German car running in Brazil will not run in India, Union Minister Hardeep Puri told NDTV in an exclusive interview today. India has signed the Global Biofuels Alliance on the sidelines of the weekend's G20 Summit.

"The 20 per cent figure (as told by automakers) is a mindset problem. Auto makers said if you keep the bio-fuel percentage below 20,  car parts won't have to be changed... But this is self-serving advice," he added.

Automakers, he said, have been warning people that largescale bio-fuel usage will reduce engine efficiency.

"Bio-fuels are used in flexi-fuel engine all over the world. So it stands to reason if a Japanese manufacturer of a flexi-fuel engine, which does not have any acceleration problem, can sell it in Brazil, it stands to reason that it will sell in India," the minister said.

A transition to bio fuels is also good for agriculture. "By 2040 you will see fossil fuels fading away and green hydrogen taking its place," he added.

To that end, work has already started on using biofuel for airplanes.

While Brazil has flown a plane on 100 per cent ethanol, In India, a Pune-Delhi Air Asia flight has been run with one per cent ethanol, Mr Puri said.

"We calculated that if we have to make one percent sustainable aviation fuel mandatory, then we would need 4 crore litres that would benefit 5,00,000 of our farmers," he added.