The biomass based energy is considered to be a potential renewable energy source similar to wind energy; however, traditional biomass based energy applications in developing country like India has been practiced since a long time. Thus the development and deployment of biomass based energy generation needs more and continuous efforts from all the stakeholders particularly, the policy makers, industry and the scientific community, which are concerned with technical and economic aspects for the better promotion and implementation of biomass energy systems.
Biofuels (solid, liquid, gases) are the potential alternative nowadays for energy and environmental security at global level. Bioenergy, being a secondary renewable energy source can play a major role in conversion of solar energy into chemical energy through photosynthesis process and maintains the flow of energy in an ecosystem. Due to environmental degradation, global warming and climate change, the biomass based renewable energy is becoming an important alternative energy source globally.
The current contributions of biomass to biofuels production is only few percentage, while the major share is still from the crude, globally. But the demand for economically viable clean fuel is expected to increase in the future. Further due to increasing energy demand, the continuous and unexpected fluctuation in fuel prices, the major developing countries are suffering continuously to achieve the sustainable growth including India.
Similarly, biomass as a traditional domestic energy source has posed very high health and environmental risks and need to be addressed sooner rather than later. The study carried out by number of organizations emphasised on the health and environmental challenges associated with the domestic energy consumption particularly the inefficient burning of cow-dung cakes, agro-wastes and woody biomass in the traditional cookstoves. Some studies have posed it as the greatest challenge globally with more than 4.3 million death annually and around a million in India alone.
Therefore, in the developing economies, the policy makers are under immense pressure and eagerly looking for alternatives as a substitute for the limited but severely polluting fossil fuel, particularly after the COP21 agreement. Among the various commercial textures of fuels, liquid biofuels are gaining more attention due to their use and compatibility as in transportation sector. Recently, the government of India has taken striking initiatives to develop various kinds of biofuels and declared a target of 20% blending of bio-ethanol and biodiesel in conventional transportation fuel by 2020 in its biofuel policy. Furthermore, the impacts of newly designed bioenergy policy and its effective implementation, the governmental strategies and framework regarding promotion of bioenergy sector are also very well delineated.
In order to achieve sustainability in energy supply through agricultural sector, the Government of India has also initiated national biogas and bio-manure program and provided funds for developing biogas plant. There has been few different initiatives at national level including National Program for Improved Cookstove (NPIC) and later the Unnat Chulha Abhiyaan (UCA) while setting-up four dedicated world class test centres at different location catering the biomass business in the country. The possible solutions and benefits towards environment in terms of improved biomass cookstoves, fuel wood consumption and its influence on atmospheric carbon stock are very well documented by the well-known researchers and has also been notified in the United Nationals Millennium goals.
Despite of these initiatives, bio-energy technologies are facing various challenges in the country, therefore, some technical issues, cost effectiveness and durability, were also discussed. Therefore the modern biomass energy applications required to achieve optimum energy efficiency of biomass with low risk to the environment. Some ways to meet these challenges through intensive research and development (R&D) based on field implementation were also explored and discussed.
Thus, due to the high potential and utmost importance of biofuels and a special issue of Biofuels has devoted to Recent Advances in Biofuels in India, in order to discuss the recent advances in this sector. This special issue contains 15 papers on various topics related to biofuels from biomass and other types of wastes. Further, the special issue presents the information on availability, methods of the production of different types of biofuels (solid, liquid, gases) from various sources. Keeping these all in thoughts, this special issue is framed to cover the wide spectrum and recent advances in bio-energy in general and biofuel sector in particular in India, while broadly focusing on biomass availability, supply chain management and techno-economic issues in way of biofuel production and promotion.
As Guest Editor(s) of this special issue of Biofuels on Recent Advances in Biofuels in India, our aim was to present the recent trends and the potential benefits realizable from both bioenergy and biofuels for society and industry, and to provide input to researchers related to bioenergy energy and its linkages with biofuels, biomass and future development. Therefore, the major aim of the special issue is to present the recent trends for understanding the complexities associated with biofuels and possible roadmap in the area of bioenergy for various stakeholders including but not limited to policy makers, academicians and industry people to join hands with concrete efforts leading to techno-economic feasibility of this sector.
Further, the technical viability with waste materials for bioelectricity and usage of microbial fuel cell and pretreatment of materials for bioenergy options is also providing a new insight for future research in the area of alternative energy world. Similar efforts are made in the area of processed solid biofuels (pellets) typically used for heating and cooking sectors using the modified combustion devices having much lesser emission of pollutants and higher thermal efficiency.
In contrast, the present issue provides various dimensions of biomass and biofuels, related to their production, promotion, management and implementation. The status and potential of liquid and gaseous biofuels in national and global context was also provided with extensive explanation of technologies to gain the high energy efficiency from biomass such as pre-treatment technology and bio-refinery concept.
Finally, some of the articles in the special issue are general while, other is of focused nature, including one that discusses the methodology of star rating for improved biomass cookstoves: barrier analysis of adoption and plan for remediation of barriers in India and elsewhere using biomass pellets and other similar solid fuels. Some technical aspects, barriers and policy related issues including the purchase of quality product through tendering, equal treatment of the imported versus indigenous fuels, production and supply chain management of agro-wastes, rewarding the innovation rather than killing it, employment generation and other initiatives like make in India, doubling the income of the farmers, etc. were discussed in detail while analysing the freely available database from different ministries.
The editor(s) are hopeful that this special issue will help to describe and resolve challenges that biomass and biofuels are facing nowadays, in part by exchanging information and fostering productive debate. Through such activity, it is anticipated that the special issue will enhance the present and future prospects for both biomass and biofuels, globally.