India To Pitch For Global Biofuels Alliance At G20 - Oil Minister
India plans to pitch for a global alliance on biofuels among members of the group of 20 major economies, oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday, as the world's third-biggest oil consumer bids to boost the use of cleaner fuels.
India will take over the presidency of the group, also called G20, from Indonesia in December. New Delhi will host a meeting of the member nations in September next year.
"We will utilise our G20 presidency to try and set up an international biofuels alliance," Puri said at the International Conference on Biofuels.
India's plans to set up a biofuels alliance mirror International Solar Alliance launched by New Delhi and Paris in 2015 to bring clean and affordable solar energy within the reach of all.
"We have enough countries in the world which are producing biofuels, so if you get the ecosystem around it, in terms of the standards, the flexi-fuel engines... I think we are on our way to setting up an international alliance," he said.
India, also the world's third-biggest oil importer, ships in about 85 percent of its crude needs, but is gradually building capacity to increase its output of biofuels.
The South Asian nation plans to build 12 bio-refineries to produce fuel from items including crop stubble, plant waste and municipal solid waste.
India plans to introduce 20 percent ethanol blending with gasoline in some parts of the country from April next year, followed by a nationwide rollout from 2025/26. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a net zero carbon emissions goal for 2070.
Source - Reuters
