Feasibility study of jatropha bio-deisel as an alternate energy source for public transportation of Nagpur metropolitan area

Abstract

The accelerated rate of urbanisation has exerted great stress on transportation sector which predominantly utilizes non-renewable sources of energy. Presently, India is the fourth largest consumer of the crude oil and petroleum, out of which 70% diesel and 99.6% petrol is consumed by the transportation sector, contributing around 90% of the total emission of CO2. Increase in demand and shortage in supply along with escalation in the price of crude oil has raised the concerns everywhere. This compelled to search for an alternative energy source that will cater the demand and also mitigate the impacts on the environment. Bio-fuel has proved to be the apt solution to this problem. In India, National Policy on Bio-fuel, 2007 focuses on utilising wastelands, degraded forest and non-forest lands only for cultivation of shrubs and trees bearing non-edible oil seeds for production of bio-diesel. Jatropha biodiesel plays a vital role in the bio-fuel programme as it can withstand severe temperatures and drought. This study aims at linking the National Policy of Bio-fuel and public transportation in the direction of making Jatropha bio-diesel as a long term energy source. The area selected for this study is Nagpur district in Vidarbha division of Maharashtra. Eratic Rainfall, low crop productivity, escalation in price of agriculture inputs and rise in debt worsen the conditions of the farmer’s in the region. The study mainly focuses on financial feasibility of Jatropha bio-diesel with respect to public transportation. The entire study is structured into four objectives with respective tools or techniques as well as expected outcome at every stage. Firstly, optimum wastelands suitable for Jatropha cultivation are identified using land suitability analysis. Further the expected yield from wastelands is estimated and cost of Jatropha cultivation is calculated. As per land suitability analysis and three stages of filter applied after suitability, the area of available wastelands suitable for Jatropha cultivation is 4475 Ha. The expected yield of Jatropha bio-diesel is projected using Jatropha bio-diesel yield projection formula which is approximately 9800 tonnes and 24000 tonnes for 2018 and 2031 respectively. The cost of farm produced Jatropha seeds estimated for the first five year is Rs. 18.43/kg while it is Rs. 6.00/kg. Then diesel demand for public transportation of NMA is projected based on the transportation record of Comprehensive Mobility plan, 2007 (CMP) and Feeder Service Report for Metro, Nagpur 2014. The projected diesel demand for public transportation of NMA for 2018, 2021 and 2031 year are Rs. 3.9 lakhs, Rs. 6.10 lakhs and Rs. 18 lakhs approx. The study concludes that effective blending scenarios are identified base on per year maximum feasible working duration (in days) of bio-refineries which derives that the most efficient blending scenarios are 15 % and 20 % as the numbers of working days of bio-refineries are 234 and 312 working days /refinery which are close to overall number of 365 days in a year. Additionally suitable bio-refinery locations are identified based on review of Alfred Weber’s industrial location theory. Expected wastelands suitable for bio-refineries are 758 Ha which are identified using land suitability analysis. To conclude that the study states that if farm produced Jatropha seeds processed with effective economies of scale then production of Jatropha bio-diesel is viable and can be used as substitute for diesel in public transportation of NMA. Also the benefits of use of Jatropha bio-diesel in public transportation are explained where, it is expected to reduce the revenue losses by an average of 4%, 7% and 9% approx. For 10% , 15% and 20% blending scenario respectively. The savings in expenses can then be utilised in multiple ways to increase the efficiency of bus transportation. For effective implementation of Jatropha bio-diesel in bus transportation, framework addressing the roles of the concerned stakeholders is also formulated.