IndianOil goes bigger on biofuel
New Delhi   14-Mar-2014

INDIANOIL Corporation has taken an important step in the development of technology for advanced biofuels in the country with the opening of a bio- energy research centre at its sprawling R & D complex in Faridabad on Wednesday.

The centre for advanced bio- energy research has been set up with an investment of ` 50 crore jointly by IndianOil and the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.

IndianOil chairman and managing director R. S. Butola, , said, " IndianOil realised early on the importance of alternative fuels in our energy basket. Over the last few years, we have allocated considerable resources for research in this area. The dedication of this centre for advanced bioenergy research marks a significant step in the nation's quest for affordable, clean and secure energy."

Explaining the roadmap for the new centre, RK Malhotra, director ( R& D), IndianOil, said, " We have exhaustive research plans in core areas catering to business of the corporation like refining and petrochemical process technologies, catalysts, lubricant and fuel additives research.'' " At the same time, we plan to allocate at least onethird of total resources on futuristic technologies including alternative and renewable energy, gasification, biotechnology and nanotechnology,'' he added.

As part of the infrastructure, the Centre has established a state-of-the-art lignocellulosic ethanol pilot plant costing, about `8 crore, in technical collaboration with National Renewable Energy Laboratories, USA. The plant has the capability to study the pre-treatment of various agricultural wastes such as rice straw, cotton stalk, wheat straw, etc and their subsequent conversion to alcohol using sophisticated enzymes.

The Centre has also developed a novel and patented process to use very low value acetate streams to grow a special type of algae which is rich in oil and value added products like omega fatty acids. A global leader in advanced biofuels, M/s. Lanzatech of USA that has developed a process to produce acetates from fermentation of carbon dioxide/hydrogen mixtures, has shown keen interest to integrate the process.

It is expected that this technology would be a game-changer for production of algae and high value chemicals. This will be a distinctive technology for carbon dioxide utilisation for production of ethanol and chemicals. Prof. K VijayRaghavan, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology said, "the centre for advanced biofuel research, with its advanced facilities, can act as a nucleus of innovative technologies."