This will not only provide ethanol at competitive prices, but it will also create jobs for farmers who can grow bamboo for the plant. Following the signing of an agreement between a Hyderabad-based company and a farmers’ company in Maharashtra’s Latur, the world’s first bamboo-based ethanol production refinery project with a daily capacity of 30,000 litres is set to be built in India.
This will not only provide ethanol at competitive prices, but it will also create jobs for farmers who can grow bamboo for the plant. Furthermore, the Centre has committed to blending 20% ethanol with gasoline by 2025. This opens up a slew of new applications for bamboo-based ethanol.
Dr. Banibrata Pande of the Nagarjuna Group and Pasha Patel of the Lodga Bamboo Industries signed the agreement for the ethanol refinery project on Friday in Hyderabad by Dr. Banibrata Pande of the Nagarjuna Group and Pasha Patel of the Lodga Bamboo Industries in the Latur district.
“This refinery project will be the world’s first to produce 30,000 litres of ethanol per day from bamboo,” said Patel, a former Legislative Council member and farmer leader.
The project is the culmination of four years of work to promote bamboo as a key resource for farmer livelihood security and global climate resilience. The technology developed in collaboration by the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and Nagarjuna Industries allows for the establishment of medium-scale bamboo-based ethanol plants in the country for an investment of Rs 65 crore each.
To meet the raw material requirements of this plant, up to 60,000 tonnes of bamboo grown over 1,500 acres would be required annually. “This would provide an assured market for bamboo farmers, providing them with a robust and stable annual income while also moving the country one step closer to energy security,” Patel said.
He emphasized the value of bamboo as a cash crop for farmers by saying: “Although the first harvest of bamboo is not possible until the third year of a plantation, farmers can harvest intercrops during the first two years. Bamboo truly lives up to its moniker of “green gold.” More than 10,000 farmers in Maharashtra have planted bamboo on nearly 15,000 acres this year.”
“Bamboo will contribute to carbon sequestration during its growth, and carbon emissions will be drastically reduced due to the non-use of fossil fuels. The use of bamboo in the production of ethanol also helps to conserve groundwater. Unlike sugarcane, the most common material currently used to produce ethanol, bamboo requires only one-fifth of the water required for sugarcane cultivation “he stated.
In collaboration with Nagarjuna Industries, Patel and his team plan to establish bamboo-based ethanol plants in Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, and other states.