Punjab Government has announced to set up bio-ethanol refinery in the state to tackle the menace of wheat and paddy straw burning.
In this regard, state government has inked MoU with consortium of Beta Renewables, Novozymes and CVC India Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. for project estimated worth Rs. 950 crore during the Progressive Punjab Investor Summit, 2015.
Benefits of bio-ethanol refinery
- Would play an important role in solving the chronic problem of straw burning of leftover agro-based produce especially from wheat and rice feedstock's.
- Benefit farmers economically, as they would be paid for their agro-based produce to extract bio-ethanol.
- It would also help in preventing the loss of fertility of soil and damage to environment by reducing air pollution.
What is Bioethanol?
- It is an alcohol derived by process of fermentation mostly from carbohydrates of plant produce and feedstock's.
- Commonly obtained from crops such as sugarcane, cassava, corn, potato, beetroot and recently grapes, banana and dates etc.
- Uses: As a quasi-renewable energy it can be blended with petrol or diesel making it a sustainable transport fuel. It can also be used an alternative fuel in manufacturing processes and cosmetic products etc.