Biofuels in India

The Economist, September 20, 2008 - The slow ripening of India?s biofuel industry

OUTSIDE his village in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, Sudarshan Dhrube inspects a field of jatropha, planted in rust-red soils, heavy with iron. His village is growing the shrub under the watchful eye of D1-BP Fuel Crops, a joint venture between D1 Oils, a British biofuels firm, and BP, an energy giant. D1-BP has promised to pay 6.50 rupees (14 cents) for every kilogram of the black seeds found inside the shrub?s fruit. Crushed, these seeds yield a viscous oil that burns with a clear, clean flame. The oil can run a generator or a pump. Or it can be refined into biodiesel that can fuel tractors, trucks or trains.

Jatropha contains a toxic protein similar to ricin. It was traditionally consigned to hedgerows, protecting more valuable, edible crops from peckish goats. The Shambaa tribesmen of Tanzania forced suspects to eat it. If they vomited, they were innocent. If they died, they weren?t.

Now the world is being asked to digest big claims for this poisonous plant. It will help meet the world?s demand for fuel, without crowding out the world?s supply of food. It will regenerate dry and denuded soils, and create jobs for impoverished farmers. India accounts for about two-thirds of the world?s jatropha plantations, according to New Energy Finance, a research firm, and a hefty share of the enthusiasm. India?s previous president planted it in his garden and Chhattisgarh?s chief minister runs his official car on its oil.

On September 12th the government followed up these gestures with a new national biofuel policy. By 2017 it aims to meet 20% of India?s diesel demand with fuel derived from plants rather than fossils. That will mean setting aside 14m hectares of land, according to the National Council of Applied Economic Research, a Delhi think-tank. By one count, jatropha now covers less than 500,000 hectares.

Biodiesel is not the only kind of biofuel: India also makes bioethanol from molasses left over from refining sugarcane. And jatropha oil is not the only source of biodiesel. The shrub has a more elegant rival in pongamia pinnata, or Indian birch, a silvery tree revered for its shady canopy and medicinal properties. Its crescent-shaped pods also contain seeds which can yield about 30% of their weight in oil, according to Roshini International Bio Energy, a firm based in Hyderabad. It has joined hands with the Andhra Pradesh government to plant the trees in three of Andhra Pradesh?s 23 districts. It is also venturing into neighbouring states and to Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Uganda. The goal, says Anil Reddy, Roshini?s founder, is "to plant 1 billion trees on this planet", covering an area half the size of Denmark.

India?s enthusiasm for biofuel may seem odd only months after the country?s finance minister described conversion of food crops into biofuel as "a crime against humanity." But D1-BP and Roshini point out that their favoured crops need not compete with food crops for land or water. Both are hardy plants that can grow on dry, stony soil. S.K. Kothari, Roshini?s technical director, says 150 acres of pongamia requires only as much water as a single acre of traditional crops.

But sceptics say these crops take too long to bear fruit and their yield is unreliable. Jatropha reaches full maturity in its fourth or fifth year; pongamia in its ninth. It is not easy to convince small farmers to devote care and attention to an untried crop which takes so long to provide a return. But without such care, especially in the crop?s infancy, the yield will disappoint, confirming the farmers? doubts.

The answer lies in agronomy and sociology. Roshini has painstakingly accumulated a "gene bank" of high-yielding mother trees. Stems from these fecund plants can be grafted onto 200-300 saplings, which will then inherit the mother tree?s desirable properties, fruiting earlier and more reliably.

Breeding confidence and commitment in the farmers is, however, just as important. They require a lot of "handholding", says Samiran Das of D1-BP. His firm has tried to generate a "community feeling" around its projects. For example, it has hired Dukhiya Yadav, the head of a village self-help group, to collect seeds from the farmers and sort the bad from the good, for half a rupee per kilogram. That gives her a stake in the farmers? success.

Mr Dhrube, inspecting his jatropha field in Chhattisgarh, confesses some doubts about whether he will see a return this year. The leaves of the plants are drooping mournfully in the 42{degree}C heat. But an adviser from D1-BP assures him they will perk up when the sun goes down.

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