Topics Covered: Conservation related issues.
Biodiesel from Used Cooking Oil:
Context:
Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas flagged off the first supply of UCO (Used Cooking Oil) based Biodiesel blended Diesel.
Background:
To create an eco-system for collection and conversion of UCO into Biodiesel, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas had initiated Expressions of Interest for “Procurement of Bio-diesel produced from Used Cooking Oil” on the occasion of World Biofuel Day on 10th August 2019.
- Under this initiative, OMCs offer periodically incremental price guarantees for five years and extend off-take guarantees for ten years to prospective entrepreneurs.
Concerns associated with the consumption of used cooking oil (UCO):
- During frying, several properties of oil are altered, Total Polar Compounds (TPC) are formed on repeated frying.
- The toxicity of these compounds is associated with several diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, liver diseases.
InstaLinks:
Prelims Link:
- What is a biofuel?
- Categorisation of biofuels.
- Overview of National Policy on Biofuels.
- What is ethanol? How is it produced?
Mains Link:
Discuss the importance of biofuels for India? Critically examine whether the national policy on biofuels will help India unlock it’s biofuel potential?
Sources: PIB.
