Encourage bio fuel: Expert

DHNS
Bellevision Media Network

Mysore, 11 August 2010: Karnataka is the first State in the entire country for having used bio fuel, said Prof Balakrishnegowda, an expert on bio fuel. Speaking at a function organised in connection with the National Bio Fuel Day here on Tuesday, he said it was on August 10, 1893, Rudolph, a German scientist used ground nut oil to run a machine.

 

‘Diesel’ is the name of scientist. Since then August 10 is celebrated as International Bio  Diesel Day. In Karnataka, it is observed as ‘Bio fuel Day’. The fossil fuel will become empty in few years and bio fuel is the only alternative for them. The former President, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam  in 2006 emphasised the importance of bio fuel and Hassan district was selected in the State for developing a bio fuel zone.

 

 

In the last two and a half years, as many as nine lakh saplings are plated by farmers and they are grown on one side of their fields. The bio fuel seeds grown by farmers were collected through milk producers co-operative societies in each village. The expert said from last few months, the farmers themselves were producing oil with the hand operated machinery supplied to them.

 

They are allowed to sell the oil. It’s by-product is used as manure by farmers. The country spends Rs 2.8 lakh crore on petroleum products and it was possible to save at least Rs 25,000 crore by using bio fuel. In fact, there are more than 120 trees that  have oil content and the same could be used as bio fuel, he added.

 

Deputy Commissioner Harsh Gupta inaugurated the programme by filling bio fuel into the fuel tank of a KSRTC bus in the premises of Aranya Bhavan. Deputy conservator of forests, Social Forestry, Puttaswamy said, at present, 80 per cent of fuel is imported and the rest is produced domestically. It is estimated that the fossil fuel will go empty in another 10-15 years. Deputy Conservator of Forests Shaswathi Mishra and  Conservator of Forests B P Ravi and others were present.