Gaiatech supplies biodiesel for public transit in India

Hyderabad, India-based Gaiatech Fuels said it plans to supply 1.6 million liters (423,000 gallons) of biodiesel to Navi Mumbai’s bus system under a one-year contract.

The fuel is expected to be used in a B20 blend for the Municipal Transport system’s 261 buses, which together travel 40,400 miles a day. Gaiatech’s biodiesel comes from vegetable oils, fish oil and tallow, but the company has plans to partner with jatropha and pongamia plantations for feedstock.

Gaiatech began supplying biodiesel on a trial basis to the West Coast city’s transportation department in September. Navi Mumbai was developed in 1972 as a twin city for Mumbai and is one of the largest planned cities in the world.

Mike Stiller, director for Gaiatech, told Biodiesel Magazine that there was competition for the contract with larger companies.

"It gets our foot in the door. This is really the first major order we have received from them and so, obviously, they were happy with what we have done previously," he said.

Gaiatech also supplies biodiesel to the transportation department for the state of Karnataka, which includes the city of Bangalore. Last year, the company delivered 250,000 liters (66,000 gallons) to Karnataka but is trying to secure a larger supply deal for 3 million liters (793,000 gallons).

Oil imports account for 77 percent of total fuel consumption in India, so the government has encouraged the production of ethanol to increase supply and lower prices (see Simbhaoli Sugars opens third molasses plant for ethanol).

India currently requires a 5-percent biofuel blend. Plans were shelved last year to increase that blend to 10 percent because of increased sugarcane costs (see India to delay October's ethanol mandate).

In October, India said it would require a 20-percent biofuel blend by 2017 from non-edible sources grown on non-farming land (see India, EU affirm new biofuels). The country also called for the elimination of tax and duties on biodiesel.

However, the country has had problems blending biodiesel in with its fuel supply, leading some Indian distributors to ship biodiesel to the U.S. and EU (see India can't use own biodiesel).

Stiller said Gaiatech plans to focus on the Indian market.

"If we start trying to get involved in Europe and the U.S., the competition is fierce," Stiller said. "There is a lot of competition in India, but they have got such a huge demand building up over the next 10 to 20 years that, frankly, there is not enough (supply) at the moment to be able to service that demand."

Read the article »

Cleantech developments making news in the past 24 hours

• Metabolix, ADM to open new bioplastics factory
• Rockwool nears construction on Indian insulation factory
• Two Israeli wastewater firms to locate in Michigan
• Al Gore: Super grid is critical to combating the climate crisis

View the last week of cleantech developments here | Subscribe to full feed