Worldwide in the last decade  biofuels have gained significant importance. In India, biofuels are of considerable significance as our demand of energy is increasing, resulting in increased import bills on one hand and negative impact on air due to burning of fossil fuels. In order to promote biofuels in the country, a National Policy on Biofuels was first made by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, way back in 2009. The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister has recently approved National Policy on Biofuels - 2018. Internationally also, World Biofuel Day-International Biodiesel Day is observed every year on August 10, so as to create awareness about the importance of biofuels which are emerging as  promising alternative to conventional
fossil fuels. 

Hence, this month, our cover story discusses the current status of biofuel production and policies governing biofuels globally as well as in India. The major goals of the National Policy on Biofuels in India are development and consumption of indigenous non-food feedstocks raised on degraded or wastelands, research and development on cultivation, processing and production of biofuels and so on. Biofuels programme in India has been severely impacted due to the sustained non-availability of domestic feedstock for biofuel production. Thus, The National Biofuels Policy-2018, expands the scope of raw material that can be used for ethanol production by permitting use of food items such as sugarcane juice, sugar containing materials, and spoiled food grains (unfit for human consumption) for
biofuel production.

Biofuels are rightly called  ‘fuels of future’ with expected outcomes in terms of reduced import dependency, cleaner environment, municipal solid waste management,  waste to wealth creation, employment generation, and additional income for the farmers. An intensive effort is needed to accelerate the development and deployment of bioenergy technologies globally. There is an urgent need to prepare national and regional bioenergy roadmaps that can play a crucial role in supporting policymakers identify pathways that are customized to local resources and priority actions to overcome economic and non economic barriers.  One of the major bottlenecks is high cost of biofuel production, thus calling for more research in this direction, including looking at options of developing other products of high economic value.  While we are discussing the issue of impact of fossil fuel burning on air quality, equally important are issues related to ecosystem management and conservation of biodiversity.

The feature article this month talks about the issues related to elephant conservation globally. When elephants and humans interact, there is conflict arising from crop raiding, injuries, and deaths to humans caused by elephants. While human-elephant conflicts need to be resolved further, there are many elephants that are trained and taught to work in the forests. Elephants that are made to take visitors or tourists on ‘joy’ rides, or have to work for festivals and celebrations often suffer from too much work and physical injuries. It is therefore a relief to note that it has been decided to end elephant rides by 2020 at Angkor Wat. More of such actions should be welcomed.