Context

• A webinar on the occasion of the World Biofuel day was organized by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, with the theme“Biofuels towards Atmanirbhar Bharat”. 

Back to basics

• World Biofuel Day is observed every year on 10^th August to create awareness about the importance of non-fossil fuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels and to highlight the various efforts made by the Government in the Biofuel sector.
• Celebrated by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas since 2015.
• This day also honors the research experiments by Sir Rudolf Diesel who ran an engine with peanut oil in the year 1893. His research experiment had predicted that vegetable oil is going to replace fossil fuels in the next century to fuel different mechanical engines.
• Major areas- Ethanol, Bio-diesel and Biogas.

Important Initiatives of India-

• Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN Yojana 2019,  GOBAR (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources) DHAN scheme 2018, Repurpose Used Cooking Oil (RUCO) and National Policy on Biofuels, 2018.

Source: PIB