India pushes for the Global Biofuels Alliance

INTERNATIONAL DESK: A Global Biofuels Alliance is likely to be launched on July 22 during the G20 Clean Energy Ministerial meeting in Goa. The initiative, to be launched under the G20 Presidency of India, has reportedly received strong support from Brazil and the USA.

The Alliance will work to strengthen global cooperation and collaboration towards the adoption of biofuels and to seek out global best practices to advance their development and adoption on a large scale. Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, shared details of the initative.

Earlier in February, 2023, during India Energy Week, the Indian minister had observed that the Global Biofuels Alliance would be one of the priorities of India’s G-20 Presidency. Puri unveiled the plans for Brazil, India, and the United States, as leading producers and consumers of biofuels, to work together, along with other interested countries, towards the development of a Global Biofuels Alliance.

The Alliance would aim at facilitating cooperation and intensifying the use of sustainable biofuels, specially for transport. Strengthening markets, facilitating global biofuels trade, development of concrete policy lesson-sharing and provision of technical support for national biofuels programmes worldwide would be some of the major tasks for the Alliance. It was also to highlight and promote already implemented best practices and success stories.

The Alliance is expected to carry out its mandate in collaboration with and complement the existing regional and international agencies and initiatives in the bio-energy, bio-economy, and energy transition fields such as Clean Energy Ministerial Biofuture Platform, the Mission Innovation Bioenergy initiatives, and the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP).

The G20 Energy Ministerial meeting on July 22 will be followed by the launch of the Green Hydrogen Innovation Centre and Global Biofuel Alliance. The Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy R. K. Singh will launch the former while Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri will flag off the latter.

The meeting will be attended by Energy Ministers from G20 member countries, 9 invited countries and high-ranking officials from 14 international organizations. Incidentally, the 4 meeting of the Energy Transitions Working Group will also be held in Goa during 19-20 July. More than 1,000 participants including policymakers, delegates, invitees, business leaders, and researchers are likely to attend various meetings and events across these four days.

India, under its G20 Presidency, has identified six priority areas for the Energy Transitions Working Group. These are: (i) Energy Transitions through addressing technology gaps (ii) Low-cost financing for energy transitions (iii) Energy security and diversified supply chains (iv) Energy efficiency, industrial low-carbon transitions, and responsible consumption (v) Fuels for Future and (vi) Universal access to clean energy and just, affordable, and inclusive energy transition pathways.

The deliberations in Goa will build on the first three meetings of the working group in Bengaluru, Gandhinagar and Mumbai respectively. The mandate of the group is to identify and promote best practices, policies, and innovative approaches that support a just and inclusive energy transition. The objective is to develop a collective roadmap for achieving sustainable and equitable growth while effectively addressing the challenges associated with energy transition.

There are about 80 events to be held on the sidelines of the Clean Energy Ministerial / Mission Innovation meeting, focusing on a range of clean energy topics, such as industry decarbonisation, clean energy marine hubs, battery storage, access to energy (open), roundtable on green hydrogen, sustainable cooling, energy deployment and meeting the innovation needs for energy transition, current program, and future course of action.

Eight roundtables and high-level dialogues are scheduled. These will provide opportunities for B2B engagement, government-industry discussions and policy dialogues. Top business and energy leaders from across the world are expected participate in these meetings.

The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) puts together a community of the world’s largest and leading countries, companies and international experts to achieve one mission – faster clean energy transitions.

Established in 2009, the CEM is an international clean energy leadership platform. Its members help shape the global clean energy agenda, and advance the deployment of specific clean energy technologies and solutions. It is also a bottom-up, government-led community for exchanging knowledge and insights, building networks and partnerships, and facilitating coordinated actions on clean energy. CEM is at the same time an implementation vehicle that helps its members to achieve specific clean energy objectives at the domestic level.

There are 29 members in the CEM: the European Commission and 28 governments namely Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. The list is largely aligned with the G-20.

Initiatives undertaken by the Ministerial are based on areas of common interest among participating states and other stakeholders. The Framework for the Clean Energy Ministerial, reaffirmed at the twelfth Clean Energy Ministerial in 2021, defines the CEM governance structure and outlines the mission statement, objectives and guiding principles.

India hosted the 4th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM-4) in 2013. Leading the CEM’s Global Lighting Challenge campaign, which was inspired by India’s UnnatJyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) program, India helped several governments and industry partners to achieve a global collective target of 10 billion LEDs. This project was coordinated by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency on behalf of the Government of India.

As early as November, 2022, India’s Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had observed that India would like to leverage its G-20 Presidency to forge an International Biofuels Alliance on the lines of International Solar Alliance. ISA is an inter governmental initiative jointly launched in 2015 COP21 meet by Indian Prime Minister Modi and his French Counterpart Francois Hollande.

As the world’s third largest consumer and importer of oil, India has been actively encouraging the use of biofuels derived from sugarcane, grains, and agricultural waste. Biofuels help with climate change mitigation efforts. The push for biofuels is part of the larger objective to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. India is diversifying its oil purchases by exploring new supply routes. The number of countries in the basket has increased from 27 to 37. Supply shocks can be now avoided and susceptibility reduced by distributing output over multiple locations and nations. At the same time, biofuel production may boost India’s agricultural sector. For example, India is a global powerhouse in sugarcane production. Yet, the Sugarcane producers are struggling due to a lack of buyers and overproduction. The government has been wisely promoting the use of sugarcane in the ethanol blending project. Biofuels, in addition to enhancing farmer earnings, bring greater pricing transparency. The government think tank NITI Aayogremains optimistic about the prospect of an increase in biofuel’s role in the global energy mix. (TOM)