Lang
Font
Screen Reader
INFORMATION ABOUT DIFFERENT TYPES OF ENERGY
Will there ever be a time when we can use nothing but renewable energy to power our world. The time may not come but there will be a time when non-conventional energy will be an integral part of our lives. Solar, Wind, Bio fuels,Tidal, Geo-thermal, Fuel Cells, Hydrogen, are various forms of non-conventional energy. Being an energy responsible company, Bharat Petroleum has made strides towards harnessing renewable energy in a big way.
Rudolph Diesel himself developed biodiesel in 1890, wherein pure vegetable oils were used in diesel engines for agriculture, where petroleum diesel was not available. Modern biodiesel fuel is an outcome of research conducted in 1930s in Belgium, which is made by converting vegetable oils into compounds called fatty acid methyl esters. Process of trans-esterification was used to convert vegetable oils into fatty acid alkyl esters and use as diesel fuel replacement with lower viscosity of vegetable oil. Biodiesel is the trade name of fatty acid methyl esters. Concerns over environment, energy security and use of agro products brought the use of vegetable oils to the forefront.
Biodiesel is being used Worldwide now, due to concerns over Global warming. The future of biodiesel lies in the world’s ability to produce renewable feedstock’s such as vegetable oils and fats to keep the cost of biodiesel competitive with petroleum. Biodiesel is a fuel manufactured from non-edible vegetable oils, used cooking oil and animal fat. The fuel typically contains different types of Fatty Acid Alkyl (Methyl / Ethyl) Esters, conforming to BIS specification IS 15607 :2016.
The main benefit of biodiesel is that it can be described as ‘carbon neutral’. This means that the fuel produces no net output of carbon in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2). This effect occurs because when the oil crop grows it absorbs the same amount of CO2 as is released when the fuel is combusted.
The Sun offers more energy than we can consume. Tapping Solar Energy has now become a business proposition with various subsidies and focus given to it by the Government. India has also taken a target to install 175 GW by 2022 of renewable energy to meet the target of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions for renewable energy in which Solar Energy has the maximum contribution.
In alignment with global solar energy efforts, the present Solar Capacity of BPCL is 21 MW till Sept 2019 which is an increase of approx. 9 % against March 2019 across Business Units. There are 1313 RO’s solarized till March 2019 which is approx. equal to 8.9 % of the total number of Retail Outlets. BPCL has also taken an ambitious target of solarizing 7200 Retail Outlets in the near future.
BPCL also taken a target of Solarisation of Depots / Installations and LPG Plants to increase its capacity of renewable energy projects and reduce emissions. Large formats COCOS are also included in implementation of Solar projects and 18 number of COCO shall be Solarised and in the first phase.
Modern day wind farms are the result of implementation of Renewable Energy projects and saving Nature and Environment. It requires large capital expenditures and extensive R&D. Wind farms comprise many thousands of windmills placed in wind tunnels (High wind speed areas). BPCL has installed total 11.8 MW capacity of windmills in which 11.3 MW is in Karnataka, 0.5 MW in Tamilnadu and are connected to the national grid.
Hydrogen is not an energy source, but an energy carrier because it takes a great deal of energy to extract it from water. It is useful as a compact energy source, especially in fuel cells and batteries. BPCL has experimented with hydrogen fuel to develop technologies that can efficiently exploit the potential of hydrogen energy in our LPG bottling plant. Our CRDC at Noida is engaged in taking forward this initiative.
BPCL is in the process of setting up three 2G Ethanol Bio-Refineries in the states of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The Bio-Refineries are expected to produce Ethanol 100 KL per day using lignocellulose biomass as feedstock (rice straw/maize stalk) using indigenous technology. The 2G Ethanol produced, will be used for blending in Motor Spirit (Petrol).