Tons of plastic buckets, mugs, toothpaste caps and other waste material are guzzled up by a giant machine, which in turn, produces the cleanest grade of diesel. Researchers at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research — Indian Institute of Petroleum (CSIR-IIP), a part of the CSIR, have achieved this significant success in reducing national dependence on fossil fuels by converting plastic into diesel. And the Indian Railways will use it as fuel for its trains soon.
In fact, Indian Railways plans to set up plants to manufacture diesel for mechanical traction with technology patented by CSIRIIP scientists in Dehra Dun. On a visit to CSIR-IIP, Union Minister for Science and Technology and vice president, CSIR, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said the plant will be available to convert one ton of plastic into 850 liters of cleanest grade of diesel.
“Indian Railways uses almost 2.7 billion liters of diesel every year which it procures through open bids from state-run oil marketing companies and private players. The new plant, apart from producing clean energy, will be the first step for the Indian Railways to attain self-sufficiency to meet its own energy requirements,” he said.
The green technology is available in the US, Germany and Japan and could produce LPG as a byproduct. Apart from this, CSIR-IIP has announced a breakthrough in technology to make low carbon jet fuel from inedible drought-resistant jatropha plant. The plant is being seen as a big step forward in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make In India initiative, which aims to transform the country into a global manufacturing hub. The program also aims to increase the share of manufacturing in the country’s gross domestic product from 16 percent to 25 percent by 2022. The major aim of the program is to ensure sustainable growth where the expansion of the manufacturing sector is not at the cost of the environment.
The new plant built by Indian Railways aims to score big on three counts: innovation, as it uses a technology that CSIR-IIP will hold the patent for; domestic manufacturing and sustainability for producing cleaner diesel. The technology that turns plastic waste from a nuisance into a clean energy resource and continuing research and innovation showcases India’s commitment to fight climate change effectively. Moreover, the government’s decision to support clean energy innovations is crucial ahead of the international climate change discussions in Paris in December and in meeting Modi’s target of consisting 20 percent of its total energy build of renewable energy by 2022.
