(Tribune)
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) has roped in Engineers India Ltd (EIL), Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) for setting up India’s first second generation (2G) ethanol bio-refinery in Bathinda at a cost of Rs 600 crore.The proposed capacity of the plant will be 100 kilolitres of ethanol per day and may use sugarcane, biomass and other agricultural residues like rice-straw, wheat stubble and maize residue for the production of ethanol.
It will also help in reducing CO2 emissions from the paddy straw, which is currently burnt after harvesting.The bio-refinery will also produce about 32,000 tonne of bio-fertiliser per annum which can be used as a soil nutrient. Apart from this, the plant will also yield bio-CNG, which can be used as fuel for cooking and vehicles.The unit is likely to use around 400 tonne of agriculture residue per day or 1.28 lakh tonne of biomass as fuel to produce around 100 KL ethanol per day.
