India makes clean energy push at G20 with global biofuel alliance - Reuters
India makes clean energy push at G20 with global biofuel alliance | Reuters
India makes clean energy push at G20 with global biofuel alliance
A general view of the venue for the G20 summit in New Delhi, India, September 9, 2023. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
NEW DELHI, Sept 9 (Reuters) - India announced on Saturday the launch of a global biofuel alliance at a G20 summit in New Delhi to boost the use of cleaner fuels.
The alliance, with the United States and Brazil as its founding members, would help accelerate global efforts to meet net zero emissions targets by facilitating trade in biofuels derived from sources including plant and animal waste.
"We are launching the Global Biofuel Alliance. India invites all of you to join this initiative," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his remarks to leaders from the Group of 20 major economies at the summit.
The push for a biofuels alliance mirrors the International Solar Alliance launched by New Delhi and Paris in 2015 to bring clean and affordable solar energy within the reach of all.
The International Energy Agency estimates in a July report that global sustainable biofuels production would need to triple by 2030 to put the world's energy system on track towards net zero emissions by 2050.
India, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer, imports about 85% of its crude needs and is gradually building capacity to increase its output of biofuels.
India is targeting to become carbon neutral by 2070 and is expanding use of biofuel in its transport sector. It has advanced the deadline by 5 years to 2025 for doubling nationwide ethanol blending in gasoline to 20%.
The alliance will help by encouraging global biofuels trade, developing concrete policies on lesson-sharing and promoting provision of technical support for national biofuels programmes worldwide, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in July.
The South Asian nation plans to build 12 bio-refineries to produce fuel from items including crop stubble, plant waste and municipal solid waste.
Reporting by Nidhi Verma, Writing by Shivam Patel; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Kim Coghill
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”