In a bid to encourage the biofuel sector, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister announced that the state run oil marketing companies would procure the entire supply of biodiesel produced from used cooking oil for a three year period.
- Recently, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) directed that Food Business Operators (FBOs), whose consumption of edible oils for frying is more than 50 litres per day, shall stop reusing the oil more than three times.
- Rather this used cooking oil should be used by the Oil Manufacturing Companies (OMCs) to produce Biodiesel.
- As per the order, the state run oil marketing companies would procure the entire supply of biodiesel produced from used cooking oil for a three year period.
- The scheme is applicable in 100 cities across the country.
World Biofuel Day
- World Biofuel Day is observed every year on 10th August to create awareness about the importance of non-fossil fuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels and highlight the various efforts made by Government in the biofuel sector.
- This year the theme of the World Biofuel Day is “Production of Biodiesel from Used Cooking Oil (UCO)”.
- The National Policy on Biofuels – 2018 envisages a target of 5% blending of Biodiesel in High Speed Diesel (HSD) by 2030.
RUCO
- During frying, several properties of oil are altered, Total Polar Compounds(TPC) are formed on repeated frying.
- The toxicity of these compounds is associated with several diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, liver diseases.
- In order to safeguard consumer health, FSSAI has fixed a limit for Total Polar Compounds at 25 percent beyond which the vegetable oil shall not be used.
- Repurpose Used Cooking Oil (RUCO) is an ecosystem that will enable the collection and conversion of UCO to biodiesel.
- Under this initiative, 64 companies at 101 locations have been identified to enable collection of used cooking oil. For instance: McDonald’s has already started converting used cooking oil to biodiesel from 100 outlets in Mumbai and Pune.
General Studies of Rajasthan-All in One