Case of India. 4.3.1.1 Matrix of policies, laws and guidelines in relation to biofuels value chain The approach to biofuels adopted in India, in particular, is somewhat different to the current international approaches and to an extent avoids the conflict with food security. It is based solely on non-food feedstocks to be raised on degraded or wastelands that are not suited for agriculture, thus avoiding a possible conflict of fuel vs. food security (National Biofuel Policy of India). The Indian government’s energy policy tries to support renewable energy by providing incentives on a federal and state government level. One of the main objectives is the supply of energy and electricity to rural areas (International Business Publications, 2003). Table 13 shows an overview of biofuel policies in India. 15 Biocore WP1 Final Report, Aug. 2012 Table 13: Biofuel policies in India Policy Year Characterisitics National Biodiesel Mission 2003 Announced in 2003. Replace 20% diesel consumption by 2012. Target of 13 million tonnes of diesel by 2013 Program divided into two phases. Phase-1: 2003-2007, 400000 ha (Rs 1500 crore investment; States were identified Phase-2: Target reduced to 5 %; however, the mission stagnated due to reasons like uncertainty in land tenure, food vs. fuel debate, global oil price vulnerability Icluded several micro missions covering promotion of large-scale plantation of feedstock crops in forests and wastelands, procurement of seeds and oil extraction, blending, trade and R&D. Ethanol Blending Program 2002 Mandatory blending of 5% ethanol in 9 major sugar producing states and 4 UTs. Low procurement price (INR 14.9/l) + sub 75 p; revised policy increased it to around INR 23/L, whereas the costs were INR 30/l based on CACP cost guidelines Scale up, in 2007 for mandatory usage all over India (10% blending for major sugarcane producing states and 5% blending for rest), Growing gap of demand and supply. Average target met 2% Mentions use of second generation feedstocks like rice straw and grains for biofuel production in the long run within India. But expressed uncertainty National Biofuel Policy 2009 Announced in 2009, xxxxx ministry MNRE, co-ordination with other ministries, like MoRD, MoEF, MoP&G, DBT, etc 20% blending of biofuels by 2017. Promotion for cultivation, production and use of biofuels to increasingly substitute other application Policy discussion around second generation feedstock like agri-residue (rice straw, wheat straw etc) for bioethanol gen...
Case of India. As noted in the methodology section of this report, AHP is a methodology used to formulate and analyse decisions. The AHP divides the problem or questions in the research into elements, according to their common characteristics that can then be divided into levels. The advantage of the AHP tool is that it considers both quantitative and qualitative factors to handle different groups of actors. It allows users to assess the relative weight of multiple criteria or multiple options against given criteria in an intuitive manner. In case that quantitative ratings are not available, policy makers or assessors can still recognize whether one criterion is more important than another. The AHP tool has been used as one of the tools for the social sustainability assessment in this study. While assessing sustainability of BIOCORE, a list of both qualitative and quantitative indicators across various domains (Annex II) was identified to address sustainability of a biorefinery. These indicators were then used to design the AHP questionnaire which facilitated a dialogue with the selected stakeholders and helped collect their perceptions in the context of assessing social sustainability of bio-refineries in the State of Punjab in India. Although there is a potential for a biorefinery setup based on biomass in an area where there are high levels of agricultural production, a social sustainability assessment has not yet been conducted for this potential biorefinery set up. The absence of such an assessment could hinder industries and organizations to set up such an infrastructure fearing different kinds of sustainability risks and concerns. The risks, or barriers involved, which are also highlighted by the study (by the way of showing the indicators with the lowest scores), would be useful in understanding what we have currently and what needs to be done in the near future. Assigning a score to different sustainability indicators helps in understanding the problems and addressing them before such an infrastructure is put in place, showing forward thinking about the sustainability aspects and helping address the factors that could hinder sustainability. The two study sites in the State of Punjab in India were the districts of Sangrur (including parts of adjoining district of Barnala) and Faridkot. Sangrur (and its adjacent district, Barnala) are located in Southern Punjab while Faridkot is located in South-Western Punjab. The surveyed farmers belonged to the villages - Bhogp...
