Delhi based Biodiesel Company BioD Energy today announced that biodiesel is all geared up to offer solution to the menace of Used Cooking Oil (UCO). Shiva Vig, CEO, BioD Energy (India) Pvt Ltd. said, “We collect used cooking oil from800 kitchens of NCR as notified by FSSAI including food joints, restaurants and hotels, to convert it into biodiesel”.
BioD Energy will soon start to produce biodiesel to the tune of 100 tonne per day from its plant in Bawal, Haryana, which will be scaled to 500 tonne per day in the next few months. “The idea is to reduce dependency on imported crude oil, fighting pollution, managing illegal discharge of oil into a drainage system that contaminates water and clogs drainage system. It is estimated that, biofuel can save $10 billion forex of the country every year”, said Shiva.
Welcoming the move by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which says that all food business operators whose consumption of edible oil is more than 50 litres per day are liable to maintain records and dispose used cooking oil to agencies authorized by FSSAI, Shiva said, “We collect Used Cooking Oil (UCO) which is beyond the total polar compounds (TPC) of more than 25%. As authorized by FSSAI, beyond the specified TPC limit, the oil becomes unsafe to use. We convert UCO into biodiesel, making it a cleaner fuel for reuse.”
As per the FSSAI direction from March 1, 2019, the Food and Drug Administration will scrutinise restaurant records to check whether they are abiding by the guideline.
Further Shiva said, “This new rule will prohibit commercial kitchens from using the same cooking oil for more than three times. They, along with common masses, must understand that reusing such oil is hazardous for human heart and can cause various critical illnesses.”
Besides, the biofuel industry in India is gearing up to touch a $15 billion market by 2020 with government support through its renewed and robust policies including the National Policy on Biofuels 2018. “Given high volatile oil prices, the government is striving to fulfil its promise to meet a 10 per cent reduction in the nation’s energy import bills by 2022,” Shiva added.
