City Kemp News
The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) started operating 10 bio-diesel buses on a pilot basis from Friday as part of its Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
With this eco-friendly initiative, KSRTC has become the first transport utility in the country to implement the Centre’s notification on bio-fuel issued on August 10.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah flagged off the buses along with Bengaluru in-charge and Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy and Home Minister K J George, at a function held at Vidhana Soudha on Friday.
* KSRTC currently is operating around 8200 buses, if replaced with biodiesel, there may be a saving of Rs 5 per litre., besides decreasing pollution.
* KSRTC plans to operate 1,500 bio-fuel buses, 106 from each depot, in the coming days.
* The fuel proportion is 20 per cent bio-diesel and 80 per cent petro-diesel.
* The fleet of 8,200 buses fuel consumption is 5,43,600 kilo litres per annum, which costs `2,404.22 crore.
* KSRTC uses 5,87,000 litres of diesel a day and it can save `5.87 lakh daily with bio-diesel, saving `21.50 crore in expenses annually.
* If bio-diesel is introduced in all the four state-run transport corporations, the government can save `55 crore a year.
* KSRTC has successfully been using a combination of biofuel with diesel and ethanol – blended diesel for some of its buses, resulting with significant reduction in fuel emission.
All about Biodiesel
Biodiesel is a clean burning renewable fuel made using natural vegetable oils and fats. It is made through a chemical process which converts oils and fats of natural origin into fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). It can be used as a replacement for petroleum diesel fuel, or can be blended with petroleum diesel fuel in any proportion.
Why Biodiesel?
The State Road Transport Undertakings in the country are collectively operating about 1.50 lac buses and serve 7 crore passengers everyday, three times higher than Indian Railways. 300 crore litres of diesel are being consumed every year, with about 35% spend of their revenue earnings on fuel cost. Savings on fuel can turn around the finances.
Benefits: Toxicity, Biodegradability, Safety & Recycling:-
Biodiesel is biodegradable, non toxic and free from sulphur. This has minimal environmental impact. With a high flash point, biodiesel is safer to handle and store than petroleum diesel. When made from used oils and fats, biodiesel ensures proper recycling of former waste products.
Power, Performance and Economy
Proven performance and economy make biodiesel a renewable winner.
Emissions & Greenhouse Gas Reduction. With lower exhaust emissions biodiesel helps reduce pollution and improve health. Lower CO2 emissions help reduce the impacts of global warming.
Activities at KSRTC
* KSRTC began trials of edible oils like Ground Nut, Sesame, Sunflower, Castor oil and non edible oils like Pongamia, at the engine test bed from July 2003. Based on the results of fuel efficiency & smoke emission reduction, 10% blending of Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO) was adopted for one depot.
* The Doddballpur Depot was officially converted as Bio-fuel Depot in 25th August 2005. As many as 76 buses are running with 10% Straight Vegetable Oil.
* The blending of bio fuel pongamia @ 10% was not continuous for reasons such as – short supply of oil, cost of oil which initially was at Rs 28/- it then increased to Rs 37/- per liter, which was more than the diesel cost of Rs 33.60/- at that time.
* The specification for procurement of Bio-diesel as per BIS standards has been fixed to facilitate Bio-diesel availability at competitive prices.
