Any renewable substance which can be used as fuel other than the conventional fossil fuels are known as the Alternate or Clean Fuel. They can serve, at least partly, as a substitute for fossil fuel in transportation and have the potential to contribute to its decarbonisation and enhance the environmental performance of the transport sector. Clean fuels will play an important role in clean energy initiatives worldwide. Some well-known fuels which can be used as Clean Fuels are biomass, biofuel, non-fossil natural gas, vegetable oil, liquefied petroleum gas, synthetic and paraffinic fuels etc. Clean fuels, especially biofuels, are new sources of energy with smaller carbon footprints.

Programmes:

1. Biomass, Biofuel and Biogas (BBB)

Biofuels, being a derivative of renewable biomass resources such as agricultural wastes, forest residues, surplus food grains, municipal solid waste (MSW) etc., can be used as transport fuel or stationery fuels and has huge potential to help the country achieve sustainability and energy security. Replacing fossil fuels with biofuels, produced from renewable organic material, has the potential to reduce some undesirable aspects of fossil fuel production and use, including conventional and greenhouse gas (GHG) pollutant emissions, exhaustible resource depletion and dependence on unstable foreign suppliers. Adopting biofuels as an alternative source of energy can improve farmer's income, generate employment opportunities, reduce imports, augment waste to wealth creation, etc.

Sustainable Biofuel and sources is one area DST envisages to think and work. The objective of the programme is to develop ways to produce at scale, widely affordable, advanced biofuels for transportation and industrial applications. DST strives to develop clean technologies and their integration into production of affordable and sustainable biofuels to ensure unequivocal carbon savings. It resolves to continue working on the development and commercialization of novel sustainable bio-based fuels and products by encouraging early stage technologies and nurturing cross-innovations with the objective of ensuring speedy commercialisation.

2. Collaborations

    2.1 Converting Sunlight into storable fuels

Converting Sunlight into storable fuels aims to produce fuels that are carbon neutral in both their production and use. The objective of the initiative is to discover affordable ways to convert sunlight into storable solar fuels. It has the potential to serve to enhance energy security and will provide opportunities for economic development across the globe. So far 13 collaborative projects have been supported  with 6 countries.