Saturday, October 25, 2008
Coimbatore: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) entered into a memorandum of understanding for developing a pilot plant technology for bio-diesel production from micro-algae from petroleum industrial wastes here on Monday.

The MoU signed by M.A. Siddiqui, Executive Director (Research and Development), BPCL, and C. Ramasamy, Vice-Chancellor of TNAU, will consider bio-diesel production from micro-algae as a key alternative in reducing fossil fuels.


Mr. Siddiqui told presspersons that the company was looking at different promising sources of oil.

“There is a requirement of 40 million tonnes of diesel. Wind energy and bio-diesel from jatropha have been identified as good alternatives. The area of micro-algae is comparatively new and we have entered into collaboration with the university because it has the knowledge base. Our aim will be to establish feasibility of production in field conditions.”

The project is for three years and would be executed at a cost of Rs.30 lakh. The team would consist of members from the university as well as the company.

Registrar of TNAU P. Santhanakrishnan said micro-algae required less area and time for growing and giving good yield.
The composition of oil was more and it was economical compared to jatropha cultivation.

According to Mr. Ramasamy, micro-algae are capable of harnessing 30 times the amount of oil per unit area compared to other oil seed crops.