The “Bamboo-Boom” : Soon To Be India’s 30,000 Crore Industry

The world’s third-biggest oil importer, India is on a mission of achieving 20% ethanol-blended fuel by 2025. The production of ethanol from sugarcane has already picked up pace and the bamboo industry is all set to join this race. The world’s first ethanol-producing refinery from bamboo with a 30000 litres a day capacity is to be setup in India. This is major news not only for the farmers but also for our country’s goal of reducing carbon emissions.

The Nagarajuna Group (hyderabad) & Lodga Bamboo Industries (Latur, Maharashtra) signed the deal to produce the world’s first refinery with a capacity of producing 30,000 litres ethanol per day from bamboo. Furthermore, this partnership plans on setting up plant in various states in India. In addition the Nagarjuna group, expected to instill INR 65 crore in each plant.

The Process : Ethanol from Bamboo

Bamboo, An Industry set to be big in the Ethanol blended fuel mission of India.

The step-by-step process of producing ethanol from bamboo pic.twitter.com/fHgMj0Q8jC

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Bamboo has a 10% moisture content and consists of 64% sugar from the dry matter. To produce ethanol from bamboo, it goes through a series of process as shown above. The most cost efficient pretreatment of fine bamboo particles is liquid hot water treatment. After treating it with liquid hot water the remains are hydrolysed to produce monomeric sugar which is fermented to produce ethanol through recombinant microorganism namely Zymomonas mobilis.

India’s Green Gold Mine : Assam

Assam being the largest producer of bamboo in India has already picked up on this. Particularly with the country’s first bio-refinery company, Assam Bio Refinery Private Limited. It is a ground breaking project for the Assamese region. An alliance between Numaligarh Refinery Limited and two Finnish technology companies, Chempolis and Fortum with Sulzer  providing the pumps is a clear example of how India can use it resources for a sustainable development. This project has great ambitions which can redefine the economy of Assam. Assam alone can produce enough ethanol to power the vehicles in India in near future.

Bamboo India The Soon To Be INR 30,000 Crore Industry

India, the world’s second largest bamboo producing country is yet to make the full use of it. Moreover, the prospect of producing ethanol from cellulosic blending makes it even more lucrative than producing it from food crops like sugarcane. In Summary, the recent investments in ethanol producing refineries from bamboo are expected to be the major contributor of India’s mission towards 20% ethanol blended fuel by 2025.