Cement, Energy and Environment

purchasing Jatropha seeds which is not only increasing the area under wasteland cultivation, but at the same time augmenting the income of the farmer. The biofuel programme has created a large demand for Jatropha seeds which has encouraged the small and big traders for rural regions to enter in this specified area of business. The Government has also decided to fix the minimum support price for it. Fig 3. Workers in the process of collection of Jatropha seeds, Chhattisgarh Biomass Prior to the industrial revolution, biomass satisfied almost all the energy needs of humans across the globe. The burning of wood and charcoal supplied energy for heating and cooking in homes. With the advent of coal and petroleum in the middle and late 19 1 h century, respectively, the developed world rapidly moved away from the use of biomass for almost all end uses - household, commercial, industrial and transportation applications. Today there is gradual decline in fossil fuel usage leading to a search for renewable sources of energy. In this respect waste Fig 2. Jatropha biodiese/ production biomass proves to be a good source of energy. In fact the Jatropha fruits after removing seeds for oil extraction can provide 4200K cal of energy. Availability of Organic Manure After extracting the oil, as much as 60-70 per cent of the non-edible oilseeds depending upon the sophistication of the extraction process, is in cake form and is used as organic fertilizer by the farmers. The oil cake is full of nitrogen and is therefore highly beneficial in enriching the soil for farming. As the oil extraction facilities require only small-scale investment and are spread in rural areas, the farmers will be greatly benefited as they can fetch the oil-cakes without a long– distance transport cost. Biogas After getting 60 to 70 per cent of the oil from the seeds, balance yield can be a major byproduct for biogas production. It is found that 1 kg of cake produces 0.5 m3 of gas, which is almost six times the gas produced by 1 kg of cow dung. Slurry from bio gas plant can further be processed as rich organic manure which can provide a major substitute to chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Bio-Energy Bio-diesel, a renewable source of energy offers a great potential to ease and supplement supplies of fossil fuel. Jatropha is one of the best alternative sources available for bio-diesel production and its potential needs to be explored. It is estimated that a plantation over 10 lakh 35