<p>The project was initiated last year jointly by CSIR and the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), along with researchers from nine institutions, including CSMCRI, IIT-Kharagpur, IICT-Hyderabad, NIOT-Chennai and NIO-Goa.<br /><br />The biodiesel was prepared from mats of microalgae found growing naturally in the West coast of India by the Bhavnagar-based Central Salt Marine and Chemical Research Institute (CSMCRI).<br /><br />The mileage derived from the test drive was 12.4 km, which is better than the normal average per litre of 10-11 km of the regular vehicles run on diesel, the official said.<br /><br />“The aim of the project is to develop a scalable viable process for production of bio-fuel from marine algae. In the first step, road worthiness of B-20 marine micro algae biodiesel under full load conditions has been proven,” NMITLI coordinator Dr Vibha Malhotra told PTI on telephone.<br /><br />“The next step would be to run vehicle under full load conditions on B-100 (neat biodiesel) marine micro algae biodiesel and to look at its economic viability,” she said.<br /><br />“Although the demonstration aimed at proving road worthiness of micro-algal biodiesel, it remains to be seen whether such mat-forming marine micro algae can be cultivated inland or induced to grow rapidly and on large scale in the sea itself,” said CSMCRI Director Dr Pushpito Ghosh. <br /></p>
<p>The project was initiated last year jointly by CSIR and the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), along with researchers from nine institutions, including CSMCRI, IIT-Kharagpur, IICT-Hyderabad, NIOT-Chennai and NIO-Goa.<br /><br />The biodiesel was prepared from mats of microalgae found growing naturally in the West coast of India by the Bhavnagar-based Central Salt Marine and Chemical Research Institute (CSMCRI).<br /><br />The mileage derived from the test drive was 12.4 km, which is better than the normal average per litre of 10-11 km of the regular vehicles run on diesel, the official said.<br /><br />“The aim of the project is to develop a scalable viable process for production of bio-fuel from marine algae. In the first step, road worthiness of B-20 marine micro algae biodiesel under full load conditions has been proven,” NMITLI coordinator Dr Vibha Malhotra told PTI on telephone.<br /><br />“The next step would be to run vehicle under full load conditions on B-100 (neat biodiesel) marine micro algae biodiesel and to look at its economic viability,” she said.<br /><br />“Although the demonstration aimed at proving road worthiness of micro-algal biodiesel, it remains to be seen whether such mat-forming marine micro algae can be cultivated inland or induced to grow rapidly and on large scale in the sea itself,” said CSMCRI Director Dr Pushpito Ghosh. <br /></p>
