Question

Which one is being tried in India as a biofuel substitute for fossil fuels?
A. Jatropha
B. Musa
C. Aegilops
D. Azadirachta

Answer 1

Hint: Jatropha is a petroplant and the source of fuel is latex. It is reported that Jatropha occupies only around 0.5 million hectares of low-quality wastelands.

Step by step answer:Biofuels are the substance of biological origin which are used for the production of heat and another form of energy.
2. Often biologically generated hydrogen methane ethanol butanol and diesel are referred to as biohydrogen biomethane bioethanol biobutanol and biodiesel respectively.
3. Petro plants are the plants which can yield a large amount of latex having long-chained liquid hydrocarbon, eg, jatropha, euphorbia, and other members of euphorbiaceae, asclepiadaceae apocynaceae.
4. Across the country, of which 65-70 percent are new plantations of less than three years.
5. The wood used as a source of energy is called fuelwood.
6. The good fuelwood should be free from resin much smoke and offensive odours.
7. Another option is biodiesel, which can be produced from the oil-bearing seeds of certain plants and blended with diesel.
8. Availability of Jatropha seeds remains a major problem in increasing the production of biodiesel in India.
9. Much has been done to initiate large-scale cultivation, increasing Jatropha yield, and switching to substitutes.
10. Further, a major obstacle in implementing the biodiesel program has been the difficulty in initiating large-scale cultivation of Jatropha.
11. It is reported that Jatropha occupies only around 0.5 million hectares of low-quality wastelands.
12. Moreover, several existing biodiesel plants shifted operations to adopt multiple feedstocks technology.
13. For instance, they use used cooking oils, animal fats, and imported crude vegetable oils to produce biodiesel while private producers are encouraged to sell more biodiesel directly to end- users provided they meet the prescribed Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) norms.

Note: Biotechnology application in Jatropha breeding is far behind as compared to some other crop. Somaclonal and gametoclonal variation are created by in vitro mutagenesis, in vitro micropropagation, anther and microspore culture, ovary and ovule culture, protoplast culture, nucleolus culture, endosperm culture, and somatic embryogenesis.