The non-renewability, environmental concerns and health threats related to the fossil fuels has led to expedition of alternative sources of energy to replace the traditional ones. An appealing innovation, still in its infancy, that might reveal us the way to the future ahead is Biodiesels. Biodiesels are diesel fuels derived from grease or animal-fat that might be used to run diesel motors. Vegetables oils like sunflower, rape seed, palm oil, soya bean, Jatropha etc can be subjected to oil processing to produce biodiesels. It includes no petroleum but can be mixed with petroleum diesel for usage or might be utilized in its pure kind.

Developed countries particularly United States and European Countries have currently made considerable advances in the Biodiesel Technology. Biodiesel have found its usage across industries and verticals and might become a perfect cleaner and less expensive alternative to petrol, diesel and nonrenewable fuel sources. India has also started checking out the opportunities to produce and use bio-diesel. A variety of plants for biodiesel transesterification are currently working in the nation where vegetable oils are responded with alcohols (ethanol or methanol generally) to produce bio-diesel.

The main factor for the increasing need for biodiesels is the reality that biodiesels are renewable and carbon-neutral, hence having no net influence on the environment. Besides, bio-diesel operates in compression engines similar to typical petroleum diesel and thus can be used with little or no engine modifications. Biodiesel do not require any separate infrastructure for its storage and can be kept much like the petroleum based fuels.

Considering the growing energy demand in the nation, rising petroleum prices and the environmental risks of nonrenewable fuel sources, the Indian Government has used up efforts to establish the Bio Diesel Technology in India and established more oil processing systems. The Government announced its 'National Biofuel Policy' on 12 September 2008 which intends to fulfill 20% of India's diesel demand with bio-fuels in the coming years.

Globally, edible veggie oils like sunflower, soya bean, rape seed, palm oil are used as the pre-dominant basic materials for oil processing and biodiesel production but in India the optimal capacity to produce biodiesels is from jatropha curcas oil - a non-edible one produced from the seeds of the Jatropha curcas. The biggest advantage of utilizing Jatropha as a raw material is that this plant can be grown in huge amounts in wastelands all across India requiring extremely little water in contrast to other cash crops. Once grown, the plant has a useful lifespan of numerous decades. The jatropha curcas seeds include 40% oil and are thought about to be an outstanding source of bio-diesel. The Government of India has recognized 400,000 square kilometres of land appropriate for the Jatropha cultivation in the nation. India now

A research study approximates that even if a blending initiative of 2% jatropha curcas based Biodiesel is attained in 2011-12, India will conserve around Rs. 3000 crores. Besides, it will create around Rs. 5500 crores in the rural economy and assistance in decrease of Green House Gas emission by 3 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) every year. The government is taking actions to encourage the growing of jatropha curcas in India providing complimentary seeds, subsidized loans and other facilities. India needs to now reinforce its efforts to make the maximum usage of the Biodiesel Technology. Besides jatropha curcas, the opportunities for extracting biodiesel from vegetable oils, fats, sunflower, rape seed oil and palm oil must also be explored. It will not just offer a response to the obstacle of Global Warming but might decrease our reliance on foreign oil and contribute to our own economy.