Mysore, the Culture City, will soon switch to bio-fuel. Over 2 lakh litres of bio-diesel will be supplied every month from Bengaluru as major sectors from Mysore have come forward to blend the green fuel with diesel. Apartment owners, hotels, IT majors, like Wipro and Infosys who have offices in the city, and hospitals are now willing to use a blend of bio-fuel and diesel. These sectors burn close to 5 lakh litres of diesel for their back-up power supply units.
Now, bio-diesel is being produced in smaller quantities. But soon, a unit coming up in Devanahalli will have the capacity of 50,000 litres per day, which will meet the needs of both Bengaluru and Mysore. It is produced from acid oil, which is procured while preparing edible oil. Seeds of jatropha, neem and honge are used to prepare the bio-diesel.
Bio-Fuel Task Force (BFTF) Chairman Y.B. Ramakrishna said that last month, the Task Force invited apartment owners from Mysore to generate awareness about using or blending the green fuel with diesel. “The apartment owners readily agreed to use the green fuel for power generators, while IT and health sectors joined in later. Industries, including big firms like Larsen and Toubro, have shown a keen interest in using the green fuel. We are holding a few more rounds of meetings to assess the requirement. As of now, we estimate that Mysore may need about 2 lakh litres of bio-diesel every month,” he said. The Devanahalli unit, which will be operational in the next few months, will initially produce 10,000 litres of bio-diesel and increase it to 50,000 litres.
Besides using acid oil from the edible oil industry, this unit will also collaborate with restaurants in the city to procure leftover oil to produce bio-diesel.