Stressing on “waste to wealth”, he said manufacturing ethanol and bio-gas from waste could result in savings to the tune of Rs. 5 lakh crore annually.
The minister said ethanol is generated from biomass in Europe. One tonne of rice straw can get 400 litres of ethanol.In North East, bamboo could be used for making ethanol, he said.
He added it will eliminate pollution too as farmers in states like Haryana burnt wheat straw which caused pollution.
Besides municipal waste and waste of vegetables and fruits could be used in manufacturing bio-fuel.
He stressed the need for use of science, technology, entrepreneurship and research and also said Niti Aayog is taking initiatives in this regard.
“We have finalised standard norms for bio-diesel, bio-CNG and ethanol and electricity,” Mr Gadkari said adding the bureaucracy also needed to fast track decisions.
Taking a jibe at bureaucracy, the minister said somewhere there is a need to expedite the entire decision-making process. “If there is a will, there is a way if there is no will there is no way. There will only be committees, discussions and research groups,” Mr Gadkari added.
The minister also stressed on the need to generate methane from coal blocks and said some of the companies who were allotted the blocks were not doing anything which is not fair.
(Sourced from agencies, Feature image courtesy:economictimes.indiatimes.com)
