PM Modi to launch major green initiatives at G20 meet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch important green energy initiatives on Monday in Bengaluru where the G 20 working group in energy transition is meeting which includes an ambitious project to make cloth from used PET bottles, operationalising pumps with E 20 (fuel blended with 20% ethanol) and a new solar cook top. He will also flag off a “green mobility” rally comprising of several energy saving vehicles.

The launch of E 20 fuel will happen with Modi pressing a nozzle and the fuel will be available at a few dozen pumps across states. The number is expected to go up and rollout of the fuel which was to begin from April 2023 has been advanced to February 6. E20 fuel shall be launched at 84 retail outlets of oil marketing companies in 11 States and UTs. “Ethanol blending has taken off in a big way. It is a win-win situation for states as OMCs are committed to buy the production,” said a senior government functionary.

India’s ethanol blending and biofuels program has increased the nation’s energy security and also resulted in Rs 81,796 crore towards ethanol supplies, saved foreign exchange of Rs 53,894 crore, transfer Rs 49,078 crore to farmers and reduce 318 lakh metric tonne of CO₂ emissions. Ethanol blending accelerated from 1.53% in 2014 to over 10% in 2022.

Along with launch of E20, the green mobility rally is intended to create public awareness for green like E20, flex fuels, hydrogen fuels and CNG. In the rally route, there will be display of creatives on benefits accrued by way of foreign exchange, income to farmers and GHG emission reductions. The rally will have various types of two, three and four wheel vehicles powered by E20, E85, CNG and hydrogen.

The Prime Minister will also launch an initiative to recycle 100 million PET bottles a year to make “clean” low-energy cloth. PET recycling has a significant ‘positive’ environmental impact as it requires around 59% less energy for production compared to virgin PET (made from fossil sources) and has around 79% lower carbon footprint.

The process of making fabric from discarded bottles involves washing, drying, and crushing of collected PET bottles into small chips. The chips are then heated and passed through a spinneret to form polyester staple fibre which is given fluffy, woolly texture in a crimping machine. This polyester staple fibre is then spun to produce yarn which is further knitted or woven into polyester fabric.

As a part of its’ initiative towards a circular economy, Indian Oil has adopted uniforms for retail attendants and LPG delivery personnel made from recycled polyester (rPET) and cotton. Each set of uniform of IndianOil’s Customer attendant shall support recycling of around 28 used PET bottles.

Indian Oil is taking this initiative further through merchandise made from recycled polyester. Under this brand, Indian Oil targets to meet the requirement of uniforms for customer attendants of other OMCs, non-combat uniforms for Army and sales to retail customers.

Use of recycled polyester obtained from recycling of discarded PET bottles shall support the rising demand for textiles in India apart from reducing import burden of its fossil feedstock.

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Rajeev Deshpande

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