India, US, Brazil join to spearhead Global Biofuels Alliance

In yet another big deal for India, which is the current president of the G20, the summit in New Delhi announced the formation of a Global Biofuels Alliance. This would act as a global platform for countries wanting to look for alternatives to depleting fossil fuel sources as the world marches towards sustainability and clean energy.

Speaking on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the launch of the Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA) marked a watershed moment in the quest towards sustainability and clean energy and thanked member nations that have joined the alliance. 

“The launch of the Global Biofuels Alliance marks a watershed moment in our quest towards sustainability and clean energy. I thank the member nations who have joined this Alliance,” Modi and minister of petroleum and energy Hardeep Puri stated in a post shared on the social network platform X.

GBA, which is similar to the International Solar Alliance (ISA). Is another India-led initiative to develop a new platform for governments, international organisations and industry to facilitate adoption of biofuels. 

The alliance brings together three of the biggest consumers and producers of biofuels – US, Brazil and India - to drive biofuels development and deployment. The three countries - USA (52 per cent), Brazil (30 per cent) and India (3 per cent), contribute about 85 per cent of production and about 81 per cent of consumption of ethanol.

The initiative aims to position biofuels as a key to energy transition and a creator of jobs and economic growth. GBA will support worldwide development and deployment of sustainable biofuels by offering capacity-building exercises across the value chain, technical support for national programmes and promoting policy lessons-sharing. 

“It will facilitate mobilising a virtual marketplace to assist industries, countries, ecosystem players and key stakeholders in mapping demand and supply, as well as connecting technology providers to end users. It will also facilitate development, adoption and implementation of internationally recognised standards, codes, sustainability principles and regulations to incentivize biofuels adoption and trade,” says an official release.

GBA will benefit India on multiple fronts and help strengthen its position globally. Besides, the focus on collaboration will provide opportunities to Indian industries in technology and equipment exports.

It will help accelerate India’s existing biofuel programmes such as PM-Jivan Yojna, SATAT, and Gobardhan, thereby contributing to increased farmers’ income while creating jobs and aiding overall development of the domestic ecosystem. 

The global ethanol market was valued at $99.06 billion in 2022 and surpassed $162.12 billion by 2032, growing at an expected CAGR of 5.1 per cent. As per IEA, there will be 3.5-5x biofuels growth potential by 2050 due to ‘Net Zero’ targets, which would create a huge opportunity for India.

The GBA currently has 19 countries and 12 international organisations as signatories. These include the G20 countries (7), Argentina, Brazil,  Canada, India Italy, South Africa, USA, as well as G20 invitee countries (4) and supporting countries such as Bangladesh, Singapore, Mauritius and the UAE

Besides, eight non-G20 countries, including Iceland, Finland, Kenya, Guyana, Paraguay, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, and Uganda, have agreed to be initiating members of GBA.

Twelve international organisations such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, World Economic Forum, World LPG Organisation, UN Energy for All, UNIDO, Biofutures Platform, International Civil Aviation Organisation, International Energy Agency, International Energy Forum, International Renewable Energy Agency and World Biogas Association are offering support to GBA.