Research Projects

India's rapid economic progress and population growth have led to a surge in vehicle usage and demand for transportation fuels. The road transportation sector is the third largest energy consumer in India, with over 90% of its energy coming from crude oil. With 80% of domestic oil demand already imported, the number of vehicles is expected to rise to 412 million by 2030, causing a sharp rise in fuel demand. This could lead to increased import bills and greenhouse gas emissions, potentially threatening India's energy security. The Indian government introduced a national biofuel policy in 2008 and 2018, aiming to achieve 20% ethanol blending of petrol by 2017. However, shortfalls in domestic ethanol production have hindered this goal due to fluctuations in molasses availability. Plans to boost ethanol production using food grains are also prone to production fluctuations, which could threaten India's food security. 2-methylfuran (2-MeF) has emerged as an exciting alternative to ethanol, as it can be produced from furfural (FFR), a widely available green platform chemical derived from lignocellulosic biomass materials. Studies show that 2-MeF-petrol/diesel blends containing less than 20% 2-MeF improve engine performance, combustion efficiency, and emissions. To address this issue, increasing attention has been paid to developing processes capable of using simple organic molecules like alcohols as H donors. The current proposal aims to develop a new process route for producing 2-MeF sustainably using alcohols as H donors, followed by a detailed techno-economic feasibility study.