GUWAHATI: State-run Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) has joined hands with a Finnish company to manufacture ethanol out of bamboo.
NRL Managing Director Bhaskar Jyoti Phukan said the company has invested heavily in a bio-ethanol plant.
“We have tied up with a Finnish firm to manufacture ethanol out of bamboo. Bamboo will be procured from the farmers and the plant can be a back-up supplier of oil marketing companies in the northeast for blending motor spirit with ethanol,” Phukan said
The MD said to reduce carbon emissions, the NRL is trying to get out of captive power generation and get connected to the grid for which it has to do a power purchase agreement with a green power producer.
He said that India needs to get out of the volatility of crude prices.
Phukan said since the Northeast has plenty of water, hydrogen can be locally produced and be used as a green fuel.
He said there is a need to monetize gas reserves lying underneath and also storing of carbon dioxide in dead wells and reservoirs.
NRL, located at Morangi in upper Assam’s Golaghat district, has a capacity of 9 million metric tonnes per year.