The non-renewability, environmental issues and health threats associated with the nonrenewable fuel sources has resulted in exploration of alternative sources of energy to substitute the conventional ones. A promising technology, still in its infancy, that might reveal us the method to the future ahead is Biodiesels. Biodiesels are diesel fuels stemmed from vegetable oil or animal-fat that might be utilized to run diesel motors. Vegetables oils like sunflower, rape seed, palm oil, soya bean, jatropha curcas and so on can be subjected to oil processing to produce biodiesels. It consists of no petroleum but can be combined with petroleum diesel for use or could be utilized in its pure form.

Developed nations specifically United States and European Countries have already made significant advances in the Biodiesel Technology. Biodiesel have found its use throughout markets and verticals and might emerge as a perfect cleaner and less expensive alternative to gas, diesel and fossil fuels. India has actually also begun exploring the opportunities to produce and utilize bio-diesel. A variety of plants for biodiesel transesterification are currently functioning in the country where vegetable oils are responded with alcohols (ethanol or methanol normally) to produce bio-diesel.

The primary reason for the increasing demand for biodiesels is the fact that biodiesels are sustainable and carbon-neutral, thus having no net effect on the environment. Besides, bio-diesel runs in compression engines just like typical petroleum diesel and hence can be utilized with little or no engine modifications. Biodiesel do not require any different infrastructure for its storage and can be stored similar to the petroleum based fuels.

Considering the growing energy need in the country, rising petroleum prices and the ecological hazards of nonrenewable fuel sources, the Indian Government has used up efforts to establish the Bio Diesel Technology in India and set up more oil processing systems. The Government announced its 'National Biofuel Policy' on 12 September 2008 which intends to fulfill 20% of India's diesel demand with bio-fuels in the coming years.

Globally, oils like sunflower, soya bean, rape seed, palm oil are used as the pre-dominant basic materials for oil processing and biodiesel production however in India the optimal capacity to produce biodiesels is from Jatropha oil - a non-edible one produced from the seeds of the Jatropha curcas. The most significant advantage of using jatropha curcas as a basic material is that this plant can be grown in huge amounts in wastelands all across India requiring very little water in comparison to other money crops. Once grown, the plant has a beneficial life expectancy of several decades. The Jatropha seeds contain 40% oil and are considered to be an excellent source of bio-diesel. The Government of India has actually recognized 400,000 square kilometres of land suitable for the jatropha curcas growing in the country. India now

A research study approximates that even if a blending initiative of 2% jatropha curcas based Biodiesel is attained in 2011-12, India will save around Rs. 3000 crores. Besides, it will create around Rs. 5500 crores in the rural economy and assistance in reduction of Green House Gas emission by 3 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) every year. The federal government is taking steps to encourage the growing of Jatropha in India providing complimentary seeds, subsidized loans and other facilities. India requires to now enhance its efforts to make the max usage of the Biodiesel Technology. Besides Jatropha, the opportunities for extracting biodiesel from vegetable oils, fats, sunflower, rape seed oil and palm oil need to also be explored. It will not only provide an answer to the difficulty of Global Warming however could reduce our dependence on foreign oil and add to our own economy.