World Biofuel Day

World Biofuel Day is observed every year on 10th August.

The day was first observed in 2015 by the Ministry of Petroleum and Gas.
Its aim is to create awareness about the importance of non-fossil fuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels and to highlight the various efforts made by the Government in the Biofuel sector.
This day also honours the research experiments by Sir Rudolf Diesel who ran an engine with peanut oil in the year 1893.

Any hydrocarbon fuel that is derived and produced from an organic matter, is called a biofuel and it can be solid, liquid or gaseous.
It can be used to replace or can be used in addition to diesel, petrol or other fossil fuels for transport, stationary, portable and other applications.
Sources: Crops used to make biofuels are generally either high in sugar (such as sugarcane, sugarbeet, and sweet sorghum), starch (such as maize and tapioca) or oils (such as soybean, rapeseed, coconut, sunflower).

Broadly Biofuels are of two types
- Primary Biofuels: The organic materials which are used in an unprocessed form such as fuelwood, wood chips and pellets, primarily for heating, cooking, electricity production.
- Secondary Biofuels: The materials which result from the processing of biomass such as liquid fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.