World Biofuel Day observed:B Ajaya Babu

Vijayawada: World Biofuel Day was observed on Saturday by oil marketing companies across the country. The programme in Andhra Pradesh was held at HPCL Vijayawada Terminal at Kondapalli, Vijayawada, with the participation of officials of oil marketing companies and stakeholders.

Speaking on the occasion, B Ajay Babu, DGM, Vijayawada Terminal, HPCL, said World Biofuel Day was observed under the aegis of the Ministry of Petroleum. The theme for this year is production of biodiesel from Used Cooking Oil' (UCO). He said that consumption of Used Cooking Oil (UCO) poses adverse health effect.

During frying, several properties of oil are altered leading to formation of Total Polar Compounds (TPC) on repeated frying. The toxicity of these compounds is associated with several diseases including hypertension and liver diseases. In order to safeguard consumer health, FSSAI has fixed a limit for Total Polar Compounds at 25 per cent, beyond which the vegetable oil shall not be used, he said.

State-level coordinator for Oil Industry, AP, Umashankar GKKV, said that biofuels have the benefits of reducing import dependency on crude oil, cleaner environment, additional income to farmers and employment generation in rural areas He further said that the Government of India approved National Policy on Biofuels, 2018. Now plans are on for production of biodiesel from UCO.

GHV Rao, DGM-Retail, HPCL, GB VN Kumar, C Nageswar of IOC, UV Subba Reddy, Harihara Varma and Bhagwat Singh from BPC and stakeholders attended the event.