Sustainability of Oil Seed-Bearing Bioenergy Plants in India (Jatropha, Karanja, and Castor) for Phytoremediation: A Met
In the present era when several countries are facing dual challenges of energy insecurity and environmental pollution, growing plants having bioenergy potential for reclamation of contaminated sites seems to offer a rather holistic approach to tackle both
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Dipesh Kumar, Nitesh Bhatia, and Bhaskar Singh
Abstract
In the present era when several countries are facing dual challenges of energy insecurity and environmental pollution, growing plants having bioenergy potential for reclamation of contaminated sites seems to offer a rather holistic approach to tackle both the problems simultaneously. Combining both the technologies (bioenergy production and phytoremediation of contaminated sites) apparently improves the overall environmental sustainability and economic feasibility of the individual techniques. Here, we discuss the ecological sustainability and economic feasibility of an integrated approach toward bioenergy production and decontamination of polluted sites using Jatropha curcas, Millettia pinnata, and Ricinus communis. This review paper attempts to provide a comparative snapshot approach toward the phytoremediation dimension of the three bioenergy plants taken for study in Indian scenario. Keywords
Bioenergy • Castor • Jatropha • Karanja • Meta-analysis • Phytoremediation • Sustainability
D. Kumar • B. Singh Centre for Environmental Sciences, Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi-835205, Jharkhand, India N. Bhatia (*) Centre for Business Administration, Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi-835205, Jharkhand, India e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017 K. Bauddh et al. (eds.), Phytoremediation Potential of Bioenergy Plants, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-3084-0_17
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17.1 Introduction The worldwide demand for energy is growing day by day in line with increase in population and industrialization. Fossil fuels have historically remained the single largest source of energy for sustaining our socioeconomic structure. Since the availability of fossil fuels is finite and its demand is increasing steadily, there has been a tremendous surge in exploration and development of other alternative sources of energy. Increase in interest for alternatives is also attributed to the emission of greenhouse gases and several other noxious pollutants when fossil fuels are used for energy production. India is currently the fastest growing major economy in the world at 7.5% per annum (IMF 2016). In order to support, sustain, and supplement India’s economic growth, there will be an unprecedented increase in demand for energy (Govt. of India 2009). India needs to substantially augment its installed energy capacity for meeting this increase in demand. India cannot afford to depend entirely on fossil fuels for meeting its energy needs as a significant proportion of oil (80%), coal (18%), and gas (23%) that is currently being used is imported and the share of import (particularly for petroleum and gas) is only likely to increase over time as their demand is growing steadily, while the local reserves remain insignificant. Although the share of fossil fuels in primary energy mix is likely to fall in the coming years due to the adoption of clean energy policy in which high share of renewable in energy mix is proposed, coal is high
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