New Delhi: A Global Biofuels Alliance is likely to be launched on July 22 during the G20 Clean Energy Ministerial meeting in Goa. The initiative, to be launched under the G20 Presidency of India, has reportedly received strong support from Brazil and the USA.
The Alliance will work to strengthen global cooperation and collaboration towards the adoption of biofuels and to seek out global best practices to advance their development and adoption on a large scale. Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, who was speaking at an event hosted by the Indian newspaper Hindustan Times on sustainable development goals and biofuels, shared these details in the course of his presentation.
Earlier in February 2023, during India Energy Week, Puri observed that the Global Biofuels Alliance would be one of the priorities of India’s G-20 Presidency. Puri unveiled the plans for Brazil, India, and the United States, as leading producers and consumers of biofuels, to work together, along with other interested countries, towards the development of a Global Biofuels Alliance. The Alliance would aim at facilitating cooperation and intensifying the use of sustainable biofuels, especially for transport. Strengthening markets, facilitating global biofuels trade, development of concrete policy lesson-sharing and provision of technical support for national biofuels programs worldwide would be some of the major tasks for the Alliance. It was also to highlight and promote already implemented best practices and success stories.
The Alliance is expected to carry out its mandate in collaboration with and complement the existing regional and international agencies and initiatives in the bioenergy, bioeconomy, and energy transition fields such as Clean Energy Ministerial Biofuture Platform, the Mission Innovation Bioenergy initiatives, and the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP).
The G20 Energy Ministerial meeting on July 22 will be followed by the launch of the Green Hydrogen Innovation Centre and Global Biofuel Alliance. The Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy Shri R. K. Singh will launch the former while Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri will flag off the latter. The meeting will be attended by Energy Ministers from G20 member countries, 9 invited countries and high-ranking officials from 14 international organizations. Incidentally, the 4 meetings of the Energy Transitions Working Group will also be held in Goa during 19-20 July. More than 1,000 participants including policymakers, delegates, invitees, business leaders, and researchers are likely to attend various meetings and events across these four days.
India, under its G20 Presidency, has identified six priority areas for the Energy Transitions Working Group. These are: (i) Energy Transitions through addressing technology gaps (ii) Low-cost financing for energy transitions (iii) Energy security and diversified supply chains (iv) Energy efficiency, industrial low-carbon transitions, and responsible consumption (v) Fuels for Future and (vi) Universal access to clean energy and just, affordable, and inclusive energy transition pathways.
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