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UP farmers to make hydrogen for planes: Gadkari

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The proposed clean-energy transition aims to leverage agricultural byproducts like rice straw and soybean waste to manufacture aviation fuel, hydrogen, and road-building bitumen. Expanding bio-based fuels is strategically vital as the country currently incurs an annual petroleum import bill of approximately Rs 22 lakh crore. In addition to fuel diversification, massive road infrastructure investments totaling Rs 5 lakh crore across Uttar Pradesh will accelerate the movement of these agricultural commodities to industrial markets. An ethanol-powered Toyota Innova is also scheduled to launch on November 26 as part of this broader sustainable transport rollout.

Key points

  • Transforming farm residues into hydrogen and aviation fuel aims to convert agricultural r…: Transforming farm residues into hydrogen and aviation fuel aims to convert agricultural regions from energy consumers into major exporters.
  • Ethanol adoption has already demonstrated tangible economic gains for farmers by boosting…: Ethanol adoption has already demonstrated tangible economic gains for farmers by boosting regional crop values, including the price of maize.
  • Extensive national highway networks valued at Rs 5 lakh crore are being developed to stre…: Extensive national highway networks valued at Rs 5 lakh crore are being developed to streamline agricultural logistics and spur industrial investment.

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How will UP farmers produce hydrogen?

Gadkari's proposal involves expanding the role of agriculture in India's emerging alternative-fuel economy. He spoke about using water and agricultural waste to generate hydrogen. Farm residues such as sugarcane bagasse, soybean waste and rice residue could also become important resources for energy production. The minister also referred to municipal waste as another potential source of hydrogen.The broader idea is to make agricultural resources commercially useful beyond conventional farming. Instead of treating crop residue as waste, it could be processed into fuel and other industrial products. If such initiatives are implemented at scale, farmers could gain access to additional income streams while contributing to India's energy requirements.

Farmers could also benefit from ethanol and aviation fuel

Hydrogen is not the only alternative fuel Gadkari wants farmers to explore. He also highlighted the growing potential of ethanol, which can be produced using agricultural crops such as maize, sugarcane and broken rice. He said ethanol production had already created financial opportunities for farmers in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.According to Gadkari,…

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