The search for alternatives to fossil fuels has been long and hard. There have been concepts like fuel cells, hybrids and electric powered vehicles, but the feasibility aspect in each has been far-fetched, which has hampered introduction of these technologies on a large scale. In India, where price (meaning both the initial purchase as also operating costs) is the single-most important criterion on which a buying decision is made, launch of these concepts seems ever so impossible.

Therefore it seems quite appropriate that DaimlerChrysler selected India for the development and testing of biodiesel fuels in a proper scientific manner which could lead to the eventual employment of biodiesel as an everyday fuel for motoring. This project, thought to be both economical and environmentally friendly will be completed in five years and over five phases. Currently the project is in its second phase and involves testing the Mercedes-Benz C-class cars running exclusively on biodiesel for over 5000km.

DaimlerChrysler will however, go the distance and run two of its biodiesel fuelled C220 CDI cars for over 5000km across India through various climatic conditions. The route for the first stage will pass through Bangalore, Cochin, Coimbatore and Chennai before returning to Pune, while the second stage would see the cars travelling through Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Jaipur onwards to Delhi.

The data collected from this test drive would then be sent to various institutes across India and Germany for analysis. But that's not all, the company is also running one of the engines on a test bed to gather as much information as possible. Though there is no doubt that cars running on biodiesel will meet emission norms, it will be interesting to see what the data accumulated in these tests reveals in terms of all round performance in the long run.

DaimlerChrysler has embarked on this project with the aim of providing a non-conventional fuel for automobiles in the immediate future which is both eco-friendly and economically viable. The company's focus for the activity will be trial operation with biodiesel generated from jatropha plants, as well as on large scale preparations for subsequent usage in internal combustion engines.

The project includes establishing two small jatropha curcas oil seed tree plantations on eroded land in two climatically different regions of sub-humid Orissa and semi-arid Gujarat. These jatropha trees are expected to recover eroded soils and make them usable for agricultural purposes. The project will also help generate employment in rural parts of the country not only through cultivation but also through marketing of by-products.

The project, according to DCIL, will render a provision for reduced dependence on fossil fuels, availability of quality biodiesel in remote areas, wasteland reclamation and an overall means of socio-economic development and sustainable mobility.

The Rs 3.25 crore project is being funded by DaimlerChrysler AG, and is in association with the Hohenhiem University-Institute for Animal Production in the Tropics and Subtropics, Germany, an institute which has vast experience with jatropha plantations, and the Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI), a government owned industrial research institute in India with a mandate to reclaim wasteland in India. The latter two are responsible for project management and implementation while DCIL assumes the responsibility of project organisation, funding as well as vehicle testing. It is early days yet but the future could be promising, with

biodiesel.