{"id":170601,"date":"2025-11-20T07:20:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T06:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=170601"},"modified":"2025-11-17T10:23:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T09:23:15","slug":"gbl-ict-mumbai-launch-pilot-plant-to-convert-co2-into-clean-fuel-alternative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/gbl-ict-mumbai-launch-pilot-plant-to-convert-co2-into-clean-fuel-alternative\/","title":{"rendered":"GBL, ICT Mumbai launch pilot plant to convert CO2 into clean fuel alternative\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

Godavari Biorefineries Limited<\/a> has inaugurated a pilot plant in Sakarwadi, Maharashtra, to test a technology that converts carbon dioxide into dimethyl ether (DME), a fuel that can substitute liquefied petroleum gas and diesel. The project, developed in partnership with the Institute of Chemical Technology Mumbai, marks the first one-step process globally to produce DME directly from CO2<\/sub> and hydrogen. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
\u00a9 Godavari Biorefineries<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The pilot plant will process 10 litres of DME per day over the next three months to collect operational data and optimize the laboratory-scale technology for commercial application. \u201cThis is an innovation and which we are partnering,\u201d said Samir Somaiya, Chairman and Managing Director of GBL, during a media roundtable on November 10. \u201cThe lab procedure is complete and now its time do the pilot.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The technology not only enhances India\u2019s energy security but also supports its climate mitigation goals. GBL\u2019s biorefineries currently emit about 440 tonnes of CO2<\/sub> daily from ethanol production. \u201cCarbon dioxide can come from any source,\u201d explained Somaiya. \u201cIn our case, it is generated during bio-ethanol manufacturing. But since the CO2<\/sub>emitted is the same carbon that was originally absorbed by sugarcane during cultivation, the cycle effectively balances itself, that\u2019s why we describe our process as net zero.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof GD Yadav, former Vice-Chancellor of ICT Mumbai and the project\u2019s lead researcher, stressed the urgency of tackling carbon emissions. \u201cWe currently emit around 40 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year,\u201d he said. \u201cTo achieve net zero and limit global temperature rise to 1.5\u00b0C by the end of this century, emissions must fall below 10 billion tonnes. In other words, we need to remove nearly 30 billion tonnes of CO2<\/sub> from the atmosphere.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The collaboration recently received the K.V. Mariwala Award for Effective Chemical Industry-Academia Partnership from the Indian Chemical Council on September 20, recognizing the innovation\u2019s potential impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

DME can be used without engine modifications as a 100 per cent substitute for LPG and diesel, according to the project partners. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to do any modifications in the engine,\u201d Yadav stated. The fuel also serves as a feedstock for chemical industries, similar to methanol. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The technology\u2019s commercial viability will depend on multiple factors including CO2<\/sub> compression costs, hydrogen availability, and carbon credit markets. \u201cToday, we don\u2019t know the exact economics of the thing,\u201d Somaiya acknowledged. \u201cIt is an innovation. And the aim is to be economically feasible.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For hydrogen supply, the company is exploring several sources including byproducts from chloralkali industries and dehydrogenation reactions. GBL is also developing green hydrogen production technology separately with ONGC support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the three-month pilot phase, the company plans to scale up operations significantly. \u201cOur idea is to bring this technology into the market in the next two years,\u201d Somaiya said. He emphasized that the technology is not restricted to GBL. \u201cWe want to sell it across the world.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project aligns with India\u2019s broader energy transition goals. The country achieved 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol by 2025, five years ahead of the 2030 target. \u201cThis year, 17 billion litres were offered which means that for petrol, if you had a flex fuel fleet out there, you could almost do a 35 per cent blend, that is incredible,\u201d Somaiya noted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yadav clarified that this represents one of multiple pathways for carbon utilization. \u201cThis is not the only solution but one of the many possibilities,\u201d he said, adding that GBL is pursuing several other collaborative research initiatives beyond this project. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Godavari Biorefineries Limited has inaugurated a pilot plant in Sakarwadi, Maharashtra, to test a technology that converts carbon dioxide into dimethyl ether (DME), a fuel that can substitute liquefied petroleum gas and diesel. The project, developed in partnership with the Institute of Chemical Technology Mumbai, marks the first one-step process globally to produce DME directly from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":170615,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"The innovative pilot plant aims to transform carbon dioxide emissions from bio-ethanol production into a sustainable fuel alternative","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572,5571],"tags":[6843,5838,5839,5714,12584,18764,15511,10743],"supplier":[4505,27228,27227],"class_list":["post-170601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bio-based","category-co2-based","tag-biochemicals","tag-bioeconomy","tag-bioethanol","tag-biofuels","tag-biorefineries","tag-climategoals","tag-greenhydrogen","tag-useco2","supplier-godavari-biorefineries-ltd","supplier-ict-mumbai","supplier-indian-chemical-council"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170601"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=170601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}