Why in News?
Recently, the Union Minister of State Science & Technology inaugurated a major futuristic PPP (Public Private Participation) mode initiative for ‘Clean Energy’ with the full launch of “Mission Integrated Bio-refineries”.
- Material Acceleration Platforms (MAP) establish by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) were also launched which will leverage emerging capabilities in next-generation computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning, and robotics to accelerate the pace of materials discovery up to ten times faster.
Need of Mission Integrated Bio-refineries-
- Presently Greenhouse gas emissions from the transport and chemicals sectors account for about one-third of global emissions with transport responsible for already one-fourth of them, and are projected to increase by 2050, especially from transport.
- Therefore, there is a need for low-carbon and renewable alternatives to fossil-based fuels, chemicals, and materials, especially in hard-to-abate sectors such as, long-haul transportation, and industry.
Goal of Mission Integrated Bio-refineries-
- Develop and demonstrate innovative solutions to speed up the commercialization of integrated bio refineries, with an aim of replacing 10% of fossil-based fuels, chemicals and materials with bio-based alternatives by 2030.
Mission Integrated Bio-refineries-
- It is Co-led by India and the Netherlands. Brazil and Canada are also involved as core members and the European Commission (EU) and the United Kingdom as supporting members.
- Mission Integrated Bio-refineries is the sixth Mission launched by Mission Innovation, and joins initiatives focused on clean hydrogen, green power systems, net zero shipping, carbon dioxide removal and urban transitions.
- It will advance sustainable biorefining pathways and technologies to encourage the development and commercialization of bio-based fuels, chemicals and materials, by also considering process energy demands.
- This will also support de-risking new and emerging technology, while improving the cost-competitiveness of bio-based alternatives, especially biofuels.
- The Mission combines a dynamic and results-oriented partnership of countries, international organisations, the corporate sector, academic institutions and civil society to accelerate innovation for renewable fuels, chemicals and materials for a low- carbon future. It will accelerate Clean Energy solutions through Public -Private Alliances.
- Its Members will encourage research, development, and innovation across the biorefining supply and value chain, Advance pilot-scale demonstration projects for sustainable biorefining technologies, Collaborate with industry and standards-setting organisations to assist regulatory development for these new products.
Mission Innovation-
- It is a global initiative to catalyse action and investment in research, development and demonstration to make clean energy affordable, attractive and accessible to all this decade.
- It was launched alongside the Paris Agreement in 2015.
- It is the main inter-governmental platform addressing clean energy innovation through action-oriented cooperation.
- The members represent over 90% of global public investments in clean energy innovation and have increased their annual investments by USD 5.8 billion since 2015.
- The 23 members of Mission Innovation are- Austria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, the USA, and the European Commission (on behalf of the European Union).