Two years old Tamil Nadu based startup Buyofuel has been enabling a decentralized biofuel industrial connectivity and making biofuel more affordable and accessible for businesses. It is removing the obstacles by creating a reliable online marketplace for all commodities based on biofuel on a single platform with verified buyers and sellers. Additionally, it is using technology to connect with consumers within the green fuel community. Companies and industries that have been hesitant to use biofuels as a source of energy may now connect to a market of consumers with the help of a platform like Buyofuel, ensuring the seamless operation of their businesses. In an exclusive interview with Climate Samurai, Kishan Karunakaran, Founder and CEO, Buyofuel shared about the journey from lockdown to till date, how it connects raw material aggregators, manufacturers and waste generators, and more, here is the excerpt:-
Please share with our readers about the Buyofuel, the idea behind and how it started.
Buyofuel is an online marketplace for all types of biofuels, the first of its kind. The vision of four people, Mr. Kishan Karunakaran, Mr. Prasad P Nair, Mr. Sumanth Kumar, and Mr. Venkat Selvam, planted the seeds. The company envisions to reduce carbon emissions by replacing fossil fuels with biofuels.
You started Buyofuel in May 2020 when the entire country was facing lockdown, how did you shape it up post-lockdown, is it now able to garner traction ?
While the entire country was facing lockdown in 2020, the digital presence of Buyofuel gained interest from consumers, manufacturers, and raw material aggregators. This helped Buyofuel grow as a platform and serve the biofuel users who are in need.
Buyofuel connects raw material aggregators, biofuel manufacturers, fuel consumers, and waste generators on a single platform but how you are reaching out to them to bring them on the platform?
We receive a substantial quantity of organic traffic since we’re an online marketplace featuring free registration. Additionally, we also reach out to our target market via expos and associations.
Can farmers connect with your platform for the supply of raw materials? Will this help in reducing stubble-burning cases across the country in the coming years? By what percentage do you see there will reduction in stubble-burning cases?
Farmers can connect to our user-friendly portal easily. Our working module is designed in such a way that it lets farmers post their material availability, and raw material aggregators can purchase it from them online. Additionally, we integrate raw material aggregators with biofuel producers and their customers as well.
Buyofuel raised over ₹1.6 crore in a seed round in November 2021 , can you tell on the kind of investment it is looking for to expand it further, is it you are in talks with some investors?
Buyofuel has raised a seed fund of 1.6 crore in November 2021, and since then, we’ve made progress and increased the value tenfold.
Buyofuel Raises Rs 11.5 Crore in Pre-Series A Funding. Shishir Gupta, The Founder & CEO of StartupLanes said,
“The start-up has the largest supply base of quality assured-biofuels and fuel consumers, offering economic prices for wastes and biofuels.”
Can you tell us how biofuel is environment friendly? Isn’t the process of making have adverse effects on the environment?
Let’s see how biofuel is environment friendly. An average of 10 kg to 40 kg of CO2 is absorbed by a tree per year in its total lifespan. When these trees are cut down, the wood is reused and the residues are burned, emitting only a small amount of carbon into the atmosphere. However, it’s not the case with fossil fuels.
We mine the deposits of buried carbon-based organisms that were dumped onto the Earth’s surface millions of years ago to extract fossil fuels. When these extracted fossil fuels are burned, carbon that was stored beneath the Earth is released. A tree can only emit the carbon it absorbs during its lifetime, but fossil fuels are a different story which very well are aware by many.
What is the total no of vendors that work with you and from which parts of India?
We have over 1100 registered users across India, with an active focus on Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Goa.
India plans to build an alliance of biofuel producers. How do you think it is going to help the nation?
To limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, as set out in the Paris Agreement, global greenhouse gas emissions will need to peak before 2025. Hence, we must reduce them to 43 percent by 2030 and to net zero by 2050—the carbon emission target set by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Sustainable Development. Luckily, this target opens the door for several new biofuel manufacturers to have their footprints in the biofuel sector and help towards creating a sustainable environment.
When the absorbed carbon is emitted to the surface again, it does not harm the environment as it is only releasing the carbon it absorbed. On that account, biofuels are referred to as carbon-neutral products.
However, the use of fossil fuels leads to the emission of carbon into the environment, thus presenting environmental pollution to our mother nature.
Do you see the rise in the 3rd Gen and 4th Gen biofuels in the country?
Yes! We are looking for an enormous change in the biofuel sector. First and second-generation biofuels have low yields in terms of output from a manufacturing standpoint. Nevertheless, the rise in third and fourth-generation biofuels is the nation’s future growth, and the energy sectors will heavily rely on it.
The continued use of fossil fuels for addressing the world’s energy needs is leading to rapid depletion of natural resources and a simultaneous increase in environmental pollution. Biofuels are viewed as one of the solutions to this dual problem. How is this going to help India as a nation?
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved India’s revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to be communicated to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The updated NDC seeks to enhance India’s contributions towards strengthening of the global response to the threat of climate change, as agreed under the Paris Agreement. Such action will also assist India in establishing low-emission growth pathways. It would safeguard the country’s interests and future development needs by adhering to the UNFCCC’s principles and provisions.