hyderabad researchers at the indian institute of technology iit hyderabad have developed a method using machine learning algorithms to study supply chain network of biofuels according to the iithyderabad team the method considers revenue generation not only as an outcome of sale of biofuel but also in terms of carbon credits through savings on greenhouse gas emissionemploying computational methods the researchers devised the method to understand the factors and impediments in incorporating biofuels into the fuel sector in india this work has been spurred by the increasing need to replace fossil fuels by bioderived fuels which in turn is driven by the dwindling fossil fuel reserves all over the world and pollution issues associated with the use of fossil fuelsiith researchers said their method has shown that in the area of bioethanol integration into mainstream fuel use the production cost is the highest 43 followed by import 25 transport 17 infrastructure 15 and inventory 043 costs the model has also shown that feed availability to the tune of at least 40 of the capacity is needed to meet the projected demandsthe research work was led by dr kishalay mitra associate professor department of chemical engineering iith research scholar kapil gumte was also part of the team the result of the research study was published in a recent issue of the peerreviewed journal of cleaner production an iith statement said the research paper had won the best paper award during the vi international conference on advances in control and optimization of dynamical systems held at iit madras earlier this yeardr mitra said in india biofuels generated from nonfood sources is the most promising source of carbonneutral renewable energy these secondgeneration sources include agricultural waste products such as straw hay and wood among others that do not intrude upon food sources