Introduction
Self sufficiency in energy requirement is a critical factor for thesuccess of any growing economy. With respect to the increasing rate of energy consumption, dependence on fossil fuels will neces- sarily have to be reduced. India as the 5th largest energy consumer,is importing almost 70% of its crude oil requirement (90 million tonnes) and the statistics indicate that this trade would rise to95% by 2030 [1]. It is a paradox that with a rich natural biomassresource that can be converted in to renewable energy, the import