2nd International Conference on Evaluating Climate Change and Development
Assessment of Carbon Mitigation Potential of Biogas Technology in India
CH Sreenivasa, Anand B Raoa,b, Anand Patwardhana,c
aIDP in Climate Studies, bCentre for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas, cSJM School of Management
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai – 400 076 (India)
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The economic prosperity and quality of life of a country are closely linked to the level of its per capita energy consumption and the strategy adopted to use energy as a fundamental tool to achieve the same. The environmental concerns (local and global) as well as the depleting reserves of the conventional energy sources have forced us to seek fuel efficient and greener alternatives for many of the traditional energy consumption approaches.
Biomass alone currently meets almost 57% of the national energy demand in India – Yet, it is rarely featured in any 'official' statistics of energy use, given perhaps its scattered nature, and its low status as fuel (TEDDY, 1998). According to 2011 census, almost 85 % of the rural households are dependent on traditional biomass fuels for their cooking energy needs, partly because commercial fuels tend to be expensive (Energy Statistics, 2013).
National Sample Survey 2009-10 reveals the continued dependence on firewood in rural areas for cooking, with percentage households depending on firewood remaining at 76.3 % in 2009-10 in comparison to 78.3 % in 1993-94. National Sample Survey results also shows that in the year 2009 - 10, almost 40% households in rural India were using kerosene as primary source of energy for lighting, representing the dependence on fossil fuels for lighting and lack of access to grid electricity. Thus, a transition to cleaner forms of energy in terms of access to electricity and other modern energy forms would have implications not only on energy security and climate change mitigation, but would also promote socio-economic development.
In India, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) (Government of India) has designed an implementation programme, National Biogas and manure Management Programme (NBMMP), to provide biogas mainly for cooking purposes and also for other applications for reducing use of LPG and other conventional fuels (MNRE, 2009). As per MNRE statistics, a cumulative total of 4.31 million family type biogas plants have been set up in the country against estimated potential of 12 million plants (MNRE, 2010).
Biogas based off-grid power generation can be a reliable decentralized power generation option for some areas in a country like India. Biogas based power generation units are being promoted by MNRE, specifically in the small capacity range (3 kW to 250 kW), based on the availability of large quantity of animal wastes as well as wastes from forestry, rural industries (agro/food processing), kitchens, etc. A cumulative total of 348 projects with biogas generation capacity of 65,287 m3 and power generation capacity of 6.62 MW have been sanctioned out of which 98 biogas based power generation plants have been installed in the country with power generation capacity of 0.793 MW (MNRE, 2011).
Objectives
The objectives of the present paper include:
§ To study the current scenario of biogas technology in India
§ To estimate the resource availability for biogas generation in India
§ To undertake the techno-economic assessment of different biogas technologies
§ To estimate the carbon mitigation potential by calculating the net CO2 saving and the corresponding abatement cost, for a variety of end-uses of biogas
Deliverables
Biogas is a clean and renewable energy source, which can be generated from a number of biomass resources. It can used for a variety of applications (e.g. cooking, lighting, power generation) and the net CO2 saving will depend on the energy source being replaced. The present study describes current scenario of biogas technology in India, such as resource availability, technology development, and policy support, etc. It estimates the carbon mitigation potential of biogas technology and the carbon abatement cost for specific biogas end uses.
References
§ Bioenergy India, Quarterly magazine from MNRE, December 2011
§ Energy Statistics, CSO, MoSPI, Govt. of India, 2013
§ National Biogas and Manure Management Programme (NBMMP), MNRE, 2009-10
§ TERI Energy Data Directory & Year Book, TERI, 1998
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