Biogas

Relevance:  mains: G.S paper III: Infrastructure: Energy, Conservation, environment, 

What is Biogas?

• Bio-gas is produced naturally through a process of anaerobic decomposition from waste / bio-mass sources like agriculture residue, cattle dung, sugarcane press mud, municipal solid waste, sewage treatment plant waste, etc.
• After purification, it is compressed and called CBG, which has pure methane content of over 95%.
• Compressed Bio-Gas is exactly similar to the commercially available natural gas in its composition and energy potential.
• With calorific value (~52,000 KJ/kg) and other properties similar to CNG, Compressed Bio-Gas can be used as an alternative, renewable automotive fuel. • Given the abundance of biomass in the country, Compressed Bio-Gas has the potential to replace CNG in automotive, industrial and commercial uses in the coming years.
• The potential for Compressed Bio-Gas production from various sources in India is estimated at about 62 million tonnes per annum.
• The 1,500-strong CNG stations network in the country currently serves about 32 lakh gas-based vehicles.

What are the benefits of turning agricultural wastes in CBG ?

• Responsible waste management, reduction in carbon emissions and pollution.
• Additional revenue source for farmers.
• Boost to entrepreneurship, rural economy and employment.
• Support to national commitments in achieving climate change goals.
• Reduction in import of natural gas and crude oil.
• Buffer against crude oil/gas price fluctuations.

What are the measures taken by GOI to promote this sector?

• It is planned to roll out 5,000 Compressed Bio-Gas plants across India in a phased manner, with 250 plants by the year 2020, 1,000 plants by 2022 and 5,000 plants by 2025.
• These plants are expected to produce 15 million tonnes of CBG per annum, which is about 40% of current CNG consumption of 44 million tonnes per annum in the country.
• At an investment of approx. Rs. 1.7 lakh crore, this initiative is expected to generate direct employment for 75,000 people and produce 50 million tonnes of bio-manure for crops.
• The National Policy on Biofuels 2018 emphasises active promotion of advanced bio-fuels, including CBG.
• The Government of India had launched the GOBAR-DHAN (Galvanising Organic Bio-Agro Resources) scheme earlier this year to convert cattle dung and solid waste in farms to CBG and compost.
• The scheme proposes to cover 700 projects across the country in 2018-19.
• The programme will be funded under Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) component of Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin (SBM-G) to benefit households in identified villages through Gram Panchayats.
• The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has notified Central Financial Assistance (CFA) of Rs. 4 crore per 4,800 kg of CBG per day generated from 12,000 cubic metres of biogas per day, with a maximum of Rs.10 crore per project.
• SATAT is an initiative aimed at providing a Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation as a developmental effort that would benefit both vehicle-users as well as farmers and entrepreneurs.
• SATAT was launched with a four-pronged agenda of utilizing more than 62 million metric tonnes of waste generated every year in India, cutting down import dependence, supplementing job creation in the country and reducing vehicular emissions and pollution from burning of agricultural / organic waste.