Biogas Magazine Edition 12

Bio-Energy Pavilion 2020 | 10-12 December | India Expo mart, Greater Noida

BI GAS

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magazine | Edition 12 | 2020

Title Sponsor

IBA’s commitment towards catalysing the prospects in the biogas/bio-CNG industry: Pg 08

The biological process, a way to proving and controlling climate change: Pg 12

Biogas as social business for local partners – aid free: Pg 22

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Index IBA News IBA’s commitment towards catalysing the prospects in the biogas/bio-CNG

08

industry

International Corner The biological process, a way to proving and controlling climate change

12

Biogas as social business for local

22

partners–aid free

Research Corner Pragmatic policy - supported ecosystemkey to unlock the true potential of biogas/bio-CNG/CBG/RNG industry

16

National Corner Sustainable waste-to-energy model for vegetable market waste

26

generated at APMCs Consideration on Stubble Burning and suggested way ahead

30

Biogas Digestate – BROWN GOLD

34

Published by

Financed by

Coordinated by

In-Cooperation with

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 12 | 5

Foreword We welcome our readers to the 12th edition of biogas magazine!

As India and the world is going through the critical time of COVID19 and trying to recover from it, we should follow the guidelines of our central and state governments to stop the spread of the pandemic disease. Our alertness and prevention measures can play a vital role in defeating the virus.

Amidst the pandemic situation, which has deeply affected the economy world-wide, India is gearing up for the paradigm shift towards being self-dependent. With reference to this context, we at IBA started a series of webinars highlighting the true potential of bio-CNG based on “coordination, communication and solution” to overcome major barriers in the route of bio-CNG. The last webinar was organised on June 06, 2020, on “Decoding the nuances of Financing in biogas/ BioCNG industry”. More information can be checked in the article covered in this edition.

This edition also brings to you the latest news of Indian Biogas Association and its endeavours to increase the awareness about the sector along with ensuring the sustainable growth of the sector. It is covering the policy aspects which can help in unlocking the true potential of the biogas sector. The policy framework always plays an important role in leading any sector to success.

This edition also discusses the possibilities of converting vegetable market yard waste into energy. The edition also highlighs the potential of the Agri-residue as an energy source. Growth of small-scale biogas plants

promoted as a social business by local entrepreneurs in Africa shows how biogas is transforming the lives of rural people. Another article talks about uplifting rural lives in India through the use of Biogas. These articles depict the strong positive social and environmental impacts of the biogas and its abilities to transform lives.

IBA is also coming up with the Bio-Energy Pavilion from December 10-12, 2020, at REI Expo, India Expo Mart, Greater Noida with the support of ICESN, Singapore, and the German Biogas Association. The objective of the pavilion is to increase the visibility of the Bio-energy sector of India on an international platform and assure the growth of the whole sector. More information can be seen on page no. 6 of this magazine.

The main objective of the biogas magazine is to cover the value chain of biogas and present articles, which give a glimpse of the positive and transformational benefits. We’ll also keep on coming with more informative and real experiences-based articles from the sector to keep you updated and motivated.

Again, we’ll request you to “Stay at Your Home and Stay Safe”!

Gaurav Kedia

Chairman Indian Biogas Association

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IBA’s commitment towards catalysing the prospects in the biogas/ bio-CNG industry

Instrumental surveys conducted by IBA ndian Biogas Association conducted two key surveys in the second quarter of the calendar year 2020, first being on “Earmarking crucial bottlenecks in the biogas/bio-CNG industry” and the second was on “Essence of standardization in the biogas/bio-CNG industry”. Surveys were taken by a wide array of industry stakeholders. The surveys entailed inputs on the critical concerns prevailing in the industry, its possible mitigation means, and prevailing ambiguity in absence of clear-cut standards in the industry. The data received from the survey was instrumental in submitting a succinct note to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy for its onward action to harmonise existing juggernauts in the industry.

I

IBA organises Webinars on biogas/bio-CNG Topic1 - “Bio-CNG: An opportunity to reduce crude imports and move towards decarbonised economy” On April 24, 2020, Indian Biogas Association (IBA) organised a webinar on the topic “Bio-CNG: An opportunity to reduce crude imports and move towards decarbonised economy”.

The one and half hour webinar was in furtherance to the envisaged 5,000 Compressed Biogas (CBG) plants to be commissioned in a phased manner across India under the SATAT scheme, an initiative of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) under the domain of biofuel policy. The organized webinar was lined-up with eminent speakers featuring Shri Anand Kumar, Secretary, MNRE, Shri Dinesh Jagadale, Joint Secretary, MNRE, Mr. Rajnath Ram, Advisor (Energy), NITI Aayog, Mr. H.K. Garg, GM-BD, Retail LNG, GAIL(India) Limited, and Dr. A.R. Shukla, President, IBA. The webinar was attended by around 350 subscribed participants, and it addressed various challenges faced by the biogas/bio-CNG stakeholders, like financial closures of projects, difficulty in availability of loans, getting the requisite permits and clearances, and adequacy of government subsidy. These bottlenecks were mentioned to be at higher priority, as per online survey conducted by IBA amongst its members from the bioCNG industry. The discussion on the list of prioritized bottlenecks through the webinar shall go a long way in unlocking the true potential of the industry by allaying the deep-rooted and ever-existent concerns amongst the industry stakeholders.

www.biogas-india.com Topic - 2 “Biogas/Bio-CNG-Decode the nuances of financing” With reference to this context, on 6th June, Indian Biogas Association (IBA) organised a twebinar.

The webinar was attended by over 446 subscribed participants. It enabled industry stakeholders to understand the method of financing from the lens of Financial Institutions.

The two-hours webinar was in furtherance to the webinar series being organized by IBA. The organized webinar was lined-up with eminent speakers spanning diverse domain in the field of Capital Sourcing, featuring Mr. Dinesh Jagadale, JS, MNRE, Mr. Chintan Shah, Director, IREDA, Mr. Anil Misra, National Project Manager, UNIDO, Mr. Vivek Jain, Director-Corporate, India Ratings and Research, Mr. Manav Bansal, CIO, SBI Capital Markets, and Mr. Gaurav Kapoor, Head Inclusive Growth and Investments, DFID. The speakers spoke of financing being the vital cog in biogas ecosystem, roadmap towards inclusive financing in the industry, concession to mainstream innovation, essence of credit rating in lending process, headwinds to capital infusion in the industry, and key to rake in foreign funds respectively, in that order.

Shri. Dinesh Jagadale, Joint Secretary, MNRE emphasised that, “At this juncture, it’s extremely critical that appropriate capacity building exercises are conducted on a regular basis to ensure adequate understanding within industry stakeholders from the lens of Financial institutions and vice-versa. This webinar is just the stepping stone towards that process.” There definitely lies a need to rake up the confidence of the Lending institutions and Investors, which is possible with adequate and frequent capacity building exercises. This process actually builds the much-needed trust, transparency, and desired velocity for effective capital infusion in the biogas/ bio-CNG industry.

IBA organised panel discussion at REI-E-Expo On 9th June, 2020, Indian Biogas Association (IBA) organised a panel discussion on “Integrated waste-to-Bio-energy approach and role of Bio-energy conglomeration 2020”. The Panel was a part of Renewable Energy India (REI) E-Expo organised by Informa Markets. The panel was moderated by Mr. Gaurav Kedia, Chairman-IBA. The Panellist team consisted of Ms. Daisy Maugouber, Lead Biofuel Analyst, Bloomberg NEF, Mr. K. R. Raghunath, CEO- KIS Group, Chairman – Asian Biofuels Association, Mr. Abhijeet Mukherjee, Program Head, IBA, Colonel Rohit Dev (retd.), Chief Operating Officer, PRESPL, Ms. Shruti Ahuja, Director, Ahuja Engineering Services Pvt ltd., and Mr. S.R. Kumar, Founder and Director, Aruna Green Ventures Pvt Ltd.

Biogas Magazine | Edition 12 | 9 The discussion was on how the global bioenergy market would unfold after the COVID crisis, which was then followed by Asian and Indian perspective on bioenergy. Other panelists thereafter pitched in with thoughts to emphasise upon supply chain management in bioenergy ecosystem and importance of centralised and decentralised plants from Indian biogas/ bio-CNG industry perspective.

The conference was attended by over 150 participants spanning environmental enthusiasts, conglomerates, international participants related directly to the field looking to foray into the field of bio-CNG; they found the session to be unique.

IBA intends to organise and participate in more conferences on similar themes to persist with its aim to dispel prevalent information asymmetry and inappropriate awareness in the biogas industry.

IBA to organise Bioenergy Pavilion in Dec, 2020 IBA is coming up with the Bio-Energy Conference and Bio-Energy Pavilion at REI Expo, Greater Noida, which is now rescheduled from 10th to 12th Dec 2020. IBA have been organizing the bio-pavilion since the last two years, with each successive event at a larger scale than the former. Furthermore, it has gathered wide acceptance from participants in the event. The pavilion and conference is expected to spread awareness about the Bio-Energy sector along with increased visibility of the sector upon convergence of corporates, entrepreneurs, academicians, Social organizations, lending institutions, and investors. This initiative is aimed at streamline scientific waste management practices, which is presently supported by various government schemes like Swachh Bharat, Sustainable Alternative Technology for Affordable Transportation (SATAT), New National Biogas and Organic Manure Program (NNBOMP), Waste-to-energy scheme, Ethanol Blending program, Compost promotional scheme, and other relevant schemes.

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The biological process, a way to proving and controlling climate change

G

ood ends when food ends and bad begins below a 1000 kWh raw energy per person per year, which is 870000 kcal of food. Our smile disappears faster, namely when water is finished, or even much faster without air. The biological process is fed by the energy of the sun that comes via the green plants to the animals and creates together with its “waste” – leaves, excrements and the dead the carbon cycle, which is part of the food cycle or the energy “cycle”.

Shouldn’t I understand and know my own impact, the only impact I can really change. Since all impacts are caused by energy use, “renewable” energy from the sun, shouldn’t this raw energy use be visible on every receipt or quote for products and services, so that I can change my behavior or lead by example before buying or do you prefer to prescribe what I have to buy?

Mills, whether wind, water or bureaucracy, don’t produce energy, but turn one form of energy into another form with a certain efficiency. Fairer trade is about distribution of money, but nature or in other words, the biological process, does not know and understand money, and still runs only on energy from the sun. All life on earth competes for energy, and water facilitates the transfer of energy to and in plants and animals.

So …., isn’t there is a big conflict between the trade of money in the world and the trade of energy in nature, in which carbon plays the mayor role. The only currency biological processes understand is energy. Humans are probably an exemption, since many believe they can eat money. In human’s world the costs and price of energy is continually changing over time and place. Nature will not be able to notice that change. That conflict of interest between nature and people will increase as the world’s population continues to increase and it will require a resolution someday.

8 Billion times 1000 kWh is needed each year to sustain hu-

Biogas Magazine | Edition 12 | 12

www.biogas-india.com manity. On average 22 times (World Bank data) more energy is needed than the food that is used per person. The food, or the land respectively, can be used in 3 different ways: 1. As food for humans and reuse its “waste” in the food cycle, which may take a 1000 m2 per person.

2. As substances to create materials and chemicals, now also created from “fossil” fuels 3. As energy for cooling, heating, transportation, processing, services and creating products, which amounts to 57000 kWh raw energy per Californian and year.

Direct solar to produce the 57000 kWh, Californians use, requires only 1/3 of the area to produce the food, but the question still is, whether it isn’t better to use indirect solar – hydro, wind, wave - power first? By the way, to drive a gasoline car in the US, it would take 12000 m2 of land to

Biogas Magazine | Edition 12 | 13 “grow” the gasoline. Solar cells “grow” that same energy on less than 100 m2 of land in California.

Using an electrical car instead, reduces the area needed even to less than 25 m2. (Energy losses still to be taken into consideration) So, energy supply is still no problem at all, however keeping the food cycle upright with an increasing population in a stable micro and macro climate is the ultimate challenge. Some experts fear a food cycle separation into two, but my best friends love to see a split into three. Here is why: 1. One food cycle for nature. Unfortunately, people’s mind is towards nothing in and nothing out, so nature becomes less and less productive.

2. One for agriculture. Unfortunately, farmer’s interest is everything out and less and less back into it to feed our bacteria, protozoa, insects, etc.

3. One for space: Hi-tech agriculture and hydro-

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Johan Verink Environmental Engineer (retd.), Inventor of AOPR

ponics is laying already a good basis for an independent food cycle in space Waste, pollution, clean, etc. is terminology that people invented, but does not exist in nature. Nature follows only one basic rule: Growth is based on energy and related to concentration (See graph). It is valid for every chemical or mixture of chemicals/substances/elements and deals with energy transfer. Working on the details necessary to understand our ecosystem would create huge amount of new jobs. In nature, use cannot be more than growth. The 90 essential elements in food and so many different combinations of the concentrations of those elements, make nature very complex and that requires a lot food for thoughts to create “Planet B”.

The easiest and simplest step forwards is: Create PLANET B. Accelerating building our ecosystem in space would create a huge amount of new work and challenges. When “Planet B” exists, we are in control of earth.

In case people really want to solve climate change and sustainably live here on earth, everyone should have the right and duty to know that there is only a certain energy credit available per person a year without endangering our food cycle.

In the modern world, with its need to exchange goods and services by money, my best friends propose:

1. To agree that energy, in kWh, is the base of all good and bad. Make people aware on every receipt and quote so that they can focus themselves (Double bookkeeping, or follow the money) 2. To introduce an energy tax on every bill in order to use less energy more efficiently 3. To return the energy tax, minus the cost for the system, to all those, who have not used their energy credit on earth, proportional to the amount not used The above is a market system and increases business opportunities. Those, the poor, who still can spend more get more, while at the same time the amount of energy used for offering products and services will be reduced. One numerical indicator, energy, preferably in kWh, since kWh produces numbers people may understand, will provide focus and the base for a clear reference to focus, whether it is for fairer trade or Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

Fact is that I can only change my own behavior, not yours and not that of 8 Billion others. But together we create and cause climate change, the problems in the food cycle, etc. Shouldn’t I have the right and the duty to know my impact. It has become so simple in our digitalized world where nearly all energy values are known, but where are our policy makers. Who will take the lead in policymaking? The UN? The USA? The EU? These are not people, but people or one person can initiate the change, if …….. he or she can be convinced to lead the change of the world.

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Pragmatic policy supported ecosystem - key to unlock the true potential of biogas/bio-CNG/ CBG/RNG industry

I

t’s indeed heartening to learn of India gearing up for the paradigm shift towards being self-dependent through the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’. Within this context, Biogas/ Bio-CNG/ CBG/ RNG can potentially turn out to be the panacea that promises to hit many birds in one shot. With three distinct outputs of ‘Biogas/ Bio-CNG/ CBG/ RNG plants, these plants work as ‘Biomass waste treatment and pollution abatement Plants’, ‘Organic Fertilizer Production plants’, and ‘Gaseous fuel (Biogas) Generation plants’, thereby helping to solve three burning problems of pollution, energy and need for eco-friendly organic fertilizer.

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Some of the crucial aspects that needs categoric intervention to facilitate leapfrogging of this sector are hereby portrayed.

It’s no brainer that ceteris paribus, gradual removal of bottlenecks towards insertion of biomethane in existing Natural Gas Grid shall significantly ramp the industry growth upon truly exploiting the biomethane potential. Such a utopian scenario shall have a tremendous positive financial, social and environmental impact. These include generation of massive employment opportunities, reduction in fossil fuel and synthetic fertilizer import (Refer Graph-I and Graph II), meeting the requirement of ‘strategic fuel’ for managing emergency situations, and aiding decongestion along with scientific waste management in cities. All of this shall go a long way in fructifying the objects of ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ and facilitating the opportunity to re-build a sustainable and self-reliant India (Atmanirbhar Bharat)’.

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Total 315 % Total 274 %

Total 34.5 %

Total bio-CNG potential: 62.2 mill tons/annum Table I- Improved Self dependency in Energy through realization of India’s bio-methanation potential

The salient outputs, mentioned above shall result from minimum 62.2 million metric tonnes of Bio-CNG generation along with the production of about 658.42 million tonnes of bio/organic fertilizer annually. Putting it quantitatively, this shall result in employment generation of about 1.33 million personnel (Refer Table III for break-up), scientific waste treatment through digestion of 1286.88 million tonnes of biomass waste annually thereby reducing annual GHG emissions of 265.88 million tonnes of CO2eqv. The achieved GHG reduction shall be commensurate with approx. 11.2% of the total GHG emission in India (based on 2015 level). Altogether, this will potentially save huge cost incurred in pollution abatement and healthcare.

Also, it’s worthwhile to put forth that there are several Ministries encompassing MNRE, MoPNG,

MoDWS, MoCF, MoHUA, MoAFW, MoEFCC, and few others, which are handling/ supporting this sector, including at least one of the three main deliverables of biogas generation or organic fertilizer production or biomass waste treatment.

This has always led to inadequacy of required support to the sector. As a result, these Ministries individually/collectively could not harness the realistic potential of Biogas/ Bio-CNG)/ CBG/ RNG sector. The need of the hour is to pool and integrate all the inter-Ministerial incentives, relevant to Bio-CNG industry, through better coordination amongst all the Ministries with MNRE being the focal Ministry of all.

Infact, there is a need to implement a paradigm shift in formulating pragmatic policies in terms of moving towards, ‘Generation based Incentive (GBI)’ from the existing upfront subsidy regime

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Total contribution across feedstocks

31%

27%

25%

Table II- Reduction in synthetic Fertilizer import through realization of India’s bio-methanation potential

Function/ Role

Educational Skill and Qualification Level

Key skills

Personnel needed to harness complete biomethane potential

Manufacturing

Highly skilled

Research and product development

36,000

Business Development

Highly skilled

Tracking the market, Drafting bids, Land selection, Project Finance

15,000

Design & Pre-Construction

Highly skilled

Plant design engineering

24,000

Highly skilled

Site engineering

48,000

Semi and Low skilled

Electricals training and plant installing

1,50,000

Highly skilled

Performance data monitoring

30,000

Semi and Low skilled

Fitter, Electricians, Labours

1,50,000

Low Skilled/semiskilled

Waste collection (primary and secondary), Farming, sales channel for org. fertilizer sales, sales channel for other by-products

3,39,750

Highly skilled/ Semi Skilled

Administration, Site Engineering

2,16,000

Low Skilled/semiskilled

Fitter, Electricians, Labours, Operators

3,24,000

Construction & Commissioning

Operation & Maintenance

Indirect Employment across the value chain Supporting infrastructure- gas grid (micro/mini), bioCNG dispensing outlets Total

13,32,750

Table III- Break-up of Employment opportunity upon realization of complete biomethane potential

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(refer Table IV for estimations related to GBI) and provisioning for Credit Guarantee scheme to facilitate swift lending from Financial Institutions (Banks, NBFC, etc.). Same could be achieved upon setting-up a ‘Biogas-Fertilizer Fund’. For harnessing the total generation potential of 62.2 million tonnes p.a. of Biogas/ Bio-CNG/ CBG/ RNG in India, the proposed “Biogas-Fertilizer Fund” will have an estimated corpus requirement of Rs. 9,44,664 crores (Refer Table V), of which Rs. 97,392 crores will be pegged towards the ‘Credit Guarantee scheme’ and remaining Rs. 8,47,272 crores towards ‘Generation based Incentive (GBI)’ @ Rs.20/- per kg of Bio-CNG (produced as per BIS Standards) for 15 years of plant’s tentative life. With this outlay of Rs. 9,44,664 crores for the sector, there will be an enormous overall return to the govt. in the form of savings from reduction in crude oil import, nutrient-based subsidy savings on chemical fertilizers, and meeting the GHG emission reduction target (@ Certified Emission Rating- CER) as per the Nationally Determined Contributions-NDCs (Refer Table VI). The consolidated savings on above accounts are estimated at approximately Rs. 11,02,200 crores in 15 years span (useful life of a typical biogas/ Bio-CNG plant). Thus, the net value creation turns out to be approximately Rs.1,57,536 crore, which is a

net surplus for the Govt. Exchequer through harnessing of total Bio-CNG/ CBG/ RNG potential in India. Also, it’s worthwhile to note that under the launched SATAT scheme, over the next five years, its envisaged to set-up about 5000 plants, which would facilitate harnessing around one-sixth of the aforementioned total potential of 62.2 million tonnes of bio-CNG per annum.

So, in view of the ‘Atmanirbhar and Swachh Bharat’, there is a need to steer and drive a pragmatic policy-supported-ecosystem that shall enable harnessing the afore-mentioned potential of Bio-CNG and its other supplementary offerings, by including minimum of the following:

a) ‘Harmonization and Integration of all the present schemes’ and required clearances and permissions relevant to the biogas/ Bio-CNG industry under different Ministries b) Supporting creation of ‘Mini-biogas, Bio-CNG Grids’ and its onward integration with ‘Natural Gas Grid’ along with ‘Organic Fertilizer distribution and utilization Infrastructure’. c) Transgression from the existing upfront subsidy model to ‘GBI’ model. d)Creating the ‘Biogas-Fertilizer Fund’ with an estimated corpus requirement of Rs. 9,44,664 crores

Table IV- Determination of Bio-CNG Price for a Typical 5 TPD Bio-CNG/ CBG/ RNG Generation plant

S.No.

Estimated Ex- Amount (Rs.) Item of Revenue penditure per Sources per kg kg of Bio-CNG (3) of Bio-CNG

Amount (Rs.) Generation Based Incentive (GBI) Requirement (4) (difference of Column 3 and 4)

55.62

Contribution from Manure Sales

7.70

Variable Cost of operating the Plant

18.11

Bio-CNG sales (SATAT offtake price)

46.00

Total

73.73

1.

Levelized Cost of the Plant

2.

53.70

20.03

Note: 1. Above estimated table is subjected to change based on different scenarios and assumption of various parameters such as feedstock price, CAPEX, OPEX, WACC, cost and price escalation, and so on.

2. Levelized Cost includes-CAPEX/Depreciation, Finance Cost, Operation and Maintenance, Plant Overheads 3. Variable Cost includes- Feedstock and its Transportation Cost

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Table V- Total Funds Requirement in terms of ‘Credit Guarantee Scheme’ and GBI Corpus’ for harnessing Bio-CNG/ CBG/ RNG Potential in India

S.No.

1.

2.

Particulars of Credit Guarantee GBI Corpus Requirement* harnessing of Requirement (in Rs. Crore) Bio-CNG/CBG/RNG (in Rs. Crore) Harnessing target under SATAT Harnessing Total Potential

14,875

97,392

1,24,298

8,47,272

Total Funds Requirement (in Rs. Crore) 1,39,173

9,44,664

*For 15 years of Plant Life @ Rs.20/- per Kg of Bio-CNG/ CBG/ RNG

Table VI- Estimated Monetary Savings through Harnessing Total Biogas/ Bio-CNG/ CBG/ RNG Potential in India

S.No.

Particulars

Estimated Annual Sav- *Estimated 15 years PlantEstimation ings to Govt. Exchequer life-Savings to Govt. ExcheBasis

by Harnessing Total Bio- quer by Harnessing Total CNG Potential in India Bio-CNG Potential in India ( in Rs. Crore) (in Rs. Crore)

1.

Equivalent Foreign Exchange Outflow on Crude oil import

US Dollar per Barrel

1573.62

10,71,800

2.

Subsidy on Chemical Fertilizers

NBS per Kg of N,P,K

35.38

24,100

3

GHG Emissions Reduction Savings

Prevailing CER price

9.31

6,300

Total

1618.30

11,02,200

Note: * Values are reported as discounted PV @ 12 % p.a.

NBS- Nutrient Based Subsidy, CER- Certified Emission Ratings

as provision towards Credit Guarantee schemes and corpus for ‘Generation Based Incentive and building Bio-CNG infrastructure’. To begin with, an initial provision of Rs.1,39,173 crore for five years can be earmarked. e) Setting-up of ‘Biomass Resource Bank (BMRB)’ for assured biomass/ waste supplies to the installed plants. f) There is a need to bring ‘Bio-CNG sector in the category of Social Infrastructure’, as waste treatment is not internalized and with non-paying capacity of farmers to buy organic fertilizer from these plants.

Dr. Aatma Ram Shukla President, Ex- Advisory MNRE Indian Biogas Association

Mr. Abhijeet Mukherjee Program Head Indian Biogas Association

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 12 | 21

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Picture: Lighting a charcoal fire for cooking, Rwanda. Š(B)energy

A

set of a small biogas digester, biogas backpacks and biogas stoves replaces firewood for cooking in developing countries. Not only the technology, but rather the approach of (B)energy proves that a smart business model implemented by local entrepreneurs is much more effective than aid projects funded by western donors.

Cooking in Africa is expensive! It is not the food, but the energy used for cooking that has become a major expense for African households south of the Sahara. While still about 80 percent of the households in Sub-Saharan Africa cook with traditional fuels, thus fire wood or charcoal on more or

less open fires, this practice consumes up to half of the households’ incomes. These fuels significantly contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, soil erosion, loss of soil fertility and lead to severe indoor air pollution with premature death of about 4 million people world wide – annually.

Biogas is probably the cleanest and most sustainable alternative cooking fuel that could be used, but its acceptance and dissemination is progressing only very slowly in Africa. But why?

One strategy that has been pursued in several countries is to distribute free or subsidized bio-

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Biogas as social business for local partners – aid free

nies that exist in the sector use every chance to take donations or external funding to extend and survive their “businesses”. The consequence of this: there is literally no biogas system on the market that is not somehow subsidized. The amount of subsidy determines the price for the user and the success of the competitors is thus determined by the most successful fund raiser. At the end the market is so heavily distorted, that nobody will be able to exist in the longterm – at the cost of the local population.

Picture: Subsidized biogas system in Nepal. Girl posing on the roof of a concrete underground dome biogas digester with dung cakes being dried for cooking instead of using it to produce biogas ©=(B)energy

gas systems among the population. In Ethiopia alone, over 25.000 household biogas plants have been built in the past 10 years with over 80 million Euros from European tax payers. A program that originally had one major aim: private sector development. Until today the private sector has not been able to develop alongside the program.

No company, including (B)energy, has been able to compete with the heavily subsidized biogas digesters promoted by the program. Consequently, biogas technology is not freely available on the market, but only for households that qualify for the subsidy. Alternative approaches in the biogas sector in other countries are directly run by aid organizations, who give biogas systems away for free on a project to project basis. The few compa-

When aid organizations or aid money gets involved in biogas dissemination, then the whole biogas sector is put at risk in 3 major ways: 1. The reputation of biogas technology is damaged. We often meet people who know biogas as something that is “very expensive and does not work”, because of lack or ownership for free products 2. It reduces the willingness of customers to pay for a biogas system and increases jealousy – if some people get a free or subsidized system, everybody else expects the same or feels treated unfair 3. Private sector development is not possible when entrepreneurs have to compete with aid-supported products or companies. But companies would pay tax, which forms the basis for development Become a biogas entrepreneur – independent and aid free: More and more stakeholders start to realize these negative effects of foreign intervention. All part-

www.biogas-india.com ners of (B)energy work on setting a tangible example of how it could be done differently. By following a fundamentally different approach where the social business rules of Muhammaed Yunus are taken very seriously and especially the rule of “economic and financial independence” are implemented strictly: 100% exclusion of western funding, this means no aid money, no donations, no investment incentives. This leads to mainly local (African) investments that are not interfered by aid organisations, who sell the same product.

The aim is to protect the market and those people, who take responsibility in their own countries for their people and a better life for them. To get started is easy: interested business partners participate in a biogas business training where they learn everything about biogas science and technology, practical installation and maintenance and the business frame that is provided.

It includes technical solutions as well as software solutions, legal advise, technical support, import/ export support, innovations and licenses, network access and many more. Once the new importer has started to make the biogas system available on the market in her/his country, independent installers can join. Installers are usually young, active, practical people from all parts of the country, especially from rural areas, who use the chance to build their own biogas installer business. Through an online training, the (B)app installers get trained and guided in setting up their own installer venture. They are also the ones who promote the technology in their surrounding. Their customers, this means the end customers of the biogas systems themselves become entrepreneurs. While producing biogas form organic waste and animal manure they are introduced to the idea of selling biogas in the biogas backpack. Biogas serves as a substitute for fire wood and charcoal and a combination of the biogas backpack with the modular biogas burner, neighboring households can quite comfortably switch their cooking fuel.

However, the practices of market distortion persist and one of the most important services (B) energy tries to provide to their partners is the protection from market distortion. This is done in different ways, for example by examining organization, that want to buy biogas technology of (B)energy. If Western money is involved, the organization has to fill-in a matrix that makes mar-

Biogas Magazine | Edition 12 | 24

Picture: (B)energy installer setting up a system in Rwanda ©(B)energy

ket distortion visible. They will then be advised towards a not damaging approach and a special agreement is signed. Additionally, (B)energy tries to convince organizations, who plan biogas projects, of a more careful approach. One example is the currently planed biogas project in Northern Uganda, where a big European Aid Organization plans to give away 200 biogas systems for free.

“Beneficiaries” only have to contribute material, space and work time. As you can imagine, this destroys the livelihood of any existing or future biogas entrepreneur in the region or even in the

Katrin Pütz Managing Director (B)energy GmbH

www.biogas-india.com

Picture: Biogas user picks up biogas at a central refill station in Benin, Toffo Š ReBin

whole country. It is one significant task to protect business partners from this thread, warn them in advance or try to influence organizations to stop or change their projects.

Social entrepreneurship can lead the way to a sustainable energy and biogas market. This ap-

proach has the potential to change not only the cooking reality of many, but also to create an example of a sector, that recognizes its responsibility and its possible impact. Having a code of ethics would be a desirable vision!

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 12 | 26

Sustainable waste-to-energy model for vegetable market waste generated at APMCs based on Anaerobic Gas lift Reactor (AGR) Technology

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arket yards operated by Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) are the major hub for fruit and vegetable farmers to sell their produce to wholesale and retail traders. There are about 2477 principal APMCs and 4843 sub-market yards regulated by the respective APMCs in India. Around 30% of this produce gets wasted annually due to lack of cold storage facilities and refrigerated transport. Each APMC generated several tonnes/day of vegetable and fruit waste that then gets collected by municipalities or waste collection agencies and gets transported to local landfills. Not only does this involve labor and transportation costs, but it also results in greenhouse gas emissions during transport and in the landfills. Further, this also contributes to crowding of already diminishing landfill space.

A sustainable model can be developed to eliminate these logistics and environmental concerns, thus saving the APMCs valuable time and money.

The waste produced can be processed onsite inside the market yards via waste-to-biogas plants

of suitable capacities. Daily waste input to the plant eliminates storage of waste, avoids degradation of waste that can lead to foul smell, flies, etc, and removes the burden of daily logistics for waste disposal.

Keeping this as a major concern and the motive to demonstrate a sustainable, remunerative waste-to-energy model plant, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) as technology provider, Hyderabad and M/s Ahuja Engineering Services Private Limited (AESPL) as project executor on turnkey basis, Secunderabad has jointly proposed a project to the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India (GoI) for the installation of a 10 tons per day of biogas plant based on AGR Technology developed by CSIR-IICT for the treatment of market and vegetable waste.

Further, the Department of Agriculture Marketing (DAM), Government of Telangana (GoT) is operating about 7 to 8 big vegetable market yards of which Bowenpally vegetable market yard is the

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 12 | 27 completion of the project as the role model plant to other waste handlers. The biogas plant is built using state-of-theart technology and engineering aimed to provide a clean, odour-free operation that efficiently converts waste into energy. It eliminates all the issues observed in conventional biogas plants (slow rate digesters) and employs robust technology and engineering design aimed to have low Capex and Opex costs. The main features are of the biogas plant includes: 1. Indigenouso biogas technology with detailed engineering and automation; 10 tons of market and vegetable waste treatment at source 2. Glass coated steel based digestor MOC, easy to assemble onsite, with long life 3. Well engineered pre-processing of the waste via customized crusher and grinder 4. Optimized mixing via internal and external arrangements 5. Digester design with flexibility to use multi feed stock 6. Preliminary purification/Cleaning of biogas post-production 7. Inbuilt and IOT-based safety mechanisms 8. Efficient conversion of the biogas to electricity which is used back in the market yard.

biggest where approximately 8 – 12 tons of market and vegetable waste is generated every day.

The waste from the market was handled by a local vendor who diverts the waste to a landfill at Jawahar Nagar which is being operated by Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

Approximately Rs. 30 – 40 Lakhs (tipping fee of GHMC and contractor transportation charges) was spent for the disposal of market waste per annum. Therefore, a novel, environment friendly and a remunerative solution is required to resolve this issue of waste management.

The DBT had funded the project to CSIR-IICT which had then jointly executed the project in association with M/s AESPL. The DAM in Telangana State operating the big markets in the city was keen in adopting the CSIR-IICT’s AGR technology in one of their markets in Hyderabad, namely Bowenpally vegetable market yard. CSIR-IICT along with M/s AESPL had taken up the project for the installation and commissioning of the biogas plant on turnkey basis with a capacity of 10 TPD of market and vegetable waste treatment at the Bowenpally market yard. DAM, the beneficiary of the project had taken up the necessary civil works and the motive to keep the demonstration and working of this biogas plant in future after the

The plant is designed to handle 10-15 tonnes per day of mixed vegetable waste and can generate an equivalent of ~800-900 units of electricity per day, which meets the daily electricity needs of the yard. The Market Yard at Bowenpally can thus save expenditure of Rs 3 lakh towards power bills and Rs 2 lakhs for waste disposal costs every month.

The plant currently has also generated employment for 8 people who operate the plant everyday.

The Biogas plant is Made-in-India and is based on Anaerobic Gas Lift Reactor (AGR) Technology developed by CSIR-IICT (GOI) and commercialized

by Ahuja Engineering Services Pvt. Ltd. (AESPL), Hyderabad. The team has installed 15 additional plants of smaller sizes (100 kg/day – 5 tonnes/day) prior to this one, that are successfully operating in different parts of India. This high-rate biomethanation plant provides significant advantages over the traditional biogas plant designs and is at par with well-known international technologies, at a much lower cost.

The Biogas plant model installed for APMC has several benefits as summarized below: 1. Enables compliance with Indian government’s Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 which are

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 12 | 28 The principal investigators of the project from the organizations involved

Dr. A. Gangagni Rao

Dr. Sangita Kasture

from CSIR-IICT, GoI

from DBT,GoI

applicable to market yard associations.

2. Compliant with the Swachh Bharat Mission 3. Eliminates the cost of transportationof market waste to Landfill sites.

4. The biogas produced from the waste helps in saving money by conversion to electricity.

5. The digested biogas slurry (digestate) can be used as a nutrient rich biofertilizer that can be utilized on land or to make a sellable solid bio-manure and liquid bio-manure for use in gardens, urban greening projects or in agriculture 6. Improves the working conditions of the market yard employees and patrons by providing an odour-free environment by timely disposal of waste.

7. Prevents methane emissions by averting land-

Dr. Lakshmi Bai

Ms. Shruti Ahuja

from DAM, GoT

from M/s AESPL

filling of waste. Example: a biogas plant that processes 10 tons of market yard waste per day prevents the release of CO2 equivalent to that released by 400 cars per day.

8. The plant is in line with GOI’s MAKE IN INDIA Atmanirbharta initiative as the entire technology and equipment has been indigeneously developed and manufactured.

Future scenarios: Although conversion of biogas to electricity is suitable for a market yard of this size, a future scenario could involve upgrading the biogas to bio-CNG(or CBG). A bio-CNG bunker could be constructed at the plant site which would fuel the vehicles that are daily transporting vegetable produce to and from the market. This would provide even greater savings for the market yard as it would save petrol/ diesel and thereby reduce fossil fuel usage. Alternatively, the bio-CNG can be injected in the city gas distribution network as bio-PNG once such regulations are in place.

All these options (electricity, bio-CNG, bio-PNG) make the APMCs a truly GREEN market that uses clean energy produced from its own waste.

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 12 | 29

Steverding Agitator Technology

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 12 | 30

Consideration on Stubble Burning and suggested way ahead

Delhi NCR faces the haze of Air Pollution every year and it gets unbearable and schools are to be shut for prolonged periods while health conditions deteriorate and in cases of lung ailments; those are irreparable.

Problem Statement Stubble burning in Delhi NCR has been a bane to living in the Area with Air Pollution being at ‘Emergency Levels’.

Key Analysis Pointers 1. Farmers are inclined and have their backs against the wall, as they have to sow for next sea-

son and they do not have any bandwidth to aggregate and store biomass, especially when there is no offtake available.

2. Not enough industry has been developed around use of biomass and quantum of biomass available in the Country is huge.

3. Biomass-based Supply Chain is not bankable and has not been recognised as an Industry.

MSME etc need to recognise that first.

4. Financial institutions do not accept this Biomass-based industry at the moment; while some actions are pending implementation.

5. While heating, cooling and steam have been laid down as Renewable Energy in July 2019, not

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much traction in projects of PSUs etc has taken place and private industry has not stepped in, in terms of bigger players.

AIM: To aggregate One Million Metric Tonnes of agri-waste from fields, as a Pilot Project, in Punjab, with Central & State Govt assistance, by building a Win-Win Solution in the People Public Private Partnership Ethos; termed PPPP Model 2020 Recommended Solution Framework Model A People Public Private Partnership (PPPP) Model could be evolved to foster mitigation of the stubble burning and use of biomass in Bio-Energy Projects. The People would be farmers and all associated in the Ecosystem. First avenue for creating such a model could be for Bio-CNG projects and it’s monitoring being under aegis of the PMO and these could start to be implemented for next harvest Season. Second avenue is the Bio-Ethanol (2G) Sector with projects lined up at Bhatinda, Punjab of HPCL & at Barghar, Orrisa of BPCL etc; by year 2022 or, so. The People-Aggregation to PSU-Offtake Model; with entire Ecosystem being on Open-Book Business Format; with Public and Private Sector chipping in, will be a Game Changer and it will energise the Biomass-based Bio-Energy Sector in India. This Model can be replicated for all small, medium and large industrial applications later in India. Apart from the initial payment to farmers for the agricultural residues supplied

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by them, part of the profits accrued through sales of the Bio-fuel or, final commodity made from that agricultural waste, could also be ploughed back to the farmers. This will make this PPPP Model more robust and sustainable in the future; as it will bring about greater Rural Development and enhance the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). India has a potential to lead the Biomass-based Bio-Energy Sector in this format while it’s economy will start to blossom like never before with shrinking reliance on crude and enhancement of entrepreneurship, skill development, manufacturing and self-reliance being a major take away.

Stakeholders and their Solicited Contributions a) Farmers Aggregate themselves and through private players, the biomass required; based on a realistic assessment done by a Private Consultant or Govt Institution. b) State Govt Provisioning of land, water and electricity etc for the Pilot Project. c) Central Govt Release of funds, policy guidelines, facilitate FDI, facilitate imports of machines and technology and monitoring through a Committee, consisting of independent person, Govt appointee and industry. d) Biomass Supply Chain Management Company Roll Out the entire Biomass Supply Chain including Awareness Campaigns, Aggregations, Storage, Logistic Chain, Supply to Project.

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 12 | 32

Source: The Tribune India

e) O&M Company The PSU or, private company which will do O&M for the Project and ensure 96% availability of the production. f) Sales Company The PSU or, private company which will conduct and monitor sales of the produce. This off-taker has to be finalized and guaranteed by the Govt. g) IREDA & / or, Other Govt Financial Institutions / NBFCs Post drawing down of funds from Govt or, UN bodies or, Impact Funds etc, make Debt Loans and Working Capital available to private companies and PSUs involved at less than 4% interest. h) Insurance Company Public or, private Insurance Company would have to take on the mandate of insurances for various aspects of this Project. i) Finance Ministry Make available funds for the Project and that may include allocation of some quantum of CSR Funds. In future, CSR could contribute from it upto 0.25 to 0.5% towards Biomass-based Bio-Energy Sector and this might give a boost to this Sector in India. Loans at 2 to 4 percent or, less, to farmers & private sector involved in Supply Chain Management (SCM) of

the agri-residue. Cover Biomass-based Bio-Energy Sector in Priority Sector Lending with larger cap. j) ISRO / NTRO Give technological inputs on weather, soil etc to the concerned stakeholders, at the behest of the Govt of India. Identification of air streams is important. k) FCI / NABARD etc Provide access to available storage sheds & build more and also cater to construction of weather-agnostic Silos and Under Ground storage facilities etc. l) MSME Establish the Sector and this Pilot Project under MSME with benefits. m) MNRE, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Petroleum etc Enable policies implementation for biomass-based Bio-Energy Projects in India and ensure their applicability much prior to the Pilot Project being envisaged. n) Niti Aayog To be the Central Coordination Agency and one-point contact for all stakeholders for the PMO, to enable smoother Decision Making. o) PMO Lead this Pilot Project till it’s implementation by 2020-21 and analysis of gains accrued and then further direct the Policy Making in the Biomass-based Bio-Energy Sector in India.

www.biogas-india.com Benefits Envisaged (a) Creation of an Ecosystem, based on type of Bio-Fuel and end-use, to fully support Biomass-based Bio-Energy Sector in India and allow influx of more Projects of both PSUs and Private Sector and foreign players. (b) Evolution of a truly beneficial PPP Model in India. (c) Enhance Rural Development with double income for farmers, financial inclusion, more jobs etc. It is the best way to establish ‘Ann Data to Oorja Data’ for the farmer community. (d) Lead the Climate Change initiative and work towards SDGs agreed upon during the Paris Agreement, through the Biomass-based Bio-Energy Sector by getting Green Fuels and reducing dependency on fossil fuels and also, reducing carbon, SOX & NOX emissions. (e) Greatly improve the health conditions of Indians and bring down the medical bills and expenditure; which has been noted to be 30 Billion by a US-based study group. (f) Ensure sustainable Renewable Energy through biomass; a commodity which is aplenty in India and directly related to welfare of the farmers. (g) It will rope in more and more ex-servicemen in this Sector and that will ensure the dependability on the Model and lead to good deliverance too. (h) It will set an example of the huge benefits of low-cost funding in the rural sector and Biomass-based Bio-Energy Sector and that will further strengthen the sustainability aspects in this Sector.

Biogas Magazine | Edition 12 | 33 (j) Our expenditure on fossil fuels will reduce substantially in the future and this will lead to better energy transition in India where motor vehicles could start with ethanol and move towards EV and Solar-powered vehicles and Aviation could graduated to Drop In or, Bio-fuels from biomass and so forth and so on. (k) India being a huge market for bio-fuels, will attract tremendous FDI and establishment of Projects and manufacturing units of varied kinds in India and that will give impetus to Make In India, more employment, better market share of production of bio-fuels in the world, growth boost to economy etc.

Conclusion India is at a cusp of a ‘Green Energy Revolution’ and Biomass-based Bio-Energy Sector is set to lead the way. The Govt of India and it’s citizens and especially the farmers have an opportunity to shape this future, as a Win-Win for all stakeholders and participation of more from the industry including manufacturing, will give the due impetus to the Govt-led Drive to bring the changes in ensuring a Cleaner and Healthier India and Planet Earth. It should be a ‘Collective Endeavour’ of all of us to ‘See through the Haze’ and chart out a sustainable course for a better future for Generation-Next; as this Planet must live longer than what today we think it would. The onus as Citizens and Govt is on us; as me make the choices and the margin of error in that is zilch. Let’s take it on ‘Together’!

IF THERE IS A WILL, THEN, THERE IS A HIGHWAY IT HAS TO BE A ‘COLLECTIVE TOIL’ WITH A ‘TOPDOWN IMPLEMENTATION’ AND ‘BOTTOM-UP EXECUTION’ INTEGRATED APPROACH TO ACHIEVE THIS HUMBLE DREAM UNDER PMOLED “AAN TO OORJA” SCHEME

Colonel Rohit Dev (Retd.)

Chief Operating Officer PRESPL

Biogas Digestate – BROWN GOLD

T

he properties and constituents of biogas plants digestate is determined essentially by the materials used as the substrates for the biogas digestion as well as by the digestion process itself. Treatment of animal manure and slurries within the biogas digester results in biodegradation of organic matter to inorganic compounds and biogas. In practice, the anaerobic degradation rate of organic matter from animal manure and slurries is about 40% - 50% for cattle slurry and of 65% - 70% for other animal manures.

The degradation rate depends at large on feedstock type, HRT and process temperature. Due to degradation of organic matter, digestate is easier to pump and easier to apply as organic fertiliser, with reduced need of stirring, compared to untreated slurry.

Digestate Characteristics: As mentioned above the physio-chemical characteristics of digestate vary, strongly depending www.biogas-india.com

on the nature and composition of the feedstock used (it may also vary when the same feedstock is used and the characteristics are checked in different plants) as well as on the operational parameters of the biogas process. Researches done till date on digestates from biogas plants indicate that, when compared with raw animal manures and slurries, digestate generally has lower total solids (TS) and total organic carbon (C) content, lower carbon to nitrogen ratio (C:N), and lower viscosity. On the other hand, the pH value and the share of ammonium (NH4+) are higher in digestate compared to raw animal manures and slurries. Some characteristics relevant for the fertiliser quality of digestate can also be studied and discussed. In all most all the developing countries, the traditional substrates are agricultural/ livestock by-products (manure and slurries), biogenBiogas Magazine | Edition 12 | 34

ic waste (food waste, municipal organic waste, etc.), energy crops (maize whole crop silage, sugar beet, grass silage), by-products from food and agro-industries (animal by products from abattoirs, brewers’ spent grains and solubles, etc.).

More recently, residues from the bioethanol and the biodiesel industries are used. Different substrate parameters as well as process parameters influence the composition of the digestate.

Importance of Digestate Quality and the Management of Quality: Digestate quality assurance means not only that digestate is safe for use but that it is also perceived as a safe product by farmers, food wholesalers, food retailers, decision makers and the general public. Improved confidence in the quality and safety of digestate is expected to lead to www.biogas-india.com

its more widespread use as biofertilizer or organic manure. This should contribute to the development of a market for the quality certified products and support the further deployment of biogas technologies which provide important associated benefits to society.

1. Production of renewable gas i.e., Biogas/BioCBG, to displace use of fossil fuels 2. Displacement of mineral fertilisers, lowering their negative impact on the environment 3. Increased recycling of organic matter and nutrients and conservation of natural resources 4. Sanitation of organic wastes and animal manures, breaking the chain of pathogen transmission 5. Cost savings to farmers through enhanced use of own resources, reduced purchases of mineral fertiliser and higher nutrient efficiency Biogas Magazine | Edition 12 | 35

www.biogas-india.com 6. Potential for reduced air pollution from emissions of methane and ammonia through application of “good practices” 7. Contribution to food safety The production and recycling of digestate as fertiliser/organic manure requires quality management and quality control throughout the whole closed cycle of biogas system, from the production of the biogas feedstock until the final utilisation of digestate as organic manure. Quality management implies the use of high-quality feedstock, pre-processing of specific feedstock types, close control of the biogas process and of process parameters affecting digestate quality, digestate processing, declaration and optimal storage and application as organic manure. The composition and quality of the digestate is determined by the composition and quality of the feedstock combined with the effectiveness of the biogas process. These are the two most critical factors that are important for the quality of digestate as organic fertiliser. Therefore, the main measure in digestate quality management is to ensure high feedstock quality. The materials used as feedstock should not only be easily digestible, but they must not be polluted by unwanted materials and compounds of chemical (organic and inorganic), physical or biological nature.

Enhancement of the Digestate: The paragraph describes the combination of treatment technologies/ techniques that have the potential to generate a number of complementary digestate “products”.

Slurry coming out of the digester is first dewatered to separate the liquid and solid fractions. The dewatered fibre can then be applied directly to land or utilised for energy recovery.

The first stage of the liquid treatment process can be aerobic reduction of

chemical oxygen demand (COD) within a membrane bioreactor (MBR). The process is configured such that no ammonia is oxidised.

Sludge generated by this MBR is recycled back to the digester. Effluent from the MBR is dosed with magnesium hydroxide to increase the pH and magnesium ion concentration, enabling struvite precipitation. Struvite is precipitated and extracted for use as an organic fertiliser. As equimolar amounts of ammonia and phosphate are used in struvite production, and digestate is relatively rich in ammonia, there remain significant quantities of ammonium within the digestate liquid.

In order to recover this ammonium, the liquid is fed into an ammonia stripper; as the pH and temperature of the digestate have already been increased the conditions are more suitable for the stripping process. In addition, the risk of fouling within the ammonia stripping column is greatly reduced as the COD has already been removed by the MBR.

The stripping process recovers the ammonia as ammonium sulphate. Sulphuric acid and heat are used within the process. (heat energy is required which can be used from the CHP/Generator or biogas boiler which is used to generate heat for maintaining the digester temperature).

The treated liquid from the process can be reused as process water, used for irrigation or discharged to sewer once the pollution control board norms are met. Alternatively, an additional treatment stage can be added in the form of reverse osmosis (RO) to produce higher quality process water or enable direct discharge to a watercourse. Combining the individual process units into the treatment system above provides an integrated and holistic treatment process capable of producing both solid and liquid organic fertiliser products from biogas digestate. However, this system incorporates several complex subsystems that require careful integration and operation and of course the capital as well as the operational cost of the entire project will be increased. This is www.biogas-india.com

the system followed by most of the Biogas plants installed abroad.

Present Road Blocks for the Digestate Enhancement: Most of the large-scale biogas plants in India have solid liquid separators and they sell the solid as well as liquid fertilizers (after recirculation of the liquid to a certain extent). The use of digestate enhancement technologies faces a number of blockages in the India, preventing their widespread adoption. The most significant blockage is the present high cost of installation, as well as the operational costs associated with the technologies. This blockage is directly linked to the cost of alternative disposal arrangements such as landfill or energy recovery facilities. However, the relatively low value of biogas digestate products and the associated cost of developing outlets or markets for these products is also another blockage. It is imperative that the installation of a single digestate enhancement system does not frustrate, or in the extreme negate, subsequent treatment proBiogas Magazine | Edition 12 | 37

www.biogas-india.com cess additions. However, the cost of installing a suite of totally integrated enhancement systems, presents a significant financial challenge that the sector is unlikely to be able to fund at this stage.

A key step to overcoming these types of blockages is to raise awareness of the waste sector to enhancement technologies and techniques, to reduce costs and to emphasise the financial benefits of implementing enhancement systems to secure potential income from the biogas digestate. This research exercise has identified a range of potential techniques and methods for treating and enhancing digestates in India (thanks to Indian Biogas Association for working on this), these options will not be adopted until the business models exist that ensure that the financial investment is worthwhile. There is a need to raise awareness of potential improvements to biogas digestate and ensure that the Indian Biogas Industry is aware that there may be advantages in developing flexible sites where changes can be adopted as new technologies become available.

Final Comments: Without any doubt biogas digestate has huge potential in India, still utilisation of digestate as organic manure is limited in India due to lack of information about its qualities and fear of potential risks related to its use and finally due to cost when compared with chemical fertilizers. The quality management of digestate not only guarantees that digestate is safe for use, but also contributes to the perception of digestate as a safe and healthy product. The aim of any entrepreneur establishing the biogas plant should be to enhance digestate and sell as organic manure. The quality management of digestate is part of the overall demand for quality products in agricultural field. The requirement for quality necessarily implies adoption of a unified approach herewith and of a system of quality parameters to measure and guarantee quality. I request Indian Biogas Association to look into the proper framework and quality standards for digestate and contribute to a sound and stable market for biogas digestate in India. Regulations which have been introduced by an increasing number of countries, include standards of biogas digestate quality, digestate certification schemes, guidelines for recommended practices for biogas digestate utilisation and positive lists of materials suitable for use as biogas feedstock. This type of selection and strict

Biogas Magazine | Edition 12 | 38 quality control of the materials used as feedstock for biogas is the first and most important step of digestate quality management ensuring maximum ecological and economic benefits from use of biogas digestate as organic manure. Digestate processing involves the application of a range of possible technologies to biogas digestate, comparable to the existing technologies for manure processing, sewage sludge treatment, and, in some cases, for wastewater treatment. The last decades have seen a trend of increased emphasis on improved sustainability in agriculture and preservation of natural resources like minerals phosphorus and potassium, consequently changing the focus of digestate processing from nutrient removal and disposal towards integrated nutrient recovery and recycling. This trend needs to be continued. Digestate processing, (which can be described in a separate article) can be partial, usually targeting volume reduction and separation of digestate into a liquid and a solid fraction, or it can be complete, refining digestate to for example pure water, a solid organic manure fraction and liquid concentrates. The first step in digestate processing is to separate the solid from the liquid. The solid fraction, often rich in phosphorus, can subsequently be directly applied as organic manure or biofertilizer in agriculture or it can be composted or dried for intermediate storage and feasible long-range transport. In conclusion, a wide range of technologies and techniques are available to create many innovative digestate products. However, operational experience of the technologies in the India is currently limited and, in many cases, direct land application is likely to remain the most economic option. Operational experiences should be sought from the countries where systems have been installed and biogas digestate products created to satisfy outlet demand.

Srinivas Kasulla Independent Energy Consultant

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