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IBA News IBA provides thrust at REI 2018 P. 6 National Corner Biogas scenario in India: An opinion P. 10 Biogas to Bio-CNG: Upgradation technology P. 37 Policy Corner Management of farm waste- Issues & solutions P. 15 Electrifying Goshala with Biogas power plant P. 28 Research and Development Corner Essence of analysis and characterisation of substrates: An Indian perspective P. 24 Social Corner Accelerating Biogas technology as a sustainable development goal high time P. 31 Entrepreneur Corner Community Biogas: An entrepreneurial oppurtunity P. 34 Case Study Decentralised Waste Management and Green Economy P. 19
Designed by: Indian Biogas Association Printed by: The Color impressions, Gurgaon, India
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Foreword
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he application of clean energy is no longer only about science and technology; it’s also about implementing appropriate business models suited to match the social and the financial elements. The fossil fuel industry has been subsidized for decades with tax breaks and government backing, while renewable esp. Bio-energy has struggled to compete. But, now with the welcome step of GoI to support Bio-CNG under SATAT - an initiative aimed at providing a Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) as a developmental effort that would benefit both vehicle-users as well as farmers and entrepreneurs; it is showing the positive sign to investors, to make a mark towards financially viable project. Of course, the biogas industry has been demanding a higher offtake price of Bio-CNG than the INR 46 plus taxes per kg set under SATAT. However, it is imperative to prioritise answering of several open questions like: how can we build a sustainable society in harmony with the global environment, wherin the economic activities does not levy an unacceptable load on the environment? Global warming is a common grave concern for humankind in the 21st century. Particularly, it is necessary to look towards co-existing solutions addressing environmental and energy problems, as these may have serious impacts not only on our own generation, but also on generations to come. Furthermore, Indian Biogas Association (IBA) is realizing more and more need of the skilled manpower in biogas industry. In this direction, our latest information channel, the Biogas App, which supported by Burhani Foundation (India) has already started playing a key role. Recently, IBA entered into an agreement with Skill Council for Green Jobs (SCGJ, working under aegis of NSDC) to emphasize on training and capacity development in the industry. We are also proud to announce extension of the ex-
isting strategic alliance into the second phase from December 2018, onwards for a period of another three years. The extended run of the partnership is indeed a turnaround moment for the Indian renewable sector, which shall propel IBA to continue with its focused and persistent effort towards fostering development of the biogas industry in India. The first phase of the partnership between IBA and German Biogas Association, which ends in Nov 2018, has been instrumental in terms of several crucial milestones achieved over the span of last three years. During the first phase of the partnership program, floury of services were initiated, such as setting-up online helpline, organization of annual training tours, workshops, delegation trip to Germany, launch of the mobile app, renovation of website, quarterly magazine, monthly newsletter, and the list just goes on. The highlight of IBA’s activities undertaken this year was its participation in Renewable Energy India Expo – 2018, wherein it saw an unprecedented number of biogas enthusiasts visiting our Information booth. A full day conference on biogas was organised followed by the Annual General Assembly of IBA.The motivation and enthusiasm of our members was bullish during the General Assembly, and IBA takes pride in aligning its strategy in line with requirements of its members. In the days to come, IBA endeavours to take on the challenges of building a sustainable society and creating a better global environment by enabling the eco-system based on Biogas/Bio-CNG/Bio-slurry. Happy digesting! Gaurav Kedia Chairman, Indian Biogas Association
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Indian Biogas Association provide thrust at REI 2018
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n September 18, 2018, the Indian Biogas Association (IBA) kickstarted its pursuit to exhibit and promote biogas as the sustainable and fuel of choice for India at the Renewable Energy India Expo (REI), 2018, being held at India Expo Mart, Greater Noida. Over the span of the event, i.e. September 18 - 20, the event saw IBA exhibiting the biogas information booth disseminating the comprehensive information about Indian biogas industry. On the final day of the event, i.e. Sept 20, 2018, a full-day biogas conference was organized, followed by the second General Assembly, the annual event for the members of IBA. The fact that IBA was the only organization representing the entire biogas industry at the REI attracted, over 2000 visitors, at its information booths, across all three days of the event. The diverse sapectrum of visitors entailed aspiring entrepreneurs, environmental enthusiasts, research scholars, academics associates, and NGOs associated with renewables, especially biogas domain, and proved extremely helpful in augmenting visitors’ information on the biogas. Furthermore, the networking opportunity at the IBA booth turned out to be the highlight across the event days as it saw eminent and experienced subject experts, such as Dr. A. R. Shukla, Ex- Advisor, MNRE; Dr. Claudius da Costa Gomez, CEO, German Biogas Association; Mr. Gaurav Kedia,
Chairman, IBA; and Mr. Binod Daga, Director, IBA, interacting with the biogas enthusiasts. Professionals related directly or indirectly to the field as well found it to be interesting with presence of features such as waste segregation pledge board, wherein around 1000 participants, voluntarily pledged and signed for “Save environment by waste segregation”. Likewise, there remained something or the other aligned to interest of every participant, as visit to IBA booth was full of activities and information on biogas. The biogas conference organised on the final day, i.e., September 20, 2018, turned out to be an ideal platform for Biogas and Waste to Energy industry to congregate, discuss industry challenges, and deep diving into possible solutions. The biogas conference included panel discussions and presentations by national and international experts from across the biogas industry. The conference saw convergence of many eminent speakers, who provided insight on the entire value chain of biogas, incentives & policies, and efforts towards integrated solid waste management. The conference had three informative sessions; two-panel discussions and a presentation session. The first and third session entailed panel discussions focusing on “capitalizing biogas opportunity in India, keeping waste to energy in the centre”, and “Integrated Solid Waste Management and
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its crucial role in a paradigm shift towards sustainability of our country� respectively. The second session in the conference covered presentations on Business Models for an effective biogas Ecosystem; Bio-CNG - challenges, experiences and opportunities; digestate and its potential to supplement chemical fertilizer and beyond; and integrating biogas into bio-refineries. The panels for each of the sessions were lined-up with high profile speakers like CEO, German Biogas Association, Dr. Claudius da Costa Gomez, Prof. P. K. Mishra, HOD, department of Chemical Engineering, IIT-BHU; Mr. Deepak Gadhia, Social Scientist, Munil Sewa Ashram, Mr. Matthias Kellerer, Director, Agraferm, Dr. Parveen Dhamija, Advisor, Skill Council for Green Jobs; Mr. Shyam Sundar Subbarao, Head , NIE-CREST; Dr. S. Kamaraj, Director, International Institute of Renewable Energy, Dr. A. R. Shukla; Ex- Advisor, MNRE, Mr. S. R. Kumar, Director, Aruna Green Venture Pvt. Ltd.; just to list a few. The conference sessions were attended by over 100 participants. Participants featured professionals related directly or indirectly to the field. Following the biogas conference, IBA conducted its second General Assembly, which was open only to its members. Mr. Gaurav Kedia, Chairman, IBA shared about journey and achievements of IBA in the gone by Financial year. Mr. Abhijeet Mukherjee, Project Coordinator, IBA, then
Dr. Cl. da Costa Gomez signing the pledge wall for Waste Segregation
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presented on the Strategy and Outlook to be adapted by IBA for its prospective journey. One important objective of this event was to emphasize upon experience of German Biogas Association of successful installation of over 9000 successful plants in a decade time in Germany. India need to take a proper understanding out of the German road map in Biogas and similar success stories can follow upon customizing as per the local needs and conditions. Representatives from German Biogas Association present during the event over the three days, exchanged its immense experience in the field from German standpoint with various Indian stakeholders.
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REI has always been instrumental in agglomerating sustainable renewable energy solutions. Following its trend, this time around, it was no different. Infact, inclusion of the biogas segment to the portfolio of activities added that extra spice to the event. Overall, the entire event kept up to its promise in being instrumental in effecting a paradigm shift in the renewable energy space. Particularly, the unique, dedicated, and interactive audience were provided the perfect opportunity for exposure to a sector as rich and growing as anaerobic digestion with emphasis on the entire value chain of biogas industry. IBA believes that the activities pertaining to biogas in the event shall provide thrust in overall proliferation of energy sector looking for sustainable solutions.
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Biogas scenario in India: An opinion What is the Biogas market scenario in India? Biogas has started picking up pace from past few years. It is witnessing this pace because of the introduction of supporting policies from central and state government in the last couple of years. Central ministries schemes like GOBAR-Dhan and New National Biogas Organic Manure Program (NNBOMP) and state government’s successful execution of processing the waste via Biogas route programs have attracted many eyeballs to Biogas. Many international and national investors are expressing interest towards this field. Till now, Biogas in India was limited to household-based Biogas largely driven by government incentives and to some extent in industries such as the distillery, pulp and paper, tannery, and Sewage treatment industries. However, there are numerous untouched resources that have lots of potential for growth, especially in solid waste fermentation and co-digestion of multiple feedstocks. As the industry grows, it shall create more than 20,000 potential jobs. It will alsom require a pool of experienced and skilled workforce. Some Oil Marketing companies are also coming forward for the offtake of Bio-CNG, which is also expected to propel the Biogas upgradation segement. From the fertilizer point of view, demand for organic
crops in India is increasing which will ultimately lead towards the increased demand for organic manure, which will also push the Biogas sector to match up the requirement. What support are you getting from the government? The government of India is also pushing for the growth of renewable energy as a more sustainable form of energy for India. Indian government voluntarily set a target to reach 175 GW of renewable energy sources by 2022 at COP 21 in Paris, and they are putting their best efforts to meet the target before the deadline. From Biogas point of view, the Indian government launched a scheme a few months back called GOBAR-Dhan to promote Biogas plants in Gowashals. They also introduced NNBOMP program to reinvigorate the erstwhile NBMMP to provide better support for household and community-based Biogas plants. The Indian government is also providing a renewed subsidy for setting up large scale waste-to-energy plant. Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) also recommends the Feedin-Tariff rates to INR 7.60 per kWh. Although, electricity is a state subject and it is not mandatory for the state agencies to follow CERC guidelines. The states come up with their own estimates of FIT on case to case basis.
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Except that many state governments along with the ULPs have come up with their plans to push the source segregation and treatment of waste via Biogas route. Few such initiatives are like the launch of a scheme to install biogas plants at Gowashalas by Gopalan Department of Rajasthan and signing of an MOU between Punjab Energy Development Association (PEDA) and an UK based company to build a biogas plant to handle the paddy straw burning in a sustainable way.   What are the major challenges that are looming the growth of the industry? The main challenge that biogas industry is facing is the lack of public awareness, which translates to unsegregated waste. Unsegregated waste is a huge issue and one of the biggest hurdles in the progress of the industry. The supply chain is also a challenging issue and needed to be addressed. A lot of biogas plants have failed to live up to their potential because of the lack of feedstock supply. Additionally, government initiative are currently focusing more on solar and wind developments and more needs to be done to get them to focus on biogas too. The government push is very important and will help in pulling in enough participants to make the effort sustainable. Based on my personal experience, it was found that challenges differ in different regions depending on the degree of market maturity and availability of natural resources like biomass, land, and water. The lack of success stories in India also exacerbates the problem.
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In your opinion, why is Biogas development good for India? India is largely dependent on crude oil imports to meet our energy needs, although we have huge quantities of organic substrate resources, which can be utilized in Biogas plants. As per the recent report of German Biomass Research Institute (DBFZ), organic waste from Uttar Pradesh alone can run 13.1 million cars for approximately 10,000 kilometers. It is just from one state. By this figure only, we can imagine the potential of the whole country. Biogas, as an energy source, can provide a buffer against energy security concerns and can help in reducing the country’s dependency on crude oil imports. Biogas development offers a hedge against fossil fuel prices hikes and volatility. Biogas can also play a vital role in the waste management area, because it can not only be used to treat the organic part of the waste, but it also produces energy which can be further utilized for cooking or for electricity generation or for running vehicles by Bio-CNG. Of course, it would also support attainment of India’s climate change goals. India has got almost 60% of land as arable land and more than 70% of the population still lives in rural areas. Agriculture contributes more than 10% to Indian GDP per year. Because, India has been an Agro based economy and the depleting content of nutrition can be replenished with bio-manure. Moreover, the farmers can also rely on their own farm resources.
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Biogas also features into India’s national development goals as the promotion of Biogas will open a lot of employment opportunities for the young population especially in rural areas. Why Biogas is an important aspect of Renewable Energy portfolio of India? Today In India we are facing both environmental crisis and developmental crisis. On the one hand, we are still struggling with the problems of inequality, poverty and improving human development indicators. Environmental pollution and ecological destruction is now a runaway problem. Both these crises are also interacting and reinforcing each other. This is best reflected in our Biogas sector. India suffers from chronic energy poverty. India’s energy needs are rising fast, with growth in electricity demand and other energy uses are among the highest in the world. In one direction lies a future heavily reliant on fossil fuels; and in the other, a more diverse energy mix based on greater use of renewable energy. If India follows the first route, it risks locking its energy system into today’s pattern – with increasing levels of air pollution as well as green house gas emissions, uncertainties around meeting its sustainability targets and concerns about supply and sourcing for coal, oil, and natural gas. The government, contemplating a better path, has taken steps to increase renewable energy and move the country towards a sustainable future. Still, India needs a perspective on the changes required to achieve an affordable, secure, inclusive and environment friendly energy system and Biogas is of course one of the crucial sector which has been so far behind the other renewable energy sectors in our country.
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Apart from renewable energy production and fossil fuel reductions, biogas offers socio-economic and environmental benefits, and it used to be considered as a modern and clean alternative to traditional cooking gas with great potential, but look where the industry is in the present times. Biogas has gained its own importance in the course of time and it has evolved and has come a long way. From people hesitating to replace LPG and use Biogas as cooking fuel now are able to use it by replacing higher calorific value vehicular and industrial fuels. With all the stake-holders including the great efforts from Indian Biogas Association and Biogas Industry thrust towards Biogas development has come at a time when the clean energy sector in India is booming, I personally believe that given the issues petrol, diesel, LPG, CNG in the country are facing and one can imagine the future with these issues, only Biogas will allow the country to expand its Renewable Energy Portfolio with many direct and indirect benefits What is the future of Biogas in India? Undoubtedly, biogas has got a tremendous future in India. The potential is immense but the only question to be answered is “how to harness”? According to a recent report of May 2018 by Ernest & Young, India is no. 4 in the renewable energy country attractiveness index under the biomass category. Biogas can play a vital role in India’s energy mix towards sustainable energy future because, a lot of Bio-degradable biomass is available. This is evident as we practically see the unused cow dung, press mud, food waste, banana stem and many agricultural as well as other organic materials lying around.
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In most parts of the country, people still do not have access to clean or cooking fuel. With vast amounts of feedstock and decentralized community-based biogas plants, pollution free cooking fuel, which will help in resolving energy poverty issues and providing the livelihood. Since, biogas can also be utilized in many ways, including thermal application, vehicular fuel and electricity generation, the greater the development of the biogas industry, the greater
people’s lives will improve, with knock-on benefits of better waste management, better hygiene conditions and more employment opportunities. As we know that biogas plant has got an additional dimension in form of Bio-fertilizer, which is excellent and is steadily picking up in India and the market for organic fertilizer is already present.
Srinivas Kasulla
Waste Management Expert
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Management of farm wasteIssues and solutions
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ural India generates about 0.3 to 0.4 million metric tons of solid waste per day, which primarily consists of Agricultural Residues and Animal Waste. Being an agrarian economy, India produces huge quantity of agricultural residues, part of which is consumed in traditional uses while the surplus is burned by farmers in open fields leading to major health hazards due to increased level of Particulate Matter (PM) concentration in the atmosphere. There is loss of vital nutrients from the topsoil, making the land less fertile and unviable for agriculture in the long run. India also has one of the largest livestock population in the world generating large quantities of cattle dung, which is expected to grow significantly due to increased number of milch animals (19th Livestock Census 2012). However, there is no organized system of cattle manure collection, aggregation and its utilization for energy and compost production leading to poor disposal and creating health problems. There are a number of good technologies for converting biomass waste into usable energy, which have been practiced over the last many years. Traditionally, biomass had been utilized through direct combustion. Anaerobic digestion of biomass also
offered several advantages over direct combustion by transformation of organic matter mainly into a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide referred to as biogas. The Government of India, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has been promoting many initiatives for use of biomass for producing clean and green energy. The National Biogas and Manure Management Programme (NBMMP) was launched in the country in 1981-82 for promotion of biogas plants based on cattle dung and other organic wastes in the country. This programme has been extended to New National Biogas and Organic Manure Programme (NNBOMP) in 201819 to promote clean energy to improve sanitation in the village and to reduce drudgery of women. So far around 5 million family type biogas plant have been installed upto March 2018. Under Biomass to power, MNRE promoted Biogas Power & Biomass Power and Bagasse cogeneration programme in the country. Over 500 grid connected biomass power and 409 offgrid biogas power plant were installed upto March 2018. However, due to barriers like difference in technology maturity, feedstock availability and quality, supply chain, awareness level and policy support, these programmes could not have far reaching implications in the country.
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In order to reduce the problems of air pollution caused by burning of surplus agro-residue and animal waste, Government of India has recently announced many initiatives like: • Galvanizing GOBAR-dhan to create wealth from waste • Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved Agricultural Mechanization promotion for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue-supports capacity building programme. • Oil PSUs are planning to set up twelve (12) 2G Ethanol Bio-refineries across 11 States viz. Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Arunachal Pradesh. • Bio-CNG plants based on different types of feedstocks to be set up in different states. IOCL has signed an MoU with Punjab for 400 plants with 42 such plants coming up in the first phase mainly in the districts of Fazilka and Sangrur. The New Biofuel policy announced on 10th August, 2018, also focuses on many initiatives for enhanced use of biomass for improving availability of ethanol through multiple feedstocks, developing 2G ethanol technologies, increasing production of biodiesel for blending, focusing on drop in fuels and advanced biofuel including Bio-CNG, Bio-methanol, etc. However, to achieve the new objectives, there is need to ensure biomass resource availability. The resource being bulky, voluminous and only seasonally available creates serious hurdles in the reliable supply of the feedstock, regardless of its application. In this
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context, there is a need to plug in this gap between the biomass resource availability and its demand through a proper supply chain management. Biomass logistics includes all activities related to collection, aggregation, transportation and storage. Biomass need to be moved to the biomass energy plant and to ensure that the delivered feedstock meets the specifications of the conversion process. The logistics and cost of transporting, handling, and storing the bulky and variable biomass material for delivery to the bioenergy processing plant is a key part of the supply chain that needs to be included in the project to ensure sustainable delivery to the processing plant. There is a need to develop an aggregation mechanism and also incentivizing the suppliers. In case of biomass residues owing to the voluminous nature of the resource, its handling becomes a major issue since it requires bigger modes of logistics, employment of a larger number of work-force and a better storage infrastructure, as compared to any other fuel or feedstock. Not only this, their lower energy density characteristic, makes it inevitable for the resource to be first processed and then utilized for power generation to make for better economics. In case of animal waste, the functional unit of the supply chain is modelled as a process that transforms inputs into outputs and produces wastes from such a transformation. Manure is collected from farms, loaded into trucks and transported to the biogas plant. Such a system not only channelizes collection, but also incentivizes the suppliers. A digital network could also be created for
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assessing demand and supply & also for providing a platform mainly for relevant data on biomass availability, pricing, scheduling, and real time tracking of the transport. As per the new Biofuel policy, availability of skilled human resources is critical to achieve the goals for enhanced use of biomass for various conversion processes. The current capacity and skills are not adequate and there is a gap in terms of knowledge and application, which are critical to conceptualize, implement, regulate, and monitor. Goals of the Swachh Bharat Mission for developing community managed solid and liquid waste management systems and the GOBAR-DHAN could be achieved by up-skilling farmers and local youth to encourage setting up of supply chain for the bio-gas plants proposed to be set up as part of the scheme for effective disposal of farm waste. Under the GOBAR-Dhan scheme, there is a plan to systematically create a pool of skilled people to cater to setting up of biogas plants, its operation, maintenance, and continuous availability of feed stock. This activity will also help in addressing the issue of stubble burning. Development of local entrepreneurs, who not only manage the surplus agri residue and animal manure but, also, develop avenues for livelihood generation in villages, improve the service quality and efficiency of manpower would be a very important and necessary component for the success. The New National Biogas and Organic Manure Programme (NNBOMP) of MNRE has incorporated Biogas Skill Development Training Programme to educate and equip potential and skilled entrepreneurs for promotion of biogas. Skill Council for Green Jobs (SCGJ) set up in October 2015 and promoted by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is responsible for quality assurance through accreditation of the skills acquired by trainees, curriculum development, qualification framework to generate skilled, trained and certified manpower in clean energy. SCGJ along with KPMG, India has carried out sector analysis, skill gap studies, occupational mapping and process flow along
with identification of job roles in the domain of waste management in India. As per the study, huge quantities of solid waste are generated in rural India. Agricultural residues that comprise mainly crop and process residues are traditionally used as construction material for rural housing, domestic fuel for cooking etc., while the surplus is burned in open fields in the absence of affordable disposal alternatives. The crop residue generated in the field has to be made available to the user facilities. The supply chain involves collection, storage, and transportation of residue from field to site for end-use. If India can use this agri-residue resource efficiently, it can contribute significantly in addressing energy deficit of the rural India also; it can directly contribute to addressing the severe air pollution problems resulting due to burning of residue in open fields. Thus, jobs related to agri-residue supply chain for field collection, densification, and aggregation in biomass depot would be very significant. The jobs related to cattle manure collection, aggregation, and biogas/ compost production would facilitate harvesting and utilizing to fulfill energy needs in rural areas. Considering the immediate need of trained manpower for the sector, Skill Council for Green Jobs (SCGJ) has developed Qualifications Packs as Training modules for the roles of Agri-residue Aggregator, Animal Waste Manure Aggregator, Biomass Depot Operator and Manager to skill local youth in collection, aggregation and storage of farm waste and also be trained for developing business in supply chain management of agri-residues and animal waste. SCGJ is planning organizing these trainings in the States of Punjab and Haryana to counter the problems of air pollutions and also create a trained cadre of local youth and semi-skilled technicians for collection of waste, transportation to treatment plants, management of plant, operation of biomass depot. These pilots can be replicated in other States and also ensure sustainable availability of biomass for successful biomass to energy projects.
Dr. Parveen Dhamija
Advisor Skill Council for Green Jobs
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Decentralised Waste Management and Green Economy: A case study
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he 25kg/day Kitchen waste biogas plant at Pramati Hillview Academy, Mysuru, India, has been implemented by NIE-CREST (Centre for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technologies), The National Institute of Engineering (NIE), Mysore has solved the issue of organic waste disposal of the school by almost 100% and created a value chain for waste to wealth. The biogas plant, at present, is partially fulfilling thermal energy demand and has achieved zero organic waste and reduced the carbon footprints. Analysis of data indicates that the plant in a year saves 438 kg of LPG used for cooking , reduces 1.32 tonnes of CO2 emission and converts 7.9 tonnes of organic waste to energy and manure, thus achieving decentralized waste management and green economy. Introduction Pramati Hillview Academy school, is a co-educational day schooling, day boarding and residential school run by Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust, located in Mysuru, Karnataka. The school is housed in a landmark building with all the required facilities and space for various curricular and co-curricular activities. Waste management was an issue in the campus. The entire solid waste generated till last year was taken away by Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) waste collection personnel’s, but according to MSW (Municipal Solid Waste Management) 2016 rules, the bulk waste generator now had to segregate the waste and the green waste had to be treated at site.
NIE-CREST is a centre of excellence at NIE, which has made many technological interventions to provide Renewable and Sustainable Technologies to meet the energy and environmental needs. Biogas from organic waste is one of the major technologies being promoted by NIE-CREST for energy conservation and waste management. Till date, NIE-CREST has implemented more than 150 biogas plants of varied capacities which include household level biogas plants of capacity 2 to 6 kg per day waste input , many community level plants of 100 kg/day kitchen waste biogas plants at postal training centre, Mysuru, biogas plant of capacity 1 ton per day at Oxygen acres, Mysuru and many more. These plants have resulted in local waste management and provide sustainable energy supply for the houses and organisations thus reduced the burden of waste management on Mysore city carportion. NIE-CREST offered the biogas technology as a solution to problem of managing kitchen waste to Pramati Hillview Academy, school. A biogas plant of capacity 25 kg/day has been implemented by NIECREST (Fig. 1). Kitchen waste such as rice starch, wash water of rice, used tea/coffee powder, waste wheat flour, left out rice, sambar, vegetable/fruit waste, waste edible oil and other cooked waste will be fed to the plant. Objectives The study here is intended to analyse the aspect
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of waste management, monetary savings per annum from the biogas plant in terms of savings in LPG, estimate the reduction in the CO2 emission, observe & quantify the performance of the biogas plant and also quantify the benefits that accrued to Pramati Hillview Academy after installation of biogas plant. Basic principle- Biomethanation The biogas plant works on the principle of biomethanation/anaerobic digestion of waste to generate biogas. The anaerobic digestion occurs in three phases Hydrolysis of organic solids, acetic acid formation and biogas production.
tank. The digester has a water seal (water jacket) to prevent leakage of biogas and house the gas holder. Technology & installation : NIE-CREST, The National Institute Of Engineering, Mysore. Methods Quantity of waste fed to the plant and biogas generated on daily basis have been measured and the data has been analyzed for a period of 30 days. The amount of money saved from biogas generated is also calculated by finding its equivalent LPG generation and estimating the cost of it. The reduction in CO2 emission and quantity of organic waste managed is estimated. Gas Holder Gas Pipeline Intlet (Waste) Outlet (Slurry)
Digester
Platform Fig. 1 Floating Drum Biogas Plant at Pramathi Hill view school, Mysore.
Biogas is an output of biomethanation of Organic waste by anaerobic bacteria. The process of biomethanation involves breaking down of complex organic matter in to simpler molecules thereby releasing the biogas. The digested material obtained in the form of slurry is organic manure to plants. Biogas is a mixture of methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, water and other compounds in traces. The typical composition of biogas from kitchen waste is shown in Table 1. S.No.
Constituent
Percentage
1
Methane
49 %
2
CO2
45%
3
Traces(H2S, NH3, H2O, N, H & O) 6%
Table 1 Typical composition of biogas from Kitchen Waste
Technical specifications of the Plant It is a Floating drum type, water sealed biogas plant of 25kg/day capacity (Fig. 1), designed for a retention time of 40 days. The components include digester, mild steel gas holder, inlet chamber, outlet chamber and slurry
Data Table 2 The cumulative data of 30 days (from 12th June to 12th July, 2018)
Total quantity of waste fed in 30 days
651 kg
Total quantity of biogas generated in 30 days
90 m3
Calculations for savings in LPG LPG eq. of Biogas for 30 days generation = 90 m3 x 0.4 = 36 kg Average biogas generation per day = 90m3/30= 3m3 Per day savings in LPG = 3 x 0.4 = 1.2 kg/day The annual savings in LPG = 1.2 x 365 = 438 kg Calculations for reduction in CO2 emission CO2 emission per Liter of LPG = 1.665 kg Density of LPG = 0.55 kg/L Reduction in CO2 Emission /year = 438/0.55Ă—1.665 = 1325.9 kg (1.32 tonnes) (Source: Ecoscore.be) (Ref. 5) (Considering biogas as a carbon neutral fuel and zero emission from Biogas is considered)
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Calculation of organic waste managed. Average quantity of waste fed = 651/30 = 21.7 kg/ day At this feed rate of 21.7 kg per day, the biogas plant converts = 21.7 kg/day x 365 days = 7920.5 kg (7.9 tonnes) of waste per year to energy and organic manure. Return of Investment Total Capital Cost of the plant = Rs 1,90,000 (including, plant+pipeline+burner+platform+shelter+tranport+tax) Maintenance Cost per year (MC) = 2% of Capital Cost = 2/100 x 190000 = Rs 3,800 3. Savings from Biogas/year = Rs.60/kg x 438 kg = 26,280/[Current price of LPG (year 2018 @ Chennai) = Rs.849 for a 14kg cylinder. i.e. Rs.60/kg. (Indian Oil – Ref: 9)] Amount of solid/dry manure equivalent obtained per day = 10% of amount of waste fed = 10% of 21.7 kg = 2.17 kg/day. Value of solid manure per Kg = Rs. 6/Kg. 5. Savings from manure/year = Rs.4752/- ( 2.17x6x365) Total income from the plant per year = Income from biogas + income from manure. Rs. 26,280 + Rs. 4752/- = Rs. 31,032/Savings per year = Total Income – Maintenance Cost. Rs.31,032- Rs.3800/- = 27,232/(The investment is recovered in 6.9 years without considering intangible benefits.) e) Intangible Benefits Cost for the city Corporation to treat 1000 kg of solid waste = Rs 1000 [average across from many cities of India Rs.500/t to Rs.1500/t (Ref.9)]. Cost
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saved to the corporation due to the solid waste treatment at the source per year = Rs. 7920/year. Contributing to a clean environment by reducing 1.3 tonnes of CO2 emission per year. Discussion The biogas plant has benefited Pramati Hillview Academy through waste management, savings in LPG, reduction in CO2 emission and organic manure as a byproduct. From detailed study and data analysis, the results have been summarized as follows: - The biogas plant has accomplished in saving 438 kg of LPG per year. - The reduction in CO2 emission of 1.32 tonne per year is contributing to the green economy. - From break-even analysis, the investment gets returned within 6.9 years. - If the intangible benefits are considered, and escalation of LPG cost is considered the investment gets paid back much earlier. - 7.9 tonnes of waste can be treated per year which benefits both the waste generator and the Municipal Corporation. Conclusions Mysuru city has been awarded the cleanest city under the category of medium city (3 to 10 lakh population), observing its extraordinary efforts in waste segregation and door-to-door waste collection. The city produces 400 tonnes of waste daily. According to MSW (Municipal Solid Waste Management) 2016 rules, the waste has to be segregated at source and green waste should be handled locally. This can be achieved in two ways: 1)Aerobic Composting
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Biogas Magazine | Edition 06 | 22
2) Biomethanation/Anaerobic Digestion The above study shows that decentralized management of kitchen waste using a 25 kg/day biogas plant at Pramati Hillview Academy, in addition to waste management, savings in LPG, usage of manure and reduction in CO2 emission are the other benefits from biomethanation through biogas plant. The biogas plant acts as a role model for solid waste management for many orgaisations. The slurry from outlet which is a byproduct of biomethanation has a good nutrient value and can be used as organic manure for the plants in the campus.
Reference: 1. R S Khoiyangbam, Navindu gupta and Sushil Kumar (2011), Biogas technology: towards Sustainable Development, Delhi: TERI 2. Shamsundar Subbarao, Jagannatha V, Amitha Prasad and Dhananjaya (2011) “Organic Waste to Energy at Administrative Training Institute [ATI], Mysuru”, 2nd ICON SWM, Kolkata 3. Shamsundar Subbarao and Dhananjaya (2012) “Sustainable Energy and waste management: A good practice at Administrative Training Institute [ATI], NCTAE, Bangalore
In contrast to the conventional solid waste management methods, where in lot of energy/monetary/ time expense is associated with various stages like collection, segregation, transportation and disposal, the biogas systems generate waste from energy and yield slurry as a manure there by making it possible to achieve zero discharge and adapting these systems in any campus will make the campus compatible for ISO 14001:2004 and decentalised waste management.
4. Shamsundar Subbarao, Jagannatha V and Dhananjaya (2012) “Biowaste to Energy: Projects implemented by NIE-CREST, 3rd ICON SWM, Mysuru
India being a tropical country has a lot of scope for establishing biogas plants to solve the problem of energy crisis and waste management and get a organic manure in a single system. The biogas plants can be implemented at any place as they are decentralized micro energy systems which create green economy. The technology can be presented as a business model with support and incentives from local city corporations and municipalities.
7. Properties of LPG by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd, India
5. CO2 Emission Calculator- Ecoscore.be Université de Liège, 2009 (Dutch). 6. TejoPydipati Biogas in India, November 29, 2010, coursework for Physics 240, Stanford University, Fall 2010
8.http://www.thecartech.com/subjects/engine/ fuel_calorific_value.htm 9. https://www.iocl.com/Product_PreviousPrice/Indane14KgNonSubsidPreviousPrice.aspx 10. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308110604_Solid_Waste_Management_A_ Case_Study_of_Ahmedabad
Shamsundar Subbarao Head NIE - CREST
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Biogas Magazine | Edition 06 | 24
Essence of analysis and characterisation of substrates: An Indian perspective
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he amount and variety of possible feedstock for biogas plants demands detailed characterization and evaluation of specific feedstock types. Feedstock characterization requires reliable feedstock analysis. Substrates from animal husbandries, household/kitchen, agricultural crops residue, and certain type of industrial effluent are already being used as the feedstock for anaerobic digestion. In order to plan and optimize the biogas potential from plethora of biomass resource, particularly from Indian perspective, assay analysis related biogas production behaviour and potentials of a more diverse spectrum of organic residue/waste materials is needed. As a matter of fact, numerous studies on anaerobic digestion process of different organic residues/ wastes have already been conducted in the past. This has lead to better understanding of a given feedstock’s inherent conversion potentials and behaviour thus resulting in improved design, development, process control and optimization of bio-digesters. Some of the other salient benefits that can be accounted towards exploring and analyzing different kind of feedstock are: possibility to identify and
map substrates for co-digestion, choosing appropriate technology (per-treatment, digestion and posttreatment) for a given mix of substrates, planning needful preventive measures for a given feedstock or its mix, opportunity to increase and optimize yield for a given biogas set-up, production of other value-added by-products to add further viability of a proposed plant. There are a host of parameters that may be analysed to make informed decision while operating a biogas plant. The whole list of analysis parameters has been divided into three categories, namely Feedstock Analysis, Online Process Analysis and Post Digestion Analysis. Please note that these are by no means comprehensive list of parameters; measuring and controlling of which guarantees optimum performance of a biogas plant, as each biogas unit is specific and could have different optimal operational characteristic feature. The parameters segregated as per the defined categories are listed as following: • Feedstock Analysis: Dry Matter, Organic Dry Matter (Volatile Matter), COD, heavy metals, Bio-methane Potential, Total Nitrogen, Kjedahl Nitrogen, C: N ratio
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• Online process/Digester analysis: COD, Volatile Fatty Acid (VFA), FOS/TAC (Total VFA/Total Alkanity), pH, temperature, Redox, Total Solid (TS), Total Suspended Solid (TSS), CH4, CO2 and H2S in produced biogas • Post-digestion analysis: Bulk density, Moisture, Particle Size, Organic Carbon, Macronutrients (N, P, K), Micronutrients/Heavy Metals (Ni, Cr, Co, Cu, Mg, Mn, Hg, Pb, Zn), Pathogens, pH, and Conductivity A laboratory analysis of feedstock may consist of determining the biophysical characteristics and Bio-Methane Potential (BMP) assay in order to measure anaerobic biogas production of the several potential substrates. The biophysical characteristics may involve analyses of dry mass (DM) and organic dry mass (ODM), organics loading rate (OLR), temperature, pH, chemical oxygen demand (COD), heavy metal analysis, nutrient analysis, Ammonia-Nitrogen Test and composition analysis (C:N ratio, and other elements). Without getting into details about the essence of each of these analysis, it can still be deciphered that the quality of substrates is quintessential for making informed business decisions w.r.t smooth functioning of an already set-up plant, or even setting up a new plant. Overloading and underloading of a biogas plants in
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terms of excess or scarcity of input feed material may have drastic economic consequences. Overloading may disturb the equilibrium of the microbe culture, necessitating a cost-intensive restart, whereas underloading has financial consequences, in terms of lost revenue. All biogas plant operators therefore have a crucial interest in running their biogas plant as efficiently as possible. To be able to do this, reliable in-process analysis is needed. Presently in India, analysis of samples pertaining to biogas industry is relatively unstructured when compared to testing and analysis methods used in other industries like petrochemicals, refineries, chemical fertilizers, etc. Due to non-availability of dedicated laboratories for testing samples related to biogas Plants, make-shift arrangements are often used to conduct some of the common tests at Agricultural and Soil Research Centres, Universities with Agriculture as a stream, and other unrecognized lab centres. Without a standard testing protocol being in place, the authenticity of the produced results and its usage to make informed business decision can at best be better than nothing kind of arrangement but, may not be considered full-proof by any stretch of imagination. There is an imperative need to set up quality Bio-
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Biogas Magazine | Edition 06 | 26
energy labs at National and State Level possessing comprehensive facilities with defined testing protocols. Over a period of time, under the canopy and guidance of these National level laboratories, several regional level laboratories can be set-up to function and meet the local demand of testing and analysis. Appropriate testing and analysis infrastructure can play a big role in addressing some of the major challenges related to waste management in the country. For instance, Scientific Waste Management has always been a big headache across urban local bodies. Keeping aside the several social challenges associated with it, this can be as well addressed with implementation of appropriate technology upon adequate feedstock characterization thus reducing the risk factor of the stakeholders associated with such undertaken projects. Also, the difficulties to implement regulations and norms pertaining to environment can be mitigated to large extent through cost optimal means of processing organic waste, which hasn’t been tried before, possibly through Anaero-
bic digestion route. Another grave concern grappling the country right now is the burning of post harvested residues. Off late, investors and developers are showing interest in taking up projects related to agro-waste, but overall are skeptical due to inadequate infrastructure being in place, presence of standard testing facilities being one of the many concerns. Farmers can as well be tremendously benefited with necessary testing facility being in place, for it can to an extent ascertain improvement of crop productivity through reliable usage of digestate, or processed bio-slurry. Summing it altogether, efficient analysis of various chemical parameters across value chain of biogas industry can indeed be a potent weapon to harness the huge potential across diverse spectrum of bioenergy related opportunities across India. Trust, transparency and reliability are some of the key ingredients that gets incorporated into the ecosystem for the Industry to mushroom efficiently.
Abhijeet Mukherjee
Indian Biogas Association
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Biogas Magazine | Edition 06 | 27
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Biogas Magazine | Edition 06 | 28
Electrifying Goshala with Biogas power plant
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ivestock & Dairy Farming forms integral part of the Indian farming systems. Animal husbandry has often provided a safety net and sense of security to rural Indian Communities. Livestock play crucial role in rural India contributing about 9% to GDP and employing about 8% of the labour force. Energy generation through bio-methanation process can greatly help in meeting local energy needs for cooking, heating, lighting and running of agro-industrial units. Besides, Biogas plants bring much needed improvement in the sanitation and environment around the households, reduce smoke related diseases and thereby improve quality of life. Digested slurry can be used as soil conditioner for crop production and improving the physical structure of the soil. Rashtrothana Goshala is located at Ghatisubramanya Village of Bangalore rural district, Karnataka State having 150 animals. The installed Bio-methanation plant is based on UASB Technology and size of the plant is 150m3 per day. About 3 to 4 Tons of cow dung, Agriculture waste and Kitchen waste is available at Goshala, converted into slurry with help of shredder and fed to the Bio-Digester. The digester ensures that the slurry undergoes bio-methanation process for few days and organic material is converted to biogas having 60-65 percent of methane content. The biogas generated is collected from
top, the clear liquid over flow is recycled for slurry preparation and remaining quantity of bottom slurry is used as organic manure. The biogas generated is fed to a generator to produce electricity. The present Biogas plant generates about 200-250 electrical units per day and 20 kW Biogas generator runs for 10-12 hours/day. The generated power is utilized at Rashtrothana Goshala Farm for water lifting from bore-well, cowshed lighting, chaff cutting machine, agricultural operations, milking machine and biogas slurry pumping. Presently, Goshala is saving about â‚š 30,000/- per month towards electricity bill. Apart from the fact that biogas produced is effective in reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions, the compact design of the plant makes it convenient for use and utilizes less footprint area. The treatment of organic waste is done in closed digester hence there is no odour and organic matter is recycled to generate nutrient rich bio-manure. Power Generation Section Biogas Scrubber: The biogas generated will contain H2S and hence the biogas needs to be scrubbed. The system provided is a proprietary Scrubber Tower using specially developed microbial culture on a packing media.
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Biogas Magazine | Edition 06 | 29
Nutrients are dosed, which are essential for the growth of microorganisms. The gas and liquid is passed in counter current in the tower and “clean� gas is fed to the engine. Nutrient dosing tank along with agitator, dosing pump are used and dosage is adjusted according to the H2S content. The biogas analysis is carried out in a small laboratory built at the site. Biogas Compressors: Compressor is used to pressurizing the biogas from the gas storage to the gas scrubbing section. For efficient combustion to take place within the 100 percent biogas fired engine, it is imperative to maintain certain minimum pressure of the biogas at the inlet of the biogas engine. Blowers are provided just before the biogas engine
generation or during shut down. It has a pilot flame and control valves, which will automatically flare the biogas. Application of Bio-digested Slurry in Agriculture Bio-digested slurry is the by-product obtained from the biogas plant after the digestion of the organic matter. The bio-digested slurry has a great potential as organic manure and it can be applied to all crops. Considering the nutrient values & cost of the nutrients replaced by the slurry, it can be noted that the bio-digested slurry is as valuable as main product of biogas process. Generated biogas slurry was applied to the Agricultural field of Goshala for growing of Vegetables like Carrots, Lady finger, Radish, Paddy and Maize. Recommended dose of manure about 5
FLOWCHART Flare Assembly
Overflow line Blower Loading Room
Mixing Chamber Feeding Chamber
Anaerobic Digester
Gas Balloon Enclosure Liquid manure Tank
Fresh Water Tank
Overflow line
to consistently maintain these parameter during the engine operation. Power Generation: The biogas engine generator set is the heart of this power generation plant. The capacity of the installed biogas engine generator set is 20 kW & has all the standard accessories and control systems. Generated electricity is used for running of bore well, milking machine, chaff cutter machine and captive consumption. Biogas Flare: Biogas flare is an essential item and is used to flare the biogas when not in use, excess
Manure Tank
Bio Scrubber
Biogas Engine
Power Generation
tonnes per hectare and it was observed that yield increased by 10-20 percent besides improving the physical properties of soil and water holding capacity. Conclusion The main benefits of Biogas Power Generation are Independency from state grid power, Avilability of on-emand environment friendly waste solution and also production of good quality organic manure. The project is financed by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India. The cost of the project is â‚š 38.45 lakhs and payback period is about three years.
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Biogas Magazine | Edition 06 | 30
Basic Information Process technology
UASB
Design Capacity
150 m3 Biogas/day
Cowdung & other organic waste available
3-2 ton/day 200-250 Electrical Units/day
Electricity generation
20 kW Generator runs for 10-12 hrs
Energy yield
Equivalent to 85 KG LPG/day
Biogas utilization
Electricity generation
Organic Manure
2 tonnes/day
Electricity consumption
10-15 Electrical Units/day
Total Project Cost
₹ 38.45 lakhs
MNRE-GOI share
₹ 8.00 Lakhs
Payback period
Three years
Cost Economics 1 Year
3 Year
A) Revenue Generation Cost of electricity @ Rs. 5.00 KWh (5x200x30 days)
₹ 3,60,000.00
₹ 10,80,000.00
Cost of organic manure@ Rs. 2000/tonne (2tx2000x30days)
₹ 14,40,000.00
₹ 43,20,000.00
₹ 18,00,000.00
₹ 54,00,000.00
Total income
B) Operation and Maintenance Cost Cost of the cowdung@ Rs. 0.50/kg (0.50 x 4000kg x 30days)
₹ 72,00,00.00
₹ 21,600,00.00
₹ 72,000.00
₹ 2,16,000.00
Total
₹ 8,10,000.00
₹ 24,30,000.00
Payback period -Before MNRE Subsidy
3.88 years
After MNRE Subsidy
3.44 years
Cost of labour @ Rs. 6000 /month
Dr. V. Kumar Gouda Project Coordinator BDTC, Bengaluru
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Biogas Magazine | Edition 06 | 31
Accelerating Biogas technology as a sustainable development goal high time!
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he Pan Himalayan Grassroots Development Foundation is established as a non-profit voluntary organisation since November 1992 with the primary aim to initiate peoples action at the grassroots for restoration of ecological security in languishing river basins. Over the past twenty five years, Grassroots has been able to evolve a holistic intervention strategy, which channels resources - managerial, technical, and financial - directly to people and associations of the communities, working at the village/river basin level. The emphasis is on self-help participation and the belief that average villagers have the desire, the right and the capability to promote their own welfare and prosperity and to participate in decisions that affect their lives. Grassroots continues to be a lean and independent organisation, which reaches out to far-flung watersheds in central, western and eastern Himalaya through the Main Outreach Program Office located in a tiny hamlet (left) at 6,000 feet, six kms outside Ranikhet town in Kumaon Himalaya. The spearhead team comprises of fifteen professionals-in-development, almost all of whom are from rural Himalaya. Over the years, Grassroots has been able to initiate programs on improving the quality of life of mountain communities through sustainable community development strategies, training and technology transfer, micro enterprises and marketing, by strengthening the capacity of community based organisations and creation of new forms of organisations such as Barefoot Engineers Guild and Feder-
ation/s of Self Help Groups. Status of Biogas Technology in the Mountains Grassroots has been involved with promoting biogas technology as a clean cooking energy option amongst rural communities for over two decades in the Indian Himalayan Region. More than 3,000 households benefited in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim through operation and maintenance of biogas units, which provides 3-4 hours of cooking gas daily besides significant quantity of slurry, which is used as organic compost for terrace farming. This has not only arrested the pace of environmental degradation by reducing the biotic pressure on scarce forest resources in a significant manner but also reduced the drudgery of women head- loading firewood from distant forests. For the past 6 years, Grassroots had been involved with field trials regarding replacement of the old masonry biogas digester model with a more robust FRP prefabricated digester. Hand-made FRP digesters were introduced as a pilot initiative in 2013 (imported from China) continue to function very well and based on the simplicity of installation, operation, and maintenance, Grassroots had decided to scaleup the trial with a larger number of FRP digesters during 2015-16. The second consignment of 275 biogas digesters were again imported from China, through the office of Biogas Institute of Ministry of Agriculture (BIO-
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Biogas Magazine | Edition 06 | 32
MA), Government of Peoples Republic of China. Currently all these 300 FRP digesters are reported to function very well, across the states of Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. In fact, famers have contributed one third the capital cost of the biogas digester. Based on these field trials with 300 FRP biogas digesters, Grassroots has been able to improve the design of the conventional Deenbandhu model and manufactured ten FRP biogas digesters. These 10 locally made FRP digesters are functioning very well and in fact generating more biogas than any other model Grassroots has installed in the past 25 years! After installation, earth is filled-up to the ground level (left), showing inlet and outlet tanks. One, FRP prefabricated digester takes one day to install as compared to 12 days (plus 21 days of curing) of the
conventional masonry model of the digester. As per my experience, Pre-fabricated biogas digesters is the only way forward to accelerate the critical SDG regarding provision of clean cooking energy. FRP is the ideal choice of material for its strength, availability, ease and simplicity of manufacture, transportation and installation. The need of the hour is to establish an technocracy like the Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Gas, which has been able to supply LPG cylinders to the most remote villages in the country. A similar organisation would be able to promote a renewable energy option like Biogas Digesters across the country to benefit millions of householders. Time to start is NOW!
Kalyan Paul
Executive Director Pan Himalayan Grassroots Development Foundation
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Biogas Magazine | Edition 06 | 33
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Biogas Magazine | Edition 06 | 34
Community Biogas : An entrepreneurial opportunity
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overnment of India’s two pet projects viz. Swachh Bharat Mission and Startup India, are finding a place in highlights everywhere. Whether it be Prime Minister’s speech from Red Fort or simple chit-chats over tea across nation, these two have been integral part of the conversation. More importantly, they can immensely benefit from each other in multiple ways. One such way could be Community Biogas. Biogas needs Startups! Biogas, as we all know, started quite early in India. Despite that, it has not still not reached to the masses yet. In Biogas Conference 2018, Dr. A. R. Shukla, President of Indian Biogas Association emphasized that for biogas to gain it’s full potential, it is important that it becomes a business opportunity. Until today, Biogas has been pushed as eco-friendly alternative but now it is high time that Biogas be looked upon as business opportunity. Why Community Biogas? There are multiple hurdles that biogas market is facing today but, operation and maintenance of Biogas still remains major blockhead in the road to glory for biogas. Startups can find business opportunity in solving this problem. Also, needless to say, but these are five major and obvious takeaways: • Community biogas units would be larger units and
thus it will be easier to make them sustainable in longer run and make good profit margins. • It will also divide the burden of capital investment amongst the smaller waste generators of the society • Multiple source of inputs will ensure a continuous supply of input to the biogas unit. • Opportunity for bottling and electricity generation is easier with large scale biogas unit. • Waste Management will be decentralized and will result in reduced burden on land-fills. What will be the Challenges? The major challenge is low waste segregation. Although, Swachh Bharat Mission drive is on the rise and people are getting aware about source level segregation, there are still miles to go before actual behaviour change will be seen on the ground. Although, while going for community level biogas, only certain section of society has to be covered, which will be a hard nut to crack. Large Biogas units need certain sophistication level, so micro-management will be of utmost importance. What more can be done? Majority of municipal corporations are striving hard to get rid of landfill woes and this problem will only increase further in times to come. As per my experience following points can be considered to resolve waste management problem via biogas route • Municipal Corporations can encourage such ini-
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The sub-units for a community biogas unit
Operations
Biogas Magazine | Edition 06 | 35
Waste
Startups
tiatives by giving the needed land-space for promoting decentralized waste management of wet waste. • It is necessary to ensure that there is market for the output of the biogas plant. With roll-out of subsides on biogas production, it will be easier to grab this market. Municipal Corporations can also create pull in the market by running the city buses on BioCNG. • The subsidy on compost, which is INR 1500 per ton, should be extended to biogas slurry as well. • Carbon dioxide bottling is also a major by-prod-
Output
uct that can be harnessed to generate new revenue streams. • Hybrid renewable energy plant. Biogas units can be and should be coupled with solar power electrically and thermally as well. This will not only make them more sustainable but, also provide the energy on demand. With the above mentioned takeaways, community biogas can surely score a brownie point with advent of startups in waste management sector.
Gaurav Gupta Startup Enthusiast Waste management consultant
Articles published in the magazine are individual views of respective authors. IBA has only provided a platform to share their views. IBA is not responsible for the content/images of the articles.
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Biogas Magazine | Edition 06 | 36
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Biogas Magazine | Edition 06 | 37
Biogas to Biot-CNG: Upgradation technology
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iogas Upgradation has been a relatively new process in the Indian Market or the South East Asian Market at large. However, western countries have been upgrading their biogas to BioCNG for a few decades now. With the improvement in technology, increased awareness for green energy, and reduced production cost for equipment, biogas upgradation has now become a possibility for developing countries such as India. The basic concept of upgradation works around the principle of upgrading or refining raw biogas from its undesired components or impurities. The three most common impurities are H2S, H2O & Carbon Dioxide. The upgradation process includes three main steps that could be broken down as cleaning, drying, and refining. Cleaning removes the H2S, drying removes the H2O and finally refining removes the CO2. Indeed, it does sound like a very basic process that most engineering companies could help with. Nevertheless, like any engineering process, it does come with its own nuances that makes biogas upgradation a very tough process to master. Removing H2S and H2O is something that is quite common in many industries, but separating the CO2 from the CH4 is what becomes a major hurdle for most companies. In order to be considered BioCNG, the CH4 content in the product gas has to be greater than 90% with the remaining 10% accounting for gases such as N2, O2 & CO2. The first hurdle is designing the equipment and choosing the media
that would allow the gas to reach <90% CH4 purity. The second major hurdle is reducing CO2 to less than 4% in the product gas. Most companies succeed at partially extracting the CO2, however, the real test is bringing the CH4 purity above 90%. Once a company is successful at achieving the desired CH4 levels, and reduced CO2 levels, the third main hurdle appears, which is methane slippage. Methane slippage is the loss of commercially valuable CH4 gas, which escapes in the exhaust stream along with the CO2. Each Nm3 of CH4 adds to the payback period and profitability of a project, thus methane slippage is something that needs to be taken very seriously to ensure the viability of Bio-CNG projects. The general methane slippage from most manufacturers is known to be in the range of 10-30%. Understandably this makes a huge impact on the bottom line of the project and extends the payback period due to the foregone profits. Keeping this hurdle in mind, Atmos Power Pvt. Ltd. has come up with a unique solution to reduce methane slippage to less than 1% with the use of its proprietary methane recovery technology. Initially, Atmos Powerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s upgradation systems had a methane slippage that was in alignment with the industry norm. Nevertheless, due to the consistent R&D and rich experience gained from manufacturing and setting up more than 55 Biogas to Bio-CNG
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plants throughout South East Asia, Atmos Power has proved to offer methane capture rates of up to 99.5%. Atmos Power has designed and manufactured biogas upgradation systems with flow rates ranging
Biogas Magazine | Edition 06 | 38
from 20 Nm3/Hour to 6500 Nm3/Hour, and its methane recovery systems can be integrated with any of these flow rates. By reducing the methane slippage, the company has overcome a major hurdle plaguing the biogas upgradation Industry in India.
B. R. Singh Managing Director Atmos Power Pvt. Ltd.
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Biogas Magazine | Edition 06 | 39
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