Plan to Generate Decentralised Biomass Energy

While the Centre has been talking about a solar mission, authors of the mission say they had prepared the document on the basis of the recommendations of the National Advisory Council in the early 2006, together with experts from scientific institutions and senior officials. However, the government has not taken any action on the plan, reports The Hindu.

Decentralised biomass energy could be the most viable solution to the energy security in rural India, reckons A.M. Gokhale, former Secretary, Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources. Nearly 5,000 MW can be generated by this project.

The national mission document on ‘Decentralised Biomass Energy for Villages and Industries’ was prepared to provide a viable solution, using the immense bio-resources (estimated potential of 260 million tonnes oil equivalent) in small power generation plants.

According to the document, a mission will be set up with a governing body responsible for policy, and an advisory committee to co-ordinate with the agencies and government departments concerned.

It will implement projects to cover two lakh villages and meet the captive energy requirements of one lakh small and medium enterprises in 10 years. This will enable 20 million households in villages to have access to energy, and substitute 8.5 million tonnes of petroleum products in industry.

The mission will also result in reduction in carbon emissions of 36 million tonnes a year, provide employment to 10 million people, and take up seven million hectares of plantations on wasteland.

“People talk about the solar mission and of ultra-mega power projects. But, the fact is that rural electrification has not taken off in India. What is the use of just connecting to the grid when the grid cannot supply enough?” asks Mr. Gokhale.

The solution, according to him and other experts, is to scale down instead of up. Bio-resources, including wood fuel and biomass, are abundantly available in villages, and the establishment of huge plants will be uneconomical in terms of fuel supply management.

“Smaller plants capable of 10kW-1MW generation could be a good bet for most villages. They will make the village, or a group of villages, self-sufficient for their energy needs,” S. Dasappa, professor, Indian Institute of Sciences, who worked on the document, says.

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