Preamble
Developing countries like India have considerable potential
to use renewable biomass energy to contribute to socio-economic development.
The widespread geographic distribution of biomass sources,
combined with its potential to be converted into modern energy carriers and its
competitive costs, make it a promising option for developing countries, where the current levels of
energy services are low. Biomass accounts for about one third of all energy in
developing countries as a whole, and nearly 90 percent in some of the least
developed countries. Over 2 billion people continue to rely on biomass fuels
and traditional technologies for cooking and heating and 1.5-2 billion people
have no access to electricity.
Modernised biomass technologies have a great potential to
provide improved rural energy services based on agricultural residues/biomass.
Widespread use of modernised biomass for cooking and combined heat and power
(CHP) generation in rural areas can address multiple social, economic and
environmental bottlenecks that now constrain local development. The
availability of low-cost biomass power in rural areas can help provide:
·
cleaner, more efficient energy services to support
local development,
·
promote environmental protection,
·
stem the use of coal as a home fuel, and
·
improve the living conditions of rural people,
especially women and children who suffer the most from air pollution associated
with indoor burning of agricultural residues.
ART Biomass strategies facilitate the design, production and
dissemination of sustainable modernised bioenergy activities, including the
technical, policy, and institutional aspects. Bioenergy is an important part of
the world's energy system, and the appropriate design, production and
dissemination of bioenergy systems will contribute significantly to sustainable
human development and people empowerment.
The Bioenergy
Division of ARTS will:
·
Act as a catalyst for making strategic policy shifts
and provide the breakthrough solutions that will make a difference in the cause
of sustainable human development and people empowerment. Activities such as
capacity-building, knowledge-networking, policy formulation, the development of
regulatory and legal frameworks, and enhanced institutional capacity can
promote bioenergy as an important contributor to sustainable energy strategies;
·
Facilitate projects that demonstrate sustainable,
modernised biomass energy systems;
·
Develop the appropriate institutional frameworks;
·
Test and pilot new approaches and illustrate
operational aspects of bioenergy projects;
·
Conduct in-depth analyses of promising new biomass
technologies and their characteristics in relationship to ARTS's sustainable
energy development objectives.
Because plants and trees depend on sun-light to grow,
biomass energy is a form of stored solar energy. Although wood is the largest
source of biomass energy, we also use rice husk, corn, sugarcane wastes, and
other farming byproducts.
There are three ways to use biomass.
(a) It can be burned to produce heat and electricity
(b) Changed to a gas-like fuel such as methane or ‘producer
gas’ in a gasifier, or
(c) Changed to a liquid fuel, also called biofuels, which
include two forms of alcohol: ethanol and methanol.
1. Rural Electrification
In the context of rural electrification, the advantages of
Biomass Gasification based Power Plants (BGBPPs) are as follows:
·
Although the absolute cost of generation is lower for
grid-connected electricity, the ‘distance-wise cost of distribution of power’
is far lower for BGBPP IRPPs, considering that the cost per km of distribution
line (at 11kV) transformed from the 33kV grid is Rs. 3 Lakhs
·
The capital cost of a BGBPP is lower than a comparable
wind or solar photovoltaic power plant, and is therefore ideally suited for a
rural decentralized power plant;
·
Unlike other renewable energy sources such as wind and
solar, biomass is a stored form of chemical energy and hence power can be generated
on demand.
·
BGBPPs do not contribute to ‘Green House Gas’ (GHG)
emissions and global warming, since biomass strategies are CO2 neutral.
In India, entrepreneurs in peri-urban areas have taken
maximum advantage of these benefits in exploiting BGBPP technology - especially
where grid-power supplies are erratic, and the need is for uninterrupted power
supply … therefore necessitating the installation of expensive diesel
generating sets. Examples are metal film fabricating units in Hosur and
Hyderabad, which need uninterrupted power for their production process. They
have installed 100 kWe coconut-shell based and 600 kWe rice-husk based BGBPPs,
respectively. In Volume 1, it has been shown that whereas the cost of
electricity from diesel gensets is currently about Rs. 7 per unit, the cost of
comparable BGBPP power is in the range of Rs. 4 to 4.50 per unit. Hence the
economic justification for the industrial use of BGBPPs in rural areas.
2. Thermal output
There are a large number of thermal applications for gasifiers. The biomass
gasification based crematorium is a special thermal application. Gasifier may
also be used at a marriage party, where the thermal energy output of the
gasifier is used for cooking energy, instead of LPG, kerosene stoves or fuel
wood.
Hence, a large number of industrial and commercial
applications, such as drying, can be run with gasifiers. Diesel fuel can be
replaced by biodiesel made from vegetable oils! A commonly used biofuel is
ethanol, which is produced from corn and other grains. Imagine a new type of
farm where energy crops, such as fast-growing trees or grasses, might be grown
and harvested for their energy content!
3. Briquetted Fuel Technology
In association with TARA, ARTS offers a clean fuel
technology, which converts waste biomass materials - such as woody species that grow prolifically on waste lands and also
agricultural waste materials - into valuable charcoal briquettes. These
researched processes produces high quality, clean and ‘smokeless’ standardized
fuel from waste, and therefore meets our goal for recycled products.
4. Biomass Gasifer Crematoriums
Biomass Gasifier Crematorium Project Report (Word Document)
Biomass Gasifier Crematorium Project Report (.pdf Document)
Social Business Plan for Biomass Gasifier Crematorium Project (Word Document)
Cremation is the traditional burial practice of Hindus. It
is also one of the major consumers of fuel wood supplies in India. It is
estimated that about 8 million people are cremated every year. To completely
burn an average body, we need about 600 kg of fuel wood. Hence, the national consumption
of fuel wood for 8 million cremations is about five million tonnes per year!
It is often the case in traditional cremation ghats that the body is not completely
burnt, and yet it is thrown into the river, causing considerable pollution of
our precious water resources.
Electrical cremation facilities are slightly cleaner.
However, they:
·
Consume huge amounts of electrical power – ranging from
60kWe to 100kWe energy consumption
·
Cost between Rs 300 and Rs 500 (US$6-10) towards fuel
and maintenance costs
·
It usually takes longer time to burn, as well. Hence
operating costs are comparatively very high.
The same can be said of diesel oil-based crematoriums.
Traditional burning ghats
are horribly polluted places that people would wish to avoid and, until the
advent of gasifier-based crematoriums, it was inconceivable that crematoriums
could be neat and clean places.
Sankalp Biomass Technologies
