Technology: Biomass gasification
With a cost of Rs 4 crore per megawatt, more cost effective than a coal-fired thermal power plant, biomass gasification is a lucrative option for providing electricity to Indian villages. Significantly, India is a world leader in gasification technology, which is improving every day.
Biomass gasification means converting solid biomass into gas, then used to generate electricity. "A traditional, low quality fuel is converted into a modern day energy-carrier that is combustible gas,' says B C Jain, chief executive officer, Ankur Scientific Energy Technologies Private Limited, Vadodara. As of today, biomass contributes to about 40 per cent of India's total energy needs and is used mostly in rural areas, that have little or no access to the grid. But direct burning of biomass, the most prevalent method currently, is highly resource-inefficient and leads to high carbon-dioxide emissions. Gasification eliminates such kinds of pollution. According to estimates made by the Ministry of Non Conventional Energy Sources, more than 53 megawatts (MW) capacity of gasifiers have been installed in the country.
Agricultural residues
Related Content
- Emerging gasification technologies for waste & biomass
- Off-grid rural electrification options using crop and woody residues in Côte d’Ivoire
- Effective policy design for promoting investment in advanced alternative fuels
- Conversion of biomass-generated syngas into next-generation liquid transport fuels through microbial intervention: potential and current status
- Rising critical emission of air pollutants from renewable biomass based cogeneration from the sugar industry in India
- Decentralized energy in water-energy-food security nexus in Developing Countries: case studies on successes and failures