wsu team 2

The Indian Government in many states of India is encouraging the usage of environment friendly fuels which have less CO2 emission. Solid Biofuels fall under the category of less CO2 emitting fuels. Pellets, which are an extension of Biomass emit very little CO2.

Currently, the Indian snack businesses that are present across many states in India, make snacks in huge clusters. They have been operating in the Indian snacks business since about thirty to fifty years. The main source of fuel to cook the snacks was always coal, raw wood, saw dust, diesel or LPG.

Earlier, they were located on the outskirts of the cities. Hence, though the CO2 emission was high due to these fuels, it didn’t directly and quickly impact the population living in the cities. But recently, they have shifted to main areas inside the city. And hence, now the CO2 emission has become dangerous for the people living in the locality.

So as the resolution, the Indian government has actively pushed the agenda to use a less smoke creating and cleaner source of fuel. And Biomass Pellets completely qualify this condition.

Biomass in its loose form has much higher weight in terms of volume & relatively lower mass. For example, a truck with a capacity of ten tons will carry only four tons of Biomass.

This puts a limit on the transport effectiveness of Biomass. Hence, generating Bioenergy becomes viable, merely in small radii’s and are closer to the hubs of biomass availability.

Hence, it is challenging for Biomass to be transported from one place to another, especially when it’s a long distance journey.

However, there is a long-term resolution to overcome this challenge. By having the manufacturing plant closer to the source of Biomass, these transport & distance issues can be resolved.

In the year 2008, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, set up a National Policy on Biofuels. The policy’s aim was to limit the country’s dependence on foreign crude and also limit future carbon footprint. Under this policy, from October 2008, it was proposed that the blending level of bio-ethanol with petrol should be at 5%, leading to a target of 20% blending of bio-ethanol by the year 2017.

At present, the Government is executing the (EBP) Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme as per which the OMCs sell petrol blended with ethanol up to 10%. This programme has been extended to all regions of India except the Union Territories of Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep islands with effect from 1^st of April, 2019. The aim is also to promote the use of alternative & environment friendly fuels. This intervention also aims at reducing India’s import dependency on other countries for energy requirements & give a powerful boost to the agriculture sector of India.

When we refer to raw material for Biofuel, we are referring to agricultural residue. Which has very little to almost nil commercial value. Any crop that generates fibrous material can be treated as a raw material for solid Biofuel. For e.g. Soybean residue is a typical example of agricultural residue that can be used as Biofuel. The Soybean residue after harvesting has no significant value and its disposal process is also a little costly for the farmer. Hence, they leave it unattended.

This creates a great employment opportunity again to boost the rural economy. As mentioned earlier, there are certain established business models where a team of collection labors is employed for residue collection and transport. Along with this, as a part of the business model, Farmers get an opportunity to sell the residue to the plant owners. This helps farmers earn extra income along with regular alternative employment. This same methodology can be followed even for cotton stalk and other crops. Thus, the waste gets purchased from farmers producing good income for them. This also encourages them to do more plantation in the Biofuel segment in turn create more income opportunities for themselves.