National Bioenergy Programme

National Bioenergy Programme

Subject : Environment

Context:

The Waste-to-Energy Program Guidelines for the production of Biogas, BioCNG, and power from urban, industrial, and agricultural wastes and residues have been released by the Center.

Details:

The programme is part of an umbrella scheme, the National Bioenergy Programme.

National Bioenergy Programme 

• The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) will be the implementing agency for the programme.
  • IREDA will be paid a service charge of 1% of CFA to process applications, besides 1% for the CFA (minimum ₹50,000) for implementing, and monitoring the performance once the plants are commissioned.
• It aims to produce biogas and bioCNG, and electricity from urban, industrial and agricultural waste and residues.
• The government will offer financial assistance to project developers and pay service charges to implementing agencies, including inspection firms for commissioning the waste-to-energy plants.
• It also comprises the biogas and biomass programmes.
  • Standard central financial assistance (CFA)  for the biogas projects will be ₹25 lakh for 12,000 cubic metre a day and maximum pegged at ₹5 crore.
  • Financial assistance of ₹75 lakh per MW for new biogas plants and ₹50 lakh per MW for existing units will be given.
• If the waste-to-energy plants are set up in special category states, such as the North East, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Uttarakhand, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the eligible CFA will be 20% higher than the standard CFA pattern.

Concept:

Biomass Energy (Bio-energy) 

• Biomass is renewable organic material that comes from plants and animals. Biomass energy is energy generated or produced by living or once-living organisms.
• Biomass contains stored chemical energy from the sun. Plants produce biomass through photosynthesis. Biomass can be burned directly for heat or converted to renewable liquid and gaseous fuels through various processes.
• Biomass sources for energy include:
  • Wood and wood processing wastes—firewood, wood pellets, and wood chips, lumber and furniture mill sawdust and waste, and black liquor from pulp and paper mills
  • Agricultural crops and waste materials—corn, soybeans, sugar cane, switchgrass, woody plants, and algae, and crop and food processing residues
  • Biogenic materials in municipal solid waste—paper, cotton, and wool products, and food, yard, and wood wastes
  • Animal manure and human sewage

Converting biomass to energy

• Direct combustion (burning) to produce heat
  • All biomass can be burned directly for heating buildings and water, for industrial process heat, and for generating electricity in steam turbines.
• Thermochemical conversion to produce solid, gaseous, and liquid fuels
  • Thermochemical conversion of biomass includes pyrolysis and gasification. Both are thermal decomposition processes in which biomass feedstock materials are heated in closed, pressurized vessels called gassifiers at high temperatures.
• Chemical conversion to produce liquid fuels
  • A chemical conversion process known as transesterification is used for converting vegetable oils, animal fats, and greases into fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), which are used to produce biodiesel.
• Biological conversion to produce liquid and gaseous fuels
  • Biological conversion includes fermentation to convert biomass into ethanol and anaerobic digestion to produce renewable natural gas. 
    • Ethanol is used as a vehicle fuel.
    • Renewable natural gas – also called biogas or biomethane – is produced in anaerobic digesters at sewage treatment plants and at dairy and livestock operations. It also forms in and may be captured from solid waste landfills.
  • Anaerobic digestion or Biomethanation: Biomethanation or methanogenesis, is a scientific process whereby anaerobic microorganisms in an anaerobic environment decompose biodegradable matter producing methane-rich biogas and effluent. The three functions that take place sequentially are hydrolysis, acidogenesis, and methanogenesis.
• Cogeneration
  • Co-generation is producing two forms of energy from one fuel. One of the forms of energy must always be heat and the other may be electricity or mechanical energy. In a conventional power plant, fuel is burnt in a boiler to generate a high-pressure system. The steam is used to drive a turbine to produce electric power. The exhaust steam is generally condensed to water which goes back to the boiler.