Pine needle power projects to check Uttarakhand forest fires prove to be inadequate

Sub: Geography

Sec: Indian Physical geography

Tags: Pine tree, Uttarakhand forest fires

Uttarakhand’s Bio-energy Projects Using Pine Needles:

Project established in 2021
Agency Involved: Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA).
Project Objective: Utilize flammable pine needles to generate electricity, aiming to address the dual issues of energy generation and forest fire mitigation.
- Forest Coverage and Biomass: Chir pine forests cover 16.36% of the state’s forest area, producing over 15 lakh tonnes of pine leaves annually.
Implementation: the plan was to establish multiple units ranging from 10kW to 250 kW across the State in three phases (worth about 150 MW).
- Though the government expected 58 units to be set up, only six units of 250 kW (totally worth 750 kW) have been established.
Project Outcome: The projects have been deemed unsuccessful. Six plants with a total capacity of 750 kW were set up against an expectation of 58 units.

Challenges and Issues:

The technology to efficiently use pine needles for electricity generation is not yet sustainable.
Increased severity of annual forest fires, exacerbated by climate change-induced droughts, contribute to high accumulations of pine needles which pose a fire risk.
The Supreme Court reprimanded the Uttarakhand government following severe forest fires. In response, the government initially planned and later scaled down the bio-energy projects, and increased the procurement price of pine needles to incentivize collection.
The collection of pine needles is hindered by geographical (steep slopes), ecological (vulnerability to attacks by animals, competition with local flora), and socio-economic factors (lack of sufficient labour).
Failure to meet Renewable Power Purchase Obligations partly due to unmet expectations from pine needle projects.
The state increased the price paid for collected pine needles from ₹3/kg to ₹50/kg to motivate more extensive collection efforts.

Pinus roxburghii (Chir Pine or longleaf Indian pine):

A species of pine tree native to the Himalayas. It was named after William Roxburgh.
The native range extends from Tibet and Afghanistan through Pakistan, across northern India (in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh), Nepal and Bhutan, to Myanmar.
It generally occurs at lower altitudes than other pines in the Himalayas.
Owing to its shallow roots it is attributed to soil erosion, particularly in the Himalayas. It does not allow any vegetation to grow around it by making the soil more acidic through its fallen needles.

Renewable Power Purchase Obligation (RPO):

RPO was instituted in 2011, it is a mandate that requires large power procurers to buy a predetermined fraction of their electricity from renewable sources.
Under RPO bulk purchasers like discoms, open-access consumers and capacitive users are required to buy a certain proportion of RECs. They can buy RECs from renewable energy producers.

Renewable Energy Certificates (REC):

Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) are a market-based instrument to promote renewable sources of energy and the development of the market in electricity.
One REC is created when one-megawatt hour of electricity is generated from an eligible renewable energy source.

Source: TH