Urja Bharati Special Issue on Rural Energy

~~ Urja Bharati Volume 3 0 Number 3

SPECIAL ISSUE ON RURAL ENERGY

. Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources

14 C G 0 Complex, Lodi Road, New Delhi 110 003

l

i

Rural energy problem: a perspective R K Pachauri

Rural energy planning: issues and dilemmas

Veena Joshi

Rural electrification in India

6

7

Krishna Swarup 10

Integrated Rural Energy Planning programme 13

Special demonstration projects 17

Urjagram: a programme for self-sufficient energy villages G R Singh, N P Singh 18

Energy demand in the rural domestic sector Veena Joshi, Chandra Shekhar Sinha

Improved chulha programme D K Mittal

Improved chulhas for fuel conservation Parimal Sadaphal, R C Pal, Veena Joshi

Household fuels and health Kirk R Smith

National Project on Biogas Development Venkata Ramana P

20

25

29

31

33 ;:::::::::::;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:::::;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;~: ;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:::;:;:;:;:;:;::::::: ;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;: ;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;::···:··· ···· .·::·:·::;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:; ;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;

Community biogas plant at Methan Venkata Ramana P

Biomass gasification technologies

- 36

V V N Kishore 38 ;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.:.:.:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:-:-;.;.;.:.;·:·:-:-:-: .:·· . '"·· . .. :· .. :.;. :. : .. ···· ···· ··: .. · . ·.·. · :: '• ·,•,·: .. :·: .···. ·: ·:.·:···.·=···· : :····. :·:·.···.

Multi-fuel, multi-purpose gasifier system P Raman, San jay Mande, V V N Kishore 41

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Solar photovoltaic programme in India Suneel Deambi :;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;::~::;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:; : .·: .;.;. :;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:; :;:;.; :;:: .;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;.;:;:;:;:; ::;:;:;:;:;:;:,:;:;:;::······· ; ·: .;: ;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:::: ;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:; ;:;:;:;:;:;:::;:;:;.;:::;;;:;· ,•,•.

Photovoltaics for rural power Parimal Sadaphal

43

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Chandra Shekhar Sinha 47 ,•:,: ..... :.:.:,. ___ :;._:_.:: .... : ... :.: .... ·•,,· .: :.: .. .. ·: ,.. :/ .:, .·.··:·: .. :• . ••. ,• ; ·.;:: . . . ·,:: '': ., ·.,.,.··.·.·.·: ·.:.:::.:::::::::::::::: ::::;:;:;:-:·:;:;:;::::· · ::::::::::::::: .. ::.:;.·.;.;.·.;.;.·.·.

Nodal agencies for renewable energy programmes 50

Institutional financing for renewable energy development R C Sekhar 53

Suggested readings 55

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MESSAGE

~~ fr\ ..q{ARJllct ~ ~~

'll1'«f

Minister of State for Non-conventional Energy Sources,

India

~ '1. 14, ~ cw'lf~t~q qftw

~ frg, ~ ~ 110 003

Block No 14, Kendriya Karyalaya Parisar, Lodi Road, New Delhi 110 003

6 April1993

With more than two-thirds of the total population in the developing world being in the rural areas,

the task of improving the quality of life and building up self sustaining infrastructure and economic

system, poses a major challenge. Our per capita consumption of energy is very low compared with that in the industrially developed countries. Even within the low per capita consumption, there· is

great imbalance between urban and rural areas. Energy availability in the rural areas ofthe developing countries cannot be isolated from the basic

needs of sustenance like food, shelter, drinking water and clean environment. In view of the shortage and finiteness of fossil fuels and the increasing environmental concerns, there is need for developing

sustainable energy systems, harnessing appropriately and efficiently the locally available renewable energy sources.

Against this background, the various programmes for meeting the rural energy needs of the vast majority, coupled with removal of health hazards and drudgery involved, acquire an

unexceptionable importance. While the Ministry of Non-conven tiona! Energy Sources has in the last decade launched several programmes in this direction, such as improved chulha, solar systems for

cooking, heating and lighting requirements, and decentralized energy generation ~hrough mini­

micro hydel projects,and biomass gasification, there is dire need for mass awareness and education

for speedy implementation and users' acceptance of the various programmes.

I am happy to learn that the Information and Publicity Division of th~ Ministry of N on-1

conventional Energy Sources is bringing out a special issue of the quarterly journal Urja Bharati on the theme of Rural Energy with the assistance of TERI (Tata Energy Research Institute). I wish all

success for this endeavour in fostering communication of benefits of various programmes to the

people in rural areas through the State implementing agencies and otherwise:

S Krishnakumar

~

11RCl ~

3iYRil4Rct> \3\ilf ~~ ~ Secretary

Goverriment of India

Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources

~ "1. 14, ~ Cf>lllf(t)q qf(w

~ ~. ~ ~ 110 003

Block No 14, Kendriya Karyalaya Parisar, Lodi Road, New Delhi 110 003

6 April1993

MESSAGE

The whole range of non-conventional energy sources now being promoted and developed provides greater opportunities for meeting the energy needs of the vast rural areas in our country. Wind

power, small hydro, biogas, biomass and solar energy are some of the new technologies which hold unlimited promise for energizing the homes and work places of our rural population. But no doubt,

considerable work remains to be done to achieve economies of scale in the production of the more

sophisticated systems, to reduce costs and improve efficiencies.

There are substantial social benefits as well. Such programmes as the improved chulha and gobar gas plant help to reduce drudgery for womenfolk. Dependence on firewood, coal, gas and oil is

reduced .. Dependable lighting in remote villages can help our literacy programmes.

I am glad that TERI (Tata Energy Research Institute) is assisting the Ministry to publish this issue

of Urja Bharati with special focus on rural energy. I have no doubt that with TERI's vast experience

in all aspects of the ~nergy sectors in the country, this issue will be a useful publication for all those

interested in the development of rural India.

1M Menezes

Foreword

While the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources has initiated a number of programmes in the field of research and development, demonstration and extension of various non-conventional energy systems and device$ in the last decade, the information and awareness about the socio-economic benefits of several of these programmes amongst the users/beneficiaries has been somewhat limited. A multi-pronged publicity campaign has been launched to meet the above objective, with wider use of electronic and print media than hitherto.

The new thrust of the quarterly journal_ Urja Bharati of the Ministry on various thematic subjects is yet another dimension to popularize and provide information on various sectors. The importance of meeting rural energy needs of the vast population of this country hardly needs any elaboration. It is hoped that this Special Issue, with the assistance of TERI (Tata Energy Research Institute), will be another step forward in propagating various rural energy applications towards alleviating the fuel crisis and improving the quality of rural life.

D KMittal Joint Secretary

Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources

Rural energy situation: • a perspective

R K Pachauri Tata Energy Research Institute

T he rural energy situation, in India, in particular, and developing countries in general, is assuming crisis proportions in several places. Not only is

this a disturbing trend in the country's development, but a situation fraught with serious implications. Indeed, it would be no exaggeration to describe the rural energy problem afflicting several parts of the country as a major factor in the declining health of women and children, and also a grave distortion in the use of human and natural resources. The time spent by women and children in collecting fuel has gone beyond the stage of drudgery severely affecting the other household duties. Besides, at the end of exhausting efforts by a typical housewife and the children who assist her, she has to make do with poor quality fuels and inefficient cooking devices which give her extended exposure to pollutants, affecting her and her family's health.

India is no exception to the problems associated with biomass energy production and use. However, satisfactory approaches to solving these problems have yet to be evolved, and adequate intellectual and organizational effort needs to be directed towards this problem area. In the Government of India, the subject has so far been receiving fragmented attention from different departments and organizations. A case in point is the Integrated Rural Energy Programme being run by the Planning Commission for almost ten years now, the results of which have yet to be analysed. Similarly the social forestry programme of the forest department has still' some way to go in achieving the objectives that were behind its conceptualisation and implementation. However, in the recent years, MNES (Ministry of Non­conventional Energy Sources) has been responding with increasing dissemination of renewable energy technologies/programmes with special emphasis on meeting the rural energy needs. But on the whole, a

. coherent rural energystrateg)0l'eeds to be formulated and pursued over a 10-15 years of time horizon to address the problem. Or else not only would the opportunity costs of the present practices mount excessively, but an inflow of large populations from rural areas into towns and cities of

6 + URJA BHARATI

this country would occur, with all their attendant problems and ill-effects. In fact, as noted energy economist Morris Adelman has shown in his research, a large volume of migration from Europe to North America in the 18th century was the result of acute fuel scarcity in the Old World, and the promise of warmer ·fires and relatively abundant supply of woodfuel on the New Continent.

What is baffling is the fact that with a major activity such as the global rural energy enterpJ:ise-estimated of having an economic value of around $ 60 billion a year worldwide-has received little attention from multilateral organizations and other donor groups. This figure of $ 60 billion is based on an assessment of the opportunity cost of time involved in this enterprise on the part of the poorest of the poor, who do not get paid for their services. Actually, these costs would be much higher, if we also took into account the opportunity cost of fuels that are utilized. Solutions to this problem, of course, are complex, and require intellectual effort rather than mere monetary expenditure. For instance, the total worldwide consumption of traditional fuels is 18.7 x 1()6 TJ. At an efficiency of use of 8%, the useful energy output from this fuel can be assessed at about 1.5 x 1()6 TJ. If this quantity of traditional fuels is to be replaced by conventional fuels at, say, an increased efficiency of 50%, a consumption of only 35.8 million tonnes of petroleum products would be required annually. This would cost just $ 5 billion approximately at current oil prices. However, there are a host of problems associated with supplying conventional fuels to rural areas. So the challenge really is one of finding institutional solutions by which biomass itself is grown and utilised efficiently in a sustainable and economically feasible manner.

The foregoing discussion highlights only one dimension of this major problem area. It is imperatiye that a larger debate be initiated covering other facets and complexities leading to conceptualisation of solutions in this vital problem area and implementation of appropriate measures in the future. 0 ·

Rural energy planning: issues and dilemmas

Veena]oshi Tata Energy Research Institute

Uke many developing countries, the energy systems in rural India are predominantly based on biofuels that are mostly collected, and devices that are made locally at very low costs. The fast depleting biomass resource base is a strain on the energy systems, further exacerbated by the inability of the people to shift to commercial fuels such as electricity, LPG and kerosene because of low purchasing power and limited availabilHy. The large subsidies OR

electricity for agriculture and kerosene have been a cause of concern to energy planners as the experience so far suggests that the administered fuel prices ·in the country are a major barrier to the promotion of greater energy efficiency and development of sustainable energy sys­tems. Yet, neither the rural electrification nor the supply of kerosene has been able to electrify the rural settlements to desirable levels despite significant progress in the last four decades. The cooking systems have also remained largely unchanged. Thus formulating strategies and plans to develop appropriate and cost-effective energy systems for rural areas without affecting the ecological sustainability continues to be a formidable challenge for the planners.

Since 1980 there have been efforts to address the rural energy problem through promotion and dissemination of renewable and efficient energy systems; notable among these are the National Programme on Improved Chulha, National Project on Biogas Development, and Social . Forestry. The experience of implementing these pro­grammes provides valuable insights to address issues in rural energy planning. Further, area-based planning exercises have been undertaken at village level in the form of Urjagrams, at block level as IREP (Integrated Rural Energy Programme), and at the district level, several of which have been implemented. During the Eighth Plan the !REP is likely to be the most important intervention in the rural energy sector. However, many conceptual and methodological issues, remain unresolved in planning for effective energy interventions in the rural areas, some of which are outlined here.

Objectives of rural energy planning and interventions Following is an illustrative list of objectives for rural energy planning and interventions.

• To supplement/ replace the commercial energy supply by renewable energy tecllrologies

• To augment energy supply for productive activities

• To improve quality of life by upgrading/substituting the energy systems

• To conserve biomass fuels to reduce environmental degradation

• To increase biomass supply to meet energy needs I ,

The interventions in the last decade have primarily concentrated on conserving environment, demonstrating renewable energy technologies, and improving quality of life. There has been very little effort to link the rural energy plans and interventions to economic development of the target regions. There also seems t<;> be a dilemma about the role of decentralized renewable energy systems in the complete energy supply to the rural areas. Most villages are connected to the grid and those that are away from the grid would need other infrastructure before renewable systems can be effectively disseminated and used. The challenge seems to be in augmenting the electricity supply using local/renewable resourf s, and in developing comprehensive packages for areas where grid is unlikely to reach in the near future. The interventions to improve quality of life or to conserve environment have to deal with existing energy systems whose cost to the user is negligible. This is· true for interventions for supplying cooking fuel or for improving end-use efficiency. The status of women also plays a critical role in the success of these interventions. A long term perspective on the quality of energy services and the mix of fuels at the national level as well as for the rural areas would help in developing appropriate rural energy plans and interventions. So would a clear enunciation of the objectives of the interventions in the rural ener.gy sector.

Scale and scope of rural energy planning The interventions in the energy sector have been at a . national scale, i.e. there has been no regional or problem area focus. However, the targets have been such that even with best achievements, the impact on the aggregate

VOLUME 3 NUMBER 3 + 7

energy use pattern is negligible. To increase the scale of intervention with current dissemination strategies without focusing on economic growth may not be feasible, particularly for interventions to improve the quality of life or to conserve environment. This implies' that, those planning for the rural energy sector need to appreciate the difference between energy requirement for subsistence, and energy requirement for economic activities. The mandate of 'integrated' energy planning has, more often than not, referred to integrating energy sources and technologies rather than integrati.•g the energy plan with the economic development plan.

In order to change this orientation, it is necessary to consider the development priorities for the region, as J>erceived by both the people and officials implementing the government programmes, and place the energy needs on the hierarchy of these priorities. This should also be kept in mind while setting individual targets for technologies/projects to be recommended und~r the energy plan. New strategies need to be developed to address the problem of scale. A problem area approach may help in making interventions more effective. The role of women in these new approaches can be a determining factor for their effectiveness. Thus the scope and the scale of rural energy planning should be decided in the framework of overall development planning for a particular region.

Planning level Centralized energy planning exercises cannot pay adequate attention to the variations in socio-economic and eco-cultural factors at micro level that influence the success of any intervention. The experience shows that diffusion of technology as well as better allocation and utilization of available resources . in rural areas are achieved through the involvement of local people and institutions in the formulation of development plans and their implementation. Thus, decentralization has to be adopted in the interest of efficient utilization of resources and equitable sharing of benefits from development.

Besides the decentralization of development planning which is currently taking shape as Panchayati Raj Bill, there is one specific reason to endorse decentralized rural energy planning. An important characteristic of rural energy system based on biofuels is its localized nature arising out of the localized nature of supply of biomass. If this factor is not considered in an aggregate plan, chances of aiming the interventions at wrong target groups or areas are high. Only a decentralized planning exercise can consider the local factors adequately.

The distriCt as a planning unit has been widely accepted

8 + URJA BHARATI

in India and some efforts are in progress to build capabilities at that level to prepare district development plans. Therefore, to integrate an energy plan with a district development plan, it seems appropriate to build energy planning capabilities at the district level. The implementation can then be managed at the block level. ·

Planning methodology In preparation qf rural energy plans, generally a total redesign of the existing energy system based on a well­defined, logical sequence of steps to fulfill a pre­determined objective (maximizing returns from agriculture, minimizing total annual cost, maximizing efficiency, etc.) subject to local constraints, has been attempted. Such a task requires considerable time and financial resources, and competent professional manpower. Besides, experience suggests that such an exercise is unlikely to incorporate the economic imperatives of the region.

The other method, which has been attempted in a recent study sponsored by MNES (Ministry of N on­conventional Energy Sources), relied on secondary (existing) data and local knowledge to elicit suggestions on .pragmatic, workable interventions in the existing energy system; which would reflect the more immediate energy needs of the people. This may be a part of the energy system or a geographical duster which requires attention, or the availability of energy is perceived to be a major constraint in economic development. Stresses in energy system$ of any small pocket are somewhat easier and much quicker to identify. The time and financial requirement, therefore, is significantly lower, though the competence of the manpower required may perhaps be higher. The interventions are valued by the beneficiaries and incorporates judgement of officials entrusted with the task of implementing programmes in the region. Participatory planning method can be very effectively used in such exercises.

Also, implementing programmes intensively in small dusters makes it much easier to plan and provide for manpower, spares, etc., for an effective post-installation maintenance. Such an approach also derives support from the argument that rural energy interventions should be directed where the chances of success are the highest rather than to spread out too thin, given the ~evere financial constraints in India.

Considering the dependence of the rural energy system on b~ofuels, it is the biomass resources that are of primary importance to a rural community. Notwithstanding this, there is little information available on the supply of these fuels. Part of the reason for this is the complexity of the

biomass system. The boundary of the supply system rarely corresponds to the administrative boundaries. Biomass rarely enters the monetary market, making it even more difficult to monitor exchanges and movements. Therefore, it is imperative that a proper methodology be devised to assess the biomass availability as an integral part of the energy planning. While analysing the biomass situation in an area besides its role as an energy source, its other uses such as fodder, and timber need to be examined.

As far as energy demand is concerned, it could be based on either the requirement or the consumption. If the objective of the intervention is to alter the energy consumption or fuel-mix, the demand should be based on existing consumption levels and patterns. But for interventions dovetailing the economic development, like

in the method being discussed here, requirements would be a better indicator of the energy demand. Finally, the institutional aspects of implementation and mobilization of financial resources are crucial.

Technology options The technology options for providing energy services to rural areas are still very limited. In the last decade, the technology development has largely been through technical back-up units and co-ordinated programmes in academic institutes. This approach needs to be enlarged and linkages with entrepreneurs, and small and medium industries in rural areas should be developed to work in the framework of energy systems and services. A goal­oriented R&D programme based on local and renewable r~sources is necessary: to meet the challenges in the rural areas. Here again a focus on developing convenient and

environmentally friendly energy systems based on biofuels can lead to greater impact.

Conclusions A rural energy plan should be integrated with the development planning of the area. It should address the requirements of the economic growth in the area, in an envircmmentally sustainable manner. Interventions to improve the quality of life would have to be developed using participatory approaches. The areas with stress on environment can be identified and interventions designed for problem areas, to increase the chances of success and to use the scarce resources effectively. The. biomass resources play an important role and their study as a part of energy system should be resource- based and focus on energy as well as non-energy uses. The biomass can continue to be an important energy resource in the future as well if appropriate ,technology options are available. The scope and scale of rural energy planning can be decided at the district level as a part of the overall development planning priorities. The effectiveness of rural energy plans as well as of decentralized development plans depends on the capabilities1 at the district level, and on the options for alternative energy systems. 0

VOLUME 3 NUMBER 3 + 9

Rural electrification in India

Krishna Swarup Tata E~ergy Research Institute

At.the time of independence, 80% of India's population lived in villages, largely dependent on agriculture for its subsistence. Biomass fuels, and to some extent kerosene, provided the needs of rural energy. Electricity was almost unheard of with barely 3000 towns/villages having the benefit of electrification in the entire country. But with the importance attached to rural development in successive Five Year Plans since 1951, special emphasis has been given to supply of electricity for lighting, irrigation and small- scale industries. Given the fact that the rural-urban mix is still around 70 : 30 in India, this emphasis has continued through the last decade till present.

Review of physical progress Rural Electrification (RE) as a programme was mtroduced in the First Five Year Plan (1951- 56). To begin with, the programme was viewed as providing a social amenity to rural areas. After implementing in a few states initially, the programme was extended to all the states during the Second Plan. The Third Plan envisaged the extension of electricity for use in rural small-scale industries also. Considering that theRE schemes by themselves were not remunerative, the planners while finalizing the Third Plan recognized that the implementation of such schemes could not be assessed purely in economic terms.

The importance of RE programme was particularly recognized during the drought m mid-sixties, as there was considerable emphasis on lift irrigation for saving the crops. The programme was subsequently integrated with the Minimum Needs Programme. Further with a view to provide additional funds to the states for RE programme, the REC (Rural Electrification Corporation) was established in 1969. This gave a tremendous boost to the programme in the subsequent Plans. REC now provides up to 90% of the funds · for rural electrification as concessionalloans to the SEBs (State Electricity Boards). Under the aegis of REC, electrification made steady progress, and by 1989-90, 81% of the 5.8lakhs of villages (1981 Census) was electrified and 83.5lakhs of pump-sets energized. By the end of Seventh Plan, REC disbursed over Rs 5417 crores towards these achievements.

Haryana was the first state in India to have achieved total rural electrification in the early seventies. Since then,

10 + UR J A BHARAT I

similar feats have been replicated in Kerala, Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Sikkim, owing to the concerted efforts made by SEBs and REC.

Definition of electrified village: need for review Electrification of a village as per present definition implies that even if only one or a few households in the village have the facility, the village is considered as electrified. In effect, therefore, the fraction of the households which have been electrified in an electrified village would be much less. It has been argued that the definition of electrified village should be modified and a village should be considered 'electrified' only when the benefit is available for lighting the streets, village dispensary, school and community centres, and for a considerably large fraction of households in the village. No decision on the new definition has been taken as yet. · However what is needed is that in those villages which have been declared electrified,~ drive should be launched to electrify more households and community centres.·

::::;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:; :·:·:·:-:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:

Village electrification through non-conventional energy sources Extension of grid supply to villages has been an unremunerative proposition for the SEBs. The cost of extending supply through 33 kV and 11 kV lines has also been increasing. In fact, the villages now left to be electrified are located in remote inaccessible areas including hilly, tribal, forest and desert areas. The cost of extending the grid supply to such villages would be prohibitive for meeting low levels of demand. Hence, it would be advantageous to consider non-conventional means of electrification such as solar, wind, biomass and mini-hydel systems depending on their suitability for specific locations and end-uses. The solar systems and mini-hydel stations, in particular, can make significant contribution to electrification of new villages and expanding electrification in already electrified villages. "

Rural co-operatives Local participation in rural areas was initially envisaged in terms of villagers contributing a share of the cost of rural electrification and providing free labour for construction. However, for effective implementation of the programme and for developing institutions which could supplement the efforts of SEBs, the concept of rural electrification co­operatives has been encouraged by REC, and about forty such co-operatives are currently operational in 'the country. REC has been extending loan assistance to these co-operatives for expanding their activities. But the programme of co-operatives has not been able to make appreciable impact presumably because of condi­tionality of tariffs etc. imposed on them by the

. SEBs.

continue in the Eighth Plan, too, with targets of 50 000 villages and 25 la~hs of pump-sets, respectively. This includes about 1000 villages in remote areas, which have to be mostly electrified through non-conventional energy sources. The Eighth Plan envisages an outlay of Rs 4000 crores for rural electrification under state plan outlays for the power sector.

Assessment of the REC programme Although RE has given a boost to the food production in the country (through Green Revolution) by energizing irrigation pump-sets and helped in improving the quality of life of people and increasing their income by providing electricity for village and small- scale industries, it has also created problems for the power supply industry. These are briefly summarized below. 1. The extremely low tariff charged for the sale of

electrical energy to agriculture sector has largely been responsible for heavy financial losses to the SEBs (RE subsidy from state governments has not helped the situation). This has also resulted in wasteful use of energy and also of groundwater. Energy conservation does not ;:;eem to be a matter of concern in the agriculture sector. The efficiency of pump-sets leaves much room for improvement.

2. In the enthusiasm to electrify a larg~ number of villages and to achieve cent percent village electrification, the T&D (transmission and distribution) systems have been over extended, resulting in weak and overloaded T&D systems. The back-up systems have not been reinforced as required.

Progress of village electrification (cumulative) Kutirjyoti and Light for Rural Millions Various state governments started the Kutirjyoti programme for extending the gains of rural electrification, and forimproving the quality of life in rural areas. REC too, had launched Light for Rural Millions programme in 1989- 90 for promoting household connections. During 1990- 91, a record number of 1.4 million connections w ere released under REC programmes. However, because of the high costs and unremunerative nature of the programme, the state governments are not perusing this programme further, although the need for the same has been recognized.

('OOOs) 500

Eighth Plan programme The two ongoing programmes namely, village electrification and pump-set energization would

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4 00

~ 300

~ ~ 200 :;, z

100

60-61 73- 74 79-80 84-85 85-86 86-87 87-88 88-89 89-90

Year

VOLUME 3 NUMB E R 3 + 11

I

I

Progress of pump-set energization (Cumulative)

(millions) 10

8

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2

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50-51 60-61 73-74 79-80 84-85 85-86 86-87 87-88 88-89 89-90

Year

3. The high T&D losses (22-i3%)inourcountry are partly due to RE programme on account of extension of low tension supply in a sub-optimal manner. The quality of supply from weak T &D systems also leaves much to be desired. Theft of energy is also prevalent.

4. Poor availability of power has impeded the growth of rural industries in spite of the emphasis on supply of low tension power to such industries.

5. Financing of RE is becoming increasingly difficult owing to scarcity of concessional funds from financial institutions including NABARD and commercial banks, and higher interest rate for market borrowings and even from REC.

Thrust areas A rational tariff structure for sale of electrical energy to the agriculture sector will go a long way in ameliorating the financial condition of the SEBs. The Ministry of Power has been advocating a minimum rate of Re 0.50 per unit of electrical energy for agriculture sector to start with. While some states are moving i~ this direction, there are others who are making the power supply to pump-sets almost free. A uniform policy in this respect would help tide over the financial crisis of the SEBs and also help in curbing the wasteful use of energy.

Metering of supply to the agricultural sector is a momentous task, but it has to be tackled progressively. In years to come we have to move away from the 'flat rate' concept to. metered supply. In the Power Ministers' Conference held in January 1993, metering of supply to .

12 + URJA BHARAT I

pump-motors above 5 hp has been suggested to begin with.

Integrated system improvement schemes are required to be prepared for strengthening the weak T &D systems and for meeting the increasing loads. These schemes should be prepared district-wise or even tehsil-wise as necessary. REC is already funding such schemes.

Standard equipment and construction practices are required to be employed for rural electrification works. The standards and manuals, developed by REC in consultation with SEBs, should be followed for procuring equipment and for construction etc.

Rural electrification programme is to be co-ordinated with rural industries programme including agro-based industries, and improved power supply at competitive rates is required to be provided to rural /small-scale industries. The role of renewable energy sources for power generation also needs to be examined in this context.

The efficiency of pump-sets is required to be improved. The rectification and modification works on pumps/ motors as necessary, are to be carried out utilizing the expertise of energy service companies. This is an important demand side management measure. The progress so far made in this direction has been inadequate, possibly due to large numbers involved. In future, quality pumps, preferably BIS marked, should only be installed. The utilities should also take steps for provision of capacitors in the supply systems or close to pump-sets. 0

Integrated Rural Energy Planning programme

Most of the energy consumed in rural areas does not enter the organized market place, and therefore, there are no accurate data on patterns of supply and consumption of energy in such areas. These patterns also often vary with the prevalent agro-climatic regions. There is, therefore, a need to understand the patterns of energy consumption at the micro level, through decentralized energy planning exercises, to provide sustainable and affordable supply of energy for meeting the growing rural energy demand. While locally available renewable energy sources will have to play a critical role in the future in meeting rural energy needs, the rural population will also have to be provided its due share. of commercial energy especially for the economic development and modernization of the rural areas. The IREP (Integrated Rural Energy Planning) programme, promoted by the Rural Energy Cell of the Planning Commission, has been a major effort in this direction in planning for energy for rural development, taking into account the concerns for equity and social justice.

IREP was initiated in the Sixth Plan as a pilot scheme. Under this, pilot projects were launched in a few selected blocks of the country to develop a methodology for decentralized integrated rural energy planning, and institutional arrangements for preparing and implementing energy plans and projects, which would provide the least-cost mix of energy options (both conventional and non-conventional sources). On the basis of this exercise, the IREP programme was prepared and became a regular plan scheme in the Seventh Plan. It had provisions for developing institutional mechanisms, project preparation and implementation, financial incentives, training, and R&D including computer modelling and monitoring.

The IREP programme in the Seventh Plan was funded by outlays provided under the Central and State Plans. The Central Plan component was utilized for setting up the insti tu tiona! mechanisms in the states/UTs with funds for professional and support staff in the IREP cells at the state levet"and in the selected districts/blocks, as well as for the training. The State component of IREP funds was utilized for project preparation and implementation, and financial incentives for the promotion of rural energy technologies, as part of the block-level IREP projects.

During the Seventh Plan and in the subsequent two annual plans (1990-91 and 1991-92), about 250 blocks were covered. Block level project documents have been prepared for most of these blocks. The major conclusions drawn from the IREP programme in various blocks in the different agro-climatic zones are as follows. • Wide variations in energy consumption levels were

found in different agro-dimatic zones, ranging from 830 000 to 2 868 000 kCal per capita annually of gross energy consumed for cooking. There were also variations in the pattern of non-comm:ercial fuel use in these zones, further confirming the need for decentralized energy planning.

• It was revealed that in all agro-climatic zones, non­commercial energy sources contributed more than 90% of total energy consumed for cooking, except in the Middle Gangetic, and East Coast Plains and Hill zones, where it was 78.9% and 86.8%, respectively.

• The analysis of data fr~m the IREP blocks further shows similadty in the amount and type of energy used, particularly for cooking within an ag~o-climatic zone. However, there are significant differences in quality and quantity of energy usc across the various zones.

• Wide variations were observed in the energy consumption levels for agriculture, transport and indus trial sectors, which again necessitate micro-level planning and implementation of rural energy programmes. Animate energy constituted more than 50% of the energy consumed by agricultural activities. It is used most inefficiently and nee~s to be substituted with more efficient commercial and renewable energy forms, whose mix would have to be area-specific and be estimated by decentralized energy planning.

Constraints in. implementation of IREP A major impediment in implementation of the IREP programme was the sectoral barriers and lack of co­ordination among the concerned energy supply and use departments/ agencies at different levels- national, state, district and grass-roots. The involvement of potential beneficiaries at the grassroots in the planning, and supply of different energy sources and technologies is still limited and needs to be strengthened by the programme.

VOLUME 3 NUMBER 3. 13

Another limitation was the lack of suitable extension mechanisms at the grass roots. Such mechanisms can create awareness in people about the programme, and can provide technical and financial support in the installation, operation and maintenance of different energy devices.

Affordability among the potential beneficiaries is also a major constraint. Mechanisms are required for mobilizing resources not only from the budgetary support provided by the Central and State plan funds but also through local self government bodies, including the direct involvement of the people. Thus peoples' participation need to be effectively organized not only by the government machinery but 'also by voluntary organizations, educational institutions, mahila mandals and charitable organizations, in co-ordination with the panchayats and IREP cells.

The involvement of potential beneficiaries will be further ensured by linking IREP with other existing and new rural development programmes such as IRDP, JRY, TRYSEM, and rural housing. The active association of women could be ensured by linking IREP with DWCRA, health and family welfare programmes, ICDS, etc. The literacy programme, can also create awareness about the IREP programme.

Awanmess building, however, should be supported by education and training of the potential beneficiaries, as well as of those directly and indirectly involved with the planning and implementation of the programme. In the Seventh Plan, a major task was training of professional IREP staff in the states/UTs.

Na tional, regional, and state level academic, professional and technical institutions were involved in the trainmg component. Technical and financial support was provided to such institutions for conducting training courses. A national and four regional training cum R&D centres were also established under the programme. The national level centre-Centre for Integrated Rural Energy Planning (CIREP)- was set up in Bakoli village in Delhi in co-operation with the Delhi Administration, and with technical and financial support from the Planning Commission under the centrally sponsored scheme for !REP. The four regional centres are located in Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), Bangalore (Kama taka), Kheda (Gujarat) and Shillong (Meghalaya). The Delhi and Lucknow centres are fully operational and conduct regular training programmes and R&D activities. The other centres are expected to become. fully operational during the Eighth Plan. Besides these, state-level technical back-up units have been set up in selected institutions for providing technical support in the planning and implementation for the programme. Also, district level IREP back-up units

14 + U R ) A B H A R A T. I

have been set up through ITI/polytechnics in selected IREP blocks to provide technical assistance.

Though the training course is now well established, attracting and retaining professional staff in IREP cells is a problem as the participants often return to their parent departments, and training exercises have to be repeated for the new incumbents. Owing to lack of a regular cadre and promotional avenues, qualified professionals are often reluctant to join the programme. The linkage of IREP programme with various rural development, energy and related programmes, as envisaged in the Eighth Plan would alleviate this problem to some extent.

The functioning of IREP cells in state/UT nodal departments, which are currently implementing the programme, poses an institutional problem. These departments are burdened with other schemes and often tend to give low priority to IREP. Moreover, the staff allocated to the IREP cells as part of the centrally sponsored scheme have additional tasks and thus have little time for IREP. In many cases, the block staff functions from district headquarters resulting in lack of regular interaction between the IREP staff and the potential beneficiaries. Suitable guidelines need to be formulated to ensure the effective functioning of the IREP cells.

But despite the constraints a sound base for the implementation of the programme has now been created. The demonstration and extension efforts have created awareness in the government and non-governmental levels about the widespread interest of the rural population especially in IREP blocks in various alternative and existing energy sources and their efficient utilization for meeting their needs. With such positive feedback, IREP is now poised to become a major operational programme in the Eighth Plan.

IREP in the Eighth Plan The areas that are to be emphasized in the Eighth Plan include stronger linkages with the agricultural and rural development programmes, increasing focus on the environment problems, and promoting large-scale peoples' participation by ensuring involvement of the beneficiaries at all stages of the programme. In keeping with the broad objectives of the Eighth Plan, IREP will focus on two major areas: 1. provision of energy for meeting the basic needs of cooking, heating and lighting, especially for the weaker sections, by utilizing locally available energy resources to the extent possible; and 2. provision of energy as a critical input in the economic development of the rural areas, which would result in creation of employment, increase productivity and income, and accelerate the process of decentralized

ARABIAN

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N D I A N

PLAINS AND HILL REGION

0 C E A N

INDIA Agro-climatic zones

Scale 1: 150,00,000

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IN D EX

- ·-· INTERNATIONAL BOUNO.

- REGION BOUNDARY ······ ··•· STATE BOUN DARY

DISTRICT BOUNDARY ~ COASTAL BOUNDARY

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~ ~ g• THE ISLAND

REGION

Q

.. . 0 0

o•

VOLUME 3 NUMBER 3 + 15

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development. This category will include energy for sustainable agricultural production, as well as promotion of sustainable rural development activities.

IREP programme now has sufficient experience in micro-level energy planning for meeting subsistence and production needs. But the extension and intensification of the programme has to be accomplished by effective linkages with the state and district planning framework. In the Eighth Plan the programme has also to ensure sustainable energy supply to the rural areas in view of the growing gap between energy demand and supply; and take into account the environmental impacts of the depletion of the biomass cover so as to be suitably incorporated in the micro- and macro-level rural energy planning framework.

The expansion of the programme, however, would be taken up in a phased manner. This is to ensure that its growth is in step with the development of local capabilities, awareness building, active participation of the c0&unity in the programme, and the availability of institutional mechanisms to facilitate the supply of energy and dissemination of technologies for sustainable agricultural and rural development. The IREP in. the Eighth Plan will have the following major features.

• Exten~ion of the programme to cover at least 100 blocks

per ~e~r~

• Provision for the minimum energy needs of cooking, heating and lighting in each IREP block, to ensure hundred per cent coverage for the economically weaker sections.

• Provision of the most cost-effective mix of energy sources and options for meeting, to the extent possible, the requirements of sustainable agriculture and rural development.

• Ensuring extensive peoples' participation in planning and implementation of the programme by direct involvement of panchayats, voluntary and non­governmen~ organizations, and the establishment of other such appropriate people oriented arrangements,

·\ wherever feasible, at the micro level for the implementation of the IREP projects.

• Developing and strengthening the mechanisms and co-ordination arrangements that would effectively link micro-level planning for rural energy with national- and state-level planning and programmes for energy and economic development to ensure regular and planned flow of energy inputs, especially commercial energy sources for meeting to the extent

16 + URJA BHARATI

possible, the needs of the end-user.

• Financing the programme by supplementing available central and state budgetary support with funds mobilized by the local bodies and peoples' participation. Financial institutions such as NABARD and DFis (Development Financial Institutions) and the banking system will be actively involved in financing IREP projects for which suitable new schemes will be developed.

• A provision of Rs 500 crores has been made for the minimum domestic energy needs of the economically weaker sections in the IREP blocks. A separate provision of Rs 250 crores has been made for development of capabilities fur the planning and implementatio~ of the programme in states/ UTs. This will be used to incorporate institutional mechanisms in the centre and state, including the setting up ofiREP cells at the state and district/block levels, training programmes, technical bac~-up units, national and regional training-cum-R&D centres, research and development activities, and demonstration and extension. 0

Based on excerpts from the Eighth Plan Document of the Planning Commission, New Delhi

I

SPECIAL DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS

Apa:rt from various technology dissemination programmes, MNES has initiated a

programme of SDP (Special Demonstration Projects) aimed at providing/ creating

demonstration facilities for the entire gamut of NRSE (New and Renewable Sources of

Energy) systems and devices in specific target areas. These demonstration projects are

expected to act as a focal point for growth and a catalyst for meeting energy needs in such locations. Cost of these projects is met under the approved pattern of financial

assistance for different dissemination programmes. In certain special cases, full central

assistance is also made available. Under this scheme, a NERI (Non-conventional Energy ~esearch Institute) has been

set up during 1992- 93, at Mau in Ghosi district of Uttar Pradesh by the NEDA (Non­

conventional Energy Development Agency). This would serve as a demonstration­

cum-training centre for use of various NRSE devices and systems to meet the

minimum energy needs of that area.

Some of the special targets to be taken up under this programme are: (1) solar passive guest house, (2) solar passive office block, (3) solar passive residence block,

(4) common/ general works or facility, (5) solar photo voltaic power plant for office

block (7 MW), and (6) training and office aids. During the year 1993-94, it is proposed to extend this programme to such areas,

where energy availability through conventional sources may yet be a distant dream,

and the use of non-conventional sources of energy may be cost-effective. The programme will have following salient features.

• It shall strive to meet the basic minimum energy needs of the areas selected (unit of area to be decided on economic considerations).

• The area to be adopted, should at present either be non-electrified and not likely

to be energized in foreseeable future, or supply of energy through other alternative

means is a costlier proposition than the possible supply of energy through non­conventional sources of energy.

• Cost-effectiveness of the proposal for that area, so that it could serve as a pilot

project for further replication in other areas by state/UT governments or nodal agencies.

The villages/areas to be chosen for the demonstration programme would be

situated in high altitude areas, difficult terrain or remote areas (eg North-east), islands

far away from the main land, non-energized tribal areas, as also a few other plain areas

. in the country. 0

VOLUME 3 NUM BER 3 + 17

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. Urjagram: a programme for self-sufficient energy villages

G R Singh, N P Singh Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources

The urjagram programme is aimed at harnessing locally available renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and biomass in an integrated mann~r for supplementing energy supply options, and ultimately bringing about energy self-sufficiency in villages. The selection of villages, and the non-conventional energy devices and systems to be installed under the urjagram projects is made on the basis of surveys of energy consumption patterns, energy needs and local energy resources. These projects can contribute not only in meeting the energy requirement of basic needs of the village community, but also for agriculture, cottage industry and community facilities, and lead to generation of economic activity, higher incomes, and creation of employment at the village level. Other potential benefits are mitigation of environmental degradation and deforestation, reduction of drudgery, and improvement of health and sanitation in the villages.

Institutional arrangements Urjagram projects are implemented through the state

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extensive data pase for planning and implementation of rural energy ·projects. Energy surveys in. 1626 villages spread over 20 states/UTs have been completed as on 31 December 1992 and surveys of another 395 villages are in progress.

The total project duration of a urjagram is three years, with installation to be completed within the first six months. Funds are provided for the renewable energy components, generally as per the prevailing norms of existing individual MNES programmes/schemes. The systems and devices to be installed in urjagram projects are adjusted against overall allocation/targets of various ongoing programmes in different states. Funds for controlled operation and management of projects are provided under urjagram budget head for a period of three years, with MNES providing full funds for the first year, and equal sharing by MNES and the state nodal agency for the following two years. In addition, about 10% of the equipment cost is usually provided depending upon the system configuration towards miscellaneous expenditure

nodal agencies in association with ed uca tiona I institu tions, research organizations, industry and voluntary organizations. Two types of energy survey formats are used to collect detailed information on consumption patterns, needs and resources, relevant for planning and implementation of urjagrams. A first level survey is carried out by using the 'Quick Energy Survey Format' and a detailed survey is conducted using the 'Four. Part Energy Survey Format'. Unelectrified villages having coh~sive population of 500--lOOO, and SC/ST /backward/remote area settlements are generally chosen for urjagram projects. A large number of energy surveys have been sponsored by MNES (Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources) in different parts of the country wi.th a view to develop an A view of an urjagram in Koraput district, Orissa

18 + URJA BHARATI

Progress of urj agram programme (as on 31 Dec. '92)

West Bengal Uttar Pradesh

Tamil Nadu Rajasthan

Punjab Orissa

Manipur Maharashlra

Madhya Pradesh Kerala

Karnalaka Jammu & Kashmir Himachal Pradesh

Haryana Gujaral

Bihar Assam

Arunahcal Pradesh Andhra Pradesh

F= F""""" f"" ~

•

~ -~ ......_ ~ 1-

0 10 20

IR Completed

on travel, construction and commissioning, spares, tools, repairs, contingency, etc. The total cost of a complete urjagram project is in the range of Rs 10--12 lakhs. The progress of urjagram projects is monitored through periodic review meetings and regular inspection visits to different states.

Programme achievements Till December 1992, 170 urjagrams have been established in 13 states, and another 225 are under implementation. Included in these are 20 urjagrams, taken up under the Special Programme for Ambedkar Centenary Celebrations, in predominantly SC/ST villages in different parts 9f the country. Of these 20, twelve projects were completed by December 1992- four in Madhya Pradesh, two in Gujarat, two in Kamataka, three in Uttar Pradesh, and one in Maharashtra. The other eight projects are in various stages of implementation and are likely to be completed during 1992- 93. The MNES outlay for urjagram projects so far has been about Rs 12 crores.

With a view to progressively lead towards energy self

30 40 50

- Under completion

Erratum

The, names of states in the bar chart

entitl ed Progress of Urjagram Programme ge 19 should read as follows in pa

Fors tate

Tamil Nadu than

ab Rajas Punj Or iss a Mani pur

The error is regretted.

I 60

Read as

Tripura Tamil Nadu Rajasthan Punjab Orissa

sufficiency in the urjagram villages, an evaluation of all the completed projects is proposed to be carried out soon to aid their expansion depending upon the requirements, feasibility and receptivity of the local population.

Apart from these urjagrams, three experimental reference urjagram projects have been taken up for implementation, in Kalyanpura (Gujarat); Ramachanoi Khalkapat (Orissa) and Idayanvillai (Tamil Nadu). The feedback from these projects will serve as input to more effective planning and implementation of urjagrams. Another reference urjagram project has also been taken up recently for a typical hilly village in Himachal Pradesh.

Plan for 1993- 94 It is proposed to continue the programme with some ininor modifications, and undertake 100 energy surveys and 25 new urjagram projects, and also expand 25 old urjagram projects during 1993- 94. A provision of Rs 25 lakhs has been made for the year 1993- 94 to support these projects. 0

VOLUME 3 NUMBER 3 + 19

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Energy demand in the rural domestic sector

Veena Joshi, Chandra Shekhar Sinha Tata Energy Research Institute

Background Over the last three decades there has been a perceptible change in the rural energy strategy in India. The ESI (Energy Survey of India) Committee recommended a shift from biofuels to kerosene and coal. The pivotal role visualized for kerosene started to change in the seventies, partially in response to the instability in the international oil markets and limited recoverable reserves within the · country. The WGEP (Working Group on Energy Policy) emphasized on the importance of biofuel supply aug­mentation, increased efficiency of biofuel utilization through improved cookstoves, and better deployment of technologies such as biogas. Self-reliance in terms of energy was the articulated objective. The ABE (Advisory Board on Energy) and the EDSG (Energy Demand Screening Group) echoed the recommendation of the WGEP and the emphasis on commercial fuels for the rural domestic sector was absent. Though the Eighth Plan (1992-97) proposes to continue subsidies on kerosene, it expresses concern at the growth in demand and the consequent implications on the balance of payment situation.

For an effective policy for the rural energy sector, the magnitude of the demand has to be quantified and projected over some reasonable planning period. The task of aggregating energy demand and its forecasting in time presupposes an understanding of the factors influencing the energy demand. Additionally, it demands a quantitative knowledge of the way these factors· are likely to change over the interval of the forecast. The qualitative aspects of the rural energy consumption have been documented and a large variation in biofuel use is evident from literature. Inadequate quantitative understanding of the factors responsible for the variation, however, makes "the task of aggregating and forecasting demand extremely difficult.

Further, to analyse issues related to energy demand it is important to distinguish the three elements of energy demand: 1. volume effects or the changes in the energy demand owing to the changes in the size of the economy for which energy demand estimates are being made

20 + U R J A B H A R A T I

(which could include, but need not be restricted to, the changes in the population); 2. structural changes, which are changes in energy demand due to structural changes within the economy for which the demand estimates are being made; and 3. efficiency effects or the efficiency with which energy is utilized within the economy.

While estimating energy demand in the rural domestic sector, nearly all estimates have considered only population changes as far as volume effects are concerned. This is partly because there is very little evidence of a correlation between energy consumption and income. The lack of information on the structural changes and the likely impacts of such changes on energy demand is even more acute. For the time being inclusion of these effects with any degree of accuracy appears unlikely. The same is true for the efficiency effects. In the absence of an understanding of the factors influencing energy demand,

, efforts in the past have essentially used estimates of per capita energy demand and population.

It is also worthwhile to emphasize the distinction between energy requirement and energy consumption. Often, the two have been used synonymously in many of the planning exercises in the past to estimate and project rural energy demand. Most policies dealing with.rural energy sector have used energy requirements though substantial effort and progress has been made in attempting to understand issues related to ruriu biofuel consumption.

Energy requirements in the rural domestic sector The major efforts in the last three decades for stipulating the energy requirements have been made by the Energy Survey of India Committee (1965), the Fuel Policy Committee (1974), the Working Group on Energy Policy (1979), the Advisory Board on Energy (1985), and the Energy Demand Screening Group Report (1986). Some of main features of these attempts are as follows.

• All studies, except the ABE, relied on energy requirement levels recommended by the ESI (of 510 kCal or 2.13 MJ per capita daily). Therefore, the

different versions of the requirement estimates re­flected nothing apart from changes in population. The ESI based its recommendation on NCAER (National Council for Applied Economic 'Research) surveys conducted in 1958-60.

• Though all requirement-estimate studies had access to survey data at the state level, they appear to have used national averages· of the data, thereafter disaggtegating the requirement at the state level. Information on the regional variation in requir~ments was lost in the process. The difference in the estimates of the aggregate requirement among states was due to the difference in population. ·

• The most crucial aspect of the energy policy and technology options is the fuel mix for meeting the energy requirement. None of the studies following the ESI made any serious attempt to examine this issue. There have been no attempts to look at the variation in the mix of biofuets over time. The changing role of commercial fuels has received some attention and the proportion ofbiofuels has been assumed to be constant over time in all studies. National average of the fuel mix has often been used to estimate the state-wise requirements of biofuels. Again, this led to loss of information on the state level biofuel-mix.

• To .the best of our knowledge, there is no empirical evidence that the energy consumption has increased with time. In fact thedifferent:i·oundsofNSS (National Sample Survey) data indicate more or less constant consumption levels. All projections of requirements, however, show the growth in the requirement over time. Though there is evidence of a change in fuel-mix over time (presumably related to availability of particular biofuel), very little effort has been made in these studies to capture this in the attempt to project the requirements.

• All studies to estimate requirement have made the assumption that urban household energy consumption is higher than the rural-starting with the ESI to the EDSG. The difference in the ESI estimates was marginal (the urban requirement was higher by 25 kcal (105 kJ) per capita daily) and were based on the NCAER surveys of 1958--60. The 1978/79 survey of the NCAER supports the earlier findings. Studies in the past indicate that the urban levels of useful domestic ener-gy consumption appear lower than or are comparable to those indicated by the surveys for rural areas. In light of this,.it appears difficult to explain the common assumption of thes_e studies of higher urban energy consumption.

Energy consumption in the rural domestic sector The emphasis on the normative nature or the energy requirements, rather than energy consumption level needs in all the macro level estimates need to be noted. In contrast, substantial efforts to estimate energy consumption has been largely ignored in the macro planning exercises of the past. The WGEP had highlighted the absence of data on biomass energy use. As a result the MNES. (Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources), Planning Com:inis­sion, the ABE, and various state energy development agencies have commissioned a large number of studies (MNES itself commissioned over 1500 village level surveys) in different regions of the country.

Recently, under an MNES sponsored project data have been compiled and analysed at the Tata Energy Research Institute from the rural energy surveys conducted during 1985-92 in India to create a REDB (rural energy database) and to identify regional variations in energy consumption pattern. Studies in the past have indicated that agro­climatic conditions are an important factor influencing the use of biofuels in rural areas. Both, the level of biofucl usc and the fuel-mix are believed to be influenced by the

Useful energy consumption and fuel mix

1400

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3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Agro-climalic region

V 0 l U M E 3 N U M B E R 3 + 21

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Useful energy consumption and fuel mix in different agro-climatic regions

Agro-climatic zone Per capita Fuel mix

useful energy firewood Dung-cake Crap

kCill/day

Western Himalayan zone 436

Eastern H,imalayapone 860

Lower ~angetic zone 726

Middle Gangetic zone 397

Upper Gangetic zone 541

Trans Gangetic plains 440

Eastern plateau and hills 1264

Central plateau and hills 638

Western plateau and hills 562

Southern plateau and hills 697

East ~oast plains and hills 1393

West coast plains and ghats 426

Gujarat plains and hills ' 490

Western dry regions 448

All India 727

availability of different biofuels, which in turn, depends on the agro-climatic conditions. Consequently, this study post-stratified the biofuel consumption data according to

---~ro-climatic regions specified by the Planning Commission. The major results of the study, based on the analysis of the data compiled for 638 villages in 17 states spread over 14 agro-climatic regions in the country and covering over 39 000 households, are as follows. • The use of firewood is higher in inaccessible villages.

This is likely to be related to the higher availability of woody biomass in such villages. In such villages the

·cattle population in proportion to the human population is also higher, and more households own land but a lesser fraction of the agricultural land is irrigated. Electrified vill!lges have better irrigation facilities and lower cattle to human population ratio.

• Electrified villages have higher average kerosene use. There is a greater presence of agro-industries and irrigation facilities in electrified villages. The number of landless households \ in electrified villages are higher indicating that economic dis­parities may be higher in such villages.

• The use of agricultural residue and d:ung-cake for energy purposes depends on the level of firewood

22 + UR)A BHA RA T I

MJ/day

1.83

3.60

3.04

1.66

22.7

1.84

5:29

2.67

2.35

2.92

5.83

1.78

2.05

1.88 . 3.04

residues

0.87 ' 0.13 0.00

0.77. 0.07 0.15

0.45 0.25 0.30

0.39 0.34 0.26

0.19 0.79 0.03

0.30 0.43 0.27

0.93 0.00 0.07

0.52 0.34 0.14

0.59 0.10 0.31

0.47 0.12 0.41

0.45 0.21 0.34

0.78 0.12 0.10

0.62 0.16 0.22

0,45 0.45 0.10

0.59 0.18 0.23

used. The greater the firewood use, the less is the use of these 'safety-net' fuels. The preference for firewood as a energy source is clear from the data. In villages with higher fraction of agricultural land under irrigation, the dung-cake use for cooking is higher.

• The energy consumption indicated by the survey reports collated. are much higher than those indicated by previous studies. The all India averages of the estimated useful energy consumption is a little over 725 .kCal (3.04 MJ) per capita daily. The nonnative recommended useful energy requirement has been in the range of 510 kCal or 2.13 MJ to 620 kCal or 2.6 MJ per capita per day.

• Though consumptions are high, there is a wide variation in energy use, both within and among agro­climatic regions. The daily per capita useful energy consumed varies between 397 kCal (1.66 MJ) and over 13WkCal (5.83 MJ) for Middle Gangetic, and East coast plains and hill zones, respectively. Even within agro­climatic zones the variation is high.

• Biofuels play a dominant role in the rural energy system. Within biofuels, firewood is the main fuel though its contribution among biofuels varies from barely 20% to over 90% in Upper Gangetic plains and

Eastern plateau and hills. • The fuel mix at country aggregate level is close to past

assumptions made by the different studies (ESI 1965; WGEP 1979; ABE 1985; EDSG 1986) and are close to those indicated by the NCAER survey (NCAER 1985). However, at disaggregated levels such as the district or state levels there are significant variations due to heterogeneity in the fuel among agro- climatic regions, which would result in substantial differences in the estimates of aggregate demand.

Estimates of aggregate biofuel consumption The useful energy consumption fulfilled by the biofuels in the rural domestic sector according to the REDB estimates is summarised in the table provided. The national aggregated average useful energy consumption from biofuels alone is over 725 kCal/pc/d (about 3 MJ/pc/d) but, as emphasized earlier, there are significant variations among the agro-dimatic regions.

In addition to the data obtained by village level surveys sponsored by government agencies, the NCAER has carried out large-scale surveys periodically. The domestic fuel survey of 1979 of NCAER covering 13 010 sample households spread over 18 states is the most prominent of the recent surveys of the NCAER. The rural sample for this survey was 7500 households selected from 300 districts in 600 villages.

The other notable source of rural energy consumption data is the !REP (Integrated Rural Energy Planning) exercise of the Planning Commission. This programme attempts to prepare and implement block level energy intervention plans and uses sample surveys for

determining energy co~sumption patterns as a part of this exercise. Initiated during the Sixth Plan period (1980-85) on a pilot basis, this programme has since covered nearly 250blocks.

The REDB and IREP data are available for the different agro-climatic regions in India. The published NCAER data, on the other hand, are restricted to state level averages. On the other hand, normative levels of energy requirement are based on estimates of ABE, ESI and EDSG. The most obvious feature of the different estimates is the wide variation. The biofuel requirements for the recommended normative energy levels is in the range of 150-240 million tonnes/year of firewood, 40-65 million tonnes/year of animal waste, and 47-76 million tonnes/ year of agriculture residues. Aggregate demands based on surveys are in the range of 93-252 million tonnes/ year of firewood, 54-107 million tonnes/ year of animal waste, and 36-99 million tonnes/year of agriculture residues.

The national aggregates listed seem to give the impression that the REDB estimates are consistently higher. The state-wise aggregates presented indicate that there is no such clear pattern. The REDB estimates for fire­wood are higher largely due to the higher consumption in the states of Andhra Pradesl;l, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. IREP estimates for firewood, on the other hand, are higher for the states of Gujarat, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh. Similarly, dung-cake estimates of NCAER for Bihar and Madhya Pradesh are higher than either the IREP or the REDB estimates.

Some of the likely reasons for these and the possible ways that a more consistent demand estimates can be made are as given on the following page.

National aggregates of biofr.lel use in rural domestic sector 1991 estimates based on population census (GOI 1992)

' Firewood Dung-cake Agriculture residues

(million tjyear) (million tfyear) (million t/year)

CONSUMPTION

NCAER 93.3 83.2 36.7 REDB(low) 181.3 40.1 31.6 REDB (average) 252.1 106.9 99.2 REDB(high) 309.4 114.5 165.5 IREP 169.0 54.2 62.8

REQUIREMENTS

ESI (510 kcal/per capita/day or 2.13 MJ/per capita/day) 151.3 41.5 47.8

EDSG (520 kcal/per capita/ day or 2.18 MJ/per capita/day) 201.7 55.3 63.7

ABE (620 kcal/per capita/ day of 2.60 MJ I per capita/ day) 240.5 65.9 76.0

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State-wise aggregates of biofuel use in rural domestic sector 1991 estimates based on population census (GOI 1992)

State Firewood Dung-cake Agriculture residues

(million t/year) (million t/year) (milliont/year)

REDB !REP NCAER REDB !REP NCAER REDB !REP NCAER

Average Average Average

Andhra Pradesh 23.2 10.8 9.7~

Arunachal Pradesh 0.5 0.5 0.09

Assam 13.7 12.3 2.26 Bihar 34.1 26.9 8.90 Goa 0.0 0.0 0.08 Gujarat 8.6 9.1 3.99 Haryana 1.7 1.7 0.61 Himachal Pradesh 1.8 3.3 2.23 Karnataka 10.6 8.3 6.74 Kerala 7.4 10.0 3.19 Madhya Pradesh 32.6 13.1 8.68 Maharashtra 20.0 16.0 5.45 Manipur 0.9 0.8 0.37

Meghalaya 1.0 0.9 0.40 Mizoram 0.3 0.2 0.10 Nagaland 0.7 0.6 0.28 Orissa 26.0 11.2 4.56 Punjab 1.9 1.9 1.31 Rajasthan 9.8 4.3 7.05 Sikkim 0.3 0.2 0.04 Tami!Nadu 17.9 8.5 6.31 Tripura 1.6 1.4 0.66 Uttar Pradesh 16.6 21.9 15.56 West Bengal 20.3 4.4 4.52 Union territories 0.4 0.4 0.16

All India 252.1 169.0 93.3

• NCAER data refer to the base period of 1979 whereas the IREP and REDB data are from the period 1985-91. Superficially, it would appear that biofuel use in rural areas has increased over time as NCAER estimates are consistently lower than either IREP or REDB data. However, the reason for this has to do more with the difference in the nature of data; NCAER results are averages aggregated at st"te level while both, IREP and REDB averages are agro-climatic zone aggregates. The relative closeness of IREP and REDB estimates suggest that there is a need to recast NCAER data according to agro-climatic regions which would require di5trict-wise classification of the surveys.

• Experience shows that-variations in the biofuel use is an inherent characteristic of energy systems based on biomass even within a agro-climatic region. The need for an operational classification of agro-climatic

24 + U R ) A B H A R A T I

9.5 0.1 1.4 8.2 0.0 2.3 2.6 0.3 2.6 1.2 6.2 2.9 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.1 4.3

. 3.0

7.8 0.0 7.5 0.2

37.2 9.0 0.4

106.9

2.9 2.26 18.6 3.6 1.75 I

0.0 0.00 0.1 0.0 0.06 0.0 0.00 2.7 0.0 1.46 9.9 19.89 7.8 13.0 5.99 0.0 0.06 0.0 0.0 0.01 2.2 . 2.47 3.0 3.0 0.23 2.9 3.14 1.5 4.3 0.96 0.4 O.Q3 0.0 0.2 0.00 1.8 0.27 7.8 3.2 1.62 0.0 0.00 1.0 1.6 1.78 1.8 9.62 5.7 1.5 2.32 6.7 4.32 7.6 5.8 0.70 0.0 0.00 0.2 0.0 0.11 0.0 0.00 ;' 0.2 0.0 0.12 0.0 . 0.00 0.1 0.0 0.03 .Q.O 0.00 0.1 0.0 0.08 0.6 3.33 7.6 0.4 0.76 3.4 2.99 1.8 5.0 1.63 2.1 4.76 2.8 0.8 0.51 0.0 0.00 0.1 .o.o O.D3 2.0 1.49 13.9 2.5 1.49 0.0 o.oo 0.3 0.0 0.20

17.2 23.50 5.6 17.3 6.98 0.0 4.85 10.5 0.0 7.74-0.3 0.22 0.3 0.4 0.10

54.2 83.2 99.2 62.8 36.7

regions makes it impossible to encompass all factors which may influence biofuel consumption, parti­cularly because the classification was developed for planning agricultural development. There is, there­fore, a need to specify the statistical variation in data collected through surveys and use these in making demand estimates to make different estimates comparable.

• If the premise of the inherent variation in the biofuel use is accepted, there is a· need to club all possible data and to thereafter estimate the mean values along with measures of the variation. Collating data just from these three (NCAER, IREP and REDB) sources would result in a much richer database covering at least 3000 villages. 0

Improved chulha programme: alleviating fuel /

crisis and uplifting quality of rural life

D J( Mittal Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources

Introduction In India, rural areas account for about 40% of the total energy consumed. Of this, 55% to 60% is used for cooking and other applications in the domestic sector. Bulk of this energy demand is met by non-commercial energy sources

;.

such as firewood, crop residues and animal wastes. But availability of biofuels in rural areas is becoming

progressively difficult owing to rapid degradation of the natural resource base. Moreover, inefficient utilization of biofuels has resulted in serious health impacts especially on women and children. So it is imperative that traditional and inefficient chulhas are replaced by more fuel efficient devices with a view to conserve fuelwood; to improve health and hygienic conditions; reduce drudgery for women and children; and to improve the overall quality of life. In this context, promotion of fuel-efficient, smokeless cooking devices [ICs (improved chulhas)] assume considerable significance.

Apart from its qualitative benefits, ';ln IC consumes much less fuel than a TC (traditional cookstove). The thermal efficiency of traditional stoves ranges· from 8% to 12% while an IC has a range of 20% to 50%. There are different designs of ICs available in India and currently, the minimum efficiency of a fixed IC is about 20% while

Rural domestic energy use pattern

Fuelwood (52.0%)

the same figure for a portable IC model is 25%. Thus, a TC consumes 2000-2500 kg of wood per annum for an average family while the IC consumes 1000-1500 kg. This means half the fuel consumption compared to a traditional stove. If a lower average figure of 700 kg of wood (valued at Rs 400) is taken as savings per annum, the average cost of Rs 100 for an IC could be recovered in just three months of operation; a fixed chulha has an average life of three years and a portable chulha five ysars.

Objectives of NPIC

• Fuel conservation • Removal/reduction of smokefrom

the kitchen

• Check on deforestation and environmental upgradation

• Reduction in the drudgery of cooking in smoky kitchens and collection of more fuel

• Reduction in health hazards • Reduction in cooking time • Employment opportunity to the rural poor

National Programme for Improved Chulha (NPIC) The NPIC first began in 1983 as a demonstration programme and later became a national dissemination programme in 1985. MNES (Ministry of Non­conventional Energy Sources) has adopted a multi­agency, multi-model approach for implementation of the programme. NPIC is an important component of the

· national . development programmes, such as 20-Point Programme and Minimum Needs Programme, and various state level rural development projects. A number of governmental and· noi\"governmental organizations are involved in the implementation of NPIC.

The programme is targetted to cover beneficiaries in rural, semi-urban and urban areas. However, due preference has been given to the beneficiaries belonging to

V 0 L U M E 3 N U M B E R 3 • 25

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SC/ST categories and those living in hilly regions, areas experiencing serious deforestation, North-eastern region, far flung areas and urban slums. Community kitchens in hospitals, hostels, military and para military stations, religious and charitable institutions, dhabas, hotels, etc. are also being covered under the NPIC.

Self employed workers (SEWs), usually rural women and unemployed youth, are involved in the installation of ICs in rural households. These are engaged on a contract basis by implementing agencies, which give them incentives and provide training in motivation and construction. SEWs are responsible for actual installation, repair and maintenance for one year, users' education, and rectification of old chulhas.

Financial assistance/incentives The following financial assistance and incentives are provided for various activities of the NPIC.

1. To beneficiaries (subsidy on cost)

Type of chulha

Fixed

Portable

Approved cost

Rs 25-103

Rs 75-188

Central assistance

Approved unit cost minus beneficiary's minimum contribution of Rs 5 (maximum assistance of Rs 50)

50% for general category (maximum assistance of Rs 50) and 75% for SC/ST /Hilly areas (maximum assistance of Rs 75)

2. To self employed workers (for installation)

Fixed Rs 10 per chulha for plain areas Rs 15 per chulha for hilly areas/ difficult terrain

Portable Rs 5 per chulha

3. To implementing agencies

Type of activity

Organizational/infrastructural support to states/ agencies Transport and handling charges For publicity and awareness For users' education

Assistance

Rs 5 per chulha

Rs 4 per chulha Rs 2 per chulha Re 1 per chulha

Apart from these, some fisca1 incentives provided for manufacturers of portable chulhas are: (1) no industrial licensing required, (2) excise duty exemption, (3) exemption on sales tax, (4) relief under Income Tax Act, and (5) soft term loan from financial institutions.

Agencies involved in NPIC

• State Government Departments • Non-conventional Energy Development

Agencies

• State Agro Industries Development Corporations

• Khadi Village and Industries Commission • National Dairy Development Board • Women Organizations (AIWC, SEWA, etc.) • Other NGOs

Types of improved chulhas NPIC has provision for installation of fixed or portable

. chulhas depending upon the requirements of the beneficiaries. Whereas fixed models of chulhas are constructed in the household kitchens using locally available material by SEWs, the portable chulhas are manufactured by small-scale industries and are distributed to the beneficiaries. ICs are available for domestic, community, institutional and commercial applications.

Types of ICs

• Mud fixed chulhas with or without chimney • Mud-clad pottery lined, fixed chulha with

or without chimney

• Portable metallic chulha • Portable metal-clad-ceramic lined chulha • Portable chulhas with separate hood

chimney system

Training programmes Various types of training programmes are organized under the National Programme for Self Employed· Workers, potters, rural artisans, beneficiaries, and various fi eld functionaries . The orientation/ exposure programmes are also conducted for the officers of the

:;:;:;:;;;:;:;:;:;:;:::::;:::::::;:::;:::;:;:::::;:;:;:;:::;:::;:;:;:;:::;:;:::::::::::;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:::::::;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:::::;:;:;:::::::::;:;:;:::::::::;:; ::;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:::::::;:;:;:::::;:;:;:;:;:;:;:::::: ;:;:;:: ::::::::;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:::;:::::::::;:;:::;:;:: ;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;~:;:;:;:;:;:;:::::::::;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:::;:::::;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:::;:::::::;:::;:::::;:;:;:::;:;:;:::::::::;:;:::::::::::::;:;:;:::::::::::::::;:;:;:;:~ ;:; ::::::;:::;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;::::::

26 + U R J A B H A R A T I

implementing agencies at the field level. Most of the training activity is co-ordinated by the TBUs (Technical Backup Units) established under NPIC. These programmes are organized in a decentralized manner at state, divisional, district and village levels. Basic principles involved in the chulha technology as well as the awareness aspect of the be11eficiaries and evaluation of the programme are covered in these training programmes.

R&D and technical support A network of 20 TBUs has been created under NPIC for providing technical and training inputs in addition to R&D (research and development) work. The major thrust areas for R&D in chulhas are development of high efficient metal-clad-ceramic lined chulhas (40-50% efficiency); and reduction in unit cost through innovative design and alternative materials.

Publicity for education, awareness and motivation In order to create awareness about the benefits of ICs, a mass publicity programme has been undertaken through the electronic and print media, and radio at the central level. The state implementing agencies are also taking up such campaigns through the regional centres of Doordarshan, AIR and regional press. Users' training programmes, demonstration camps are also organized through SEWs. Decentralized publicity through posters, audio-visual aids and other traditional methods are also undertaken. Training manuals, leaflets and video cassettes of films on chulhas have also been provided to the implementing agencies.

Under the Promotional Incentive Scheme of MNES, shields and certificates of appreciation are awarded to the states/UTs excelling in the implementation of the pro­gramme. Additional cash prizes and certificates are given by implementing nodal agencies to field functionaries.

Progress' un(,ler NPIC (cumulative) 1W,------------------------------------,

(in lakhs)

120 1--s- Achievement -+-- Tor get

100

2 ~ 80

20

1983-85 1985-8& 198&- 87 1987-88 1988- 89 19 89 - 90 19 90 - 91 1991-92

Functions of TB Us

• R&D including development of appro­priate models according to local needs

• Training to self employed workers, potters, village artisans and.various field functionaries

• Demonstration-adoption of villages for demonstration and field trials of various technologies developed

• Decentralized testing and approval of models

Progress and potential Since its inception nearly ten years ago, more than 12.5 tp.illion ICs have been installed all over the country, nearly one-tenth of the total rural households. This represents a coverage of 20 ICs per 1000 of rural population. Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh are some of the leading states in terms of achievement.

Potentially, all the 120 ,-nillion-odd rural households are targets for installing ICs. One-fourth of the potential is proposed to be realized by 1997 and hence, the target for Eighth Plan (1992- 97) has been fixed at 30 million ICs.

Evaluation and feedback MNES has a multi-step evaluation procedure to obtain feedback on the field performance of ICs. These studies are carried out by the implementing agencies, regional MNES offices, independent agencies, and the MNES itself.

An independent evaluation study of NPIC was recently conducted by the NCAER (National Council of Applied Economic Research). This . study reported an average functional rate of 60.3% for the ICs installed between 1988 and 1991. Another study by NCAER found 86.2% functional rate for ICs installed during 1991-92. These studies made the following major observations.

• Functionality of chulhas is improving every year because of technological improvements

• Success rate of old chulhas is low as these have finite life • Nearly 20% of non-working chulhas reported to be

existing can be put back to use by repair and maintenance

• The fixed and portable chulhas are 1.4 and 1.5 times more efficient, respectively than the traditional chulhas

V 0 L -U M E 3 N U M B E R 3 + 2 7

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Strategy for the future In order to extend the benefits of ICs to Chulhas

maximum population, and to improve the performance of NPIC, MNES has devised a strategy with thrust on the

A portable type A fixed type (cross-section)

following elements. 1. Increased financial allocations by the Central Government to cater to · subsidy requirement for the higher numbers. 2. Development of low cost models. 3. Implementing agencies to give due loppl•••

preference to users' choice in selection of models. 4. Increased emphasis.on users' training for Optimum fuel use and 'maintenance;- 5. Wider publicity for awareness among the rural masses. 6. Greater involvement of non­governmental voluntary organi­zations/agencies. 7. Propagation through market forces; marketing promotion by manufacturers of portable chulhas coupled with quality assurance through BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) marking. 8. Rationalization of incentives for manufacturers-fiscal reliefs and soft loan financing through IRED A.

Performance of ICs (NCAER Study)

60

50

~40

c ~ 30

~ 20

10

1988/ 89 1990/91

~Work ing (In use) ~ Working(not in use) ~ Dismonllod

Conclusion

Average

While the objectives of NPIC are quite laudable and its benefits should readily realized by the rural and semi­urban households, paradoxically, the coverage so far has been limited to a small fraction of th'e potential house­holds. The users' large scale acceptance and rush for adop­tion ofiCs on their own volition, without any government

28 + U R J A 8 H A R A T I

Fir~ box

support, is yet to become a ground reality. While the subsidies could be justified to some extent on the basis of

· environmental and socio-economic benefi~s for the rural poor, the complexities in administering subsidy have limited the implementation of programme to mainly state government/ nodal agencies, and the market forces have not come into full play in the arena.

Thus, although, the programme is yet to come out of the 'subsidy trap', a progressive step has been taken during the year 1992- 93 to de­regulate the price controls earlier exercised from one central level for the whole country; to decentralize R&D effort to state level as per local requirements; and to limit the maximum permissible subsidy in absolute terms. This would lead to greater involvement of the beneficiaries and also generate an impulse for cost reduction. The shift towards commer-.cialization of the programme may be gradually speeded up with phased rationalization of government subsidies, and emergence of

market forces to take care of the market promotion effort so very essential for large scale spread, coupled with intensive publicity and awareness campaigns by the gov­ernment in the electronic and print media for the targeted group of beneficiaries. Such direction would surely help the individuals as well as the society at large. 0

CASE STUDY

Improved chulhas for fuel conservation

One of the conservation measures adopted by many developing countries to counter the mounting scarcity of fuel wood is the promotion of fuel-efficient ICs (improved chul~s). In addition, ICs can also help reduce pollution in the kitchens, and increase convenience by saving time spent in cooking and fuel collection. To promote this multi-purpose technology, a National Programme on Improved Chulhas (NPIC) was initiated in 1983 by the then DNES <pepartment of Non-conventional Energy Sources). By 1991- 92 more than 12 million improved chulhas have been installed in various parts of the country. Golti in West Bengal was one such village where ICs were installed. The performance of ICs in this village was studied in an MNES-sponsored evaluation carried out by TERI (Tata Energy Research Institute).

Golti is a remote village in the lllambazar block of Birbhum district, West Bengal, connected only by a unmetalled road which makes the village inaccessible in monsoons. The village has about 80 households, 53% of which is land owners possessing about 100 acres of cultivable land. Staple diet of the villag~ consists of rice, vegetables, and fish. The major household fuels used in

An IC installed outside the house, conforming to the tradition of open air cooking

the village are fuel wood, leaves, and coal. Whereas leaves and fuelwood were collected as well as purchased, coal was mostly purchased. The source of fuelwood was a forest situated eight kilometres away from the village. Thus, fuel gathering became burdensome, especially in the monsoons.

In West Bengal, ICs were promoted through the Anganwadi scheme under the overall co-ordination of the Department of Social Welfare. Village level implementation was done by Anganwadi workers in terms of identifying and motivating the potential bene-ficiaries. A total of 65 ICs were installed in Golti during 1986-87 by trained masons, some of them from the village itself. Tlre stove-model installed was an underground model known as Seva-Nada which consists of two pot-holes, a round baffle alot:l&. with an AC pipe for chimney.

After a year, nearly ha)f the ICs were still in operation. While the design of three chulhas was modified, the other models retained their original design. Given the. short life of chulhas, this should be considered a good rate of survival. In fact, most of the stov.es became quickly dysfunctional as they were constructed outside the kitchen conforming to the local tradition of open-air cooking, and hence, were demolished or discarded.

Close up of an improved chulha without the. baffle, installed in a kitchen

V 0 l U M E 3 N U M B E R 3 + 29

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CASE STUDY continued

Improved and traditional chulhas--"-a comparison

60 ~----------------------------------------------------~·

55

-=;- 50 ~ ., 45 ., ::> -i; 40 2

'­., a. 25 ~

:g 20 Ol

~ 15

1-a- IC -+- TC

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Chulho serial number

However, the KPT (Kitchen Performance Test) conducted on the functioning of improved as well as :res (traditional chulhas) in the village presented interesting results. These tests measured the actual quantity of fuel consumed on a daily basis for both types of chulhas in select households. Results obtained showed that there was a wide variation in the energy consumed across households. However, this variation was more marked in ICs than in TCs, especially in the range of maximum fuel consumption, indicating the correlation between proper installation of IC and its performance. But on the whole, ICs performed better with their average daily (per capita) energy consumption ·being 27.4 MJ whereas the same for the TCs was 34.2 MJ. The fuel saving of ICs over TCs was about20%.

The reaction of the villagers towards the functioning cookstoves was positive. Most housewives considered freedom from smoke to be the best benefit of ICs, though they could not accurately perceive the fuel savings. One of the important suggestions made by the users was that a chulha design should be developed which would be suitable for making 'mood( (puffed rice) one of the major activities in that area. A section of the beneficiaries, however, liked it for cooking rice and similar food items.

Thus, the IC programme in Golti village demonstrated

providing convenience in the rural areas. At the same time, it also emphasized the need to tailor the stove designs to users' requirements, and to provide better training to the masons as well as users for constructing and maintaining these cookstoves. 0

PM Sadaphal, R C Pal, Veena Joshi Tata Energy Research Institute

\ the potential of improved chulhas for saving fuel and l

30 + U R J A B H A R A T I

Household fuels and healtl1

](irk R Smith East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii

Biomass fuels in India (wood, crop residues and dung) are mostly not bought and sold in cemmercial markets, and therefore, are largely overlooked in descriptions of the nation's energy situation. Perhaps this helps explain why the air pollution created by biofuel combustion has also often been ignored. But in fact, th~se fuels actually account for some one-third of the total energy used in India, being the most important fuel for over 90% of rural households and 15% of urban households. Thus, environmental

· impact of biofuel burning is one aspect that needs special attention in any rural energy policy.

In recent years, however, th~re has been growing international concern about the potential health impact of indoor air pollution from biofuel use. This concern is not so much because the total air pollution emissions from biofuels are large; they are not, compared to air pollution from fossil fuels, for example. Unlike most other fuels,

concern. Indeed, for wood fires bigger than a few kilograms per hour, boilers and other devices can be designed to bum fairly cleanly. It is perhaps an unkind trick of nature, however, that the size of human families is such that household cooking and heating stoves require biofuel fires of a few-kilograms or less per hour. At this scale it is difficult to make low-cost devices that reliably give clean combustion.

In the last decade, a handful of studies have attempted to characterize human exposures in rural India. They arc far too few to enable an estimate of the national totals, but do give an idea of typical conditions in several regions. The results are often high compared to Indian standards and WHO(World Health Organization) recommen­dations, as well as to outdoor pollution in Indian cities.

What health effects might be expec.ted from such exposures? Based . on studies in developed countries of similar,

however, biofuel pollutants are largely released directly where the people are-inside or near households at mealtimes every day. Thus, although the emissions are relatively modest, the actual exposure to people is significant in many millions of households around the world. Indeed, for

The World Bank's World Development Report (1992) classified indoor air pollution

as one of the four most important environmental problems in the world, alon~

with contaminated water, urban air pollution, and deforestation.

but not identical mixtures of pollutants, several are suspected: respiratory infections in children; chronic lung diseases and lung cancer in adults; and adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as low birth weight and stillbirth, for women exposed during

some important pollutants, rural indoor environments add much more to total human exposure than do urban .outdoor environments, where most air pollution measurements and regulations have focused in all countries.

Not every biofuel stove emits high levels of pollution indoors in poorly ventilated households. In India, households in the South tend to be better ventilated than in other areas and studies seem to show that exposures are correspondingly less. Many stoves incorporate some type of chimney that conveys the smoke outdoors reducing exposures. Stoves burning biofuels with no smoke at all are more difficult to find, however. This is so, even though, unlike coal, most biofuels themselves contain few contaminants. Theoretically, therefore, they can be burned such that essentially nothing is emitted except water vapour and carbon dioxide, . neither of health

pregnancy. Acute respiratory infections

(ARI), often as pneumonia, are "the chief cause of death in the world's children under the age of five. The WHO estimates that at 4.3 million per year (95% in developing countries), the death toll is more than 30% higher than that for diarrhoea, the next largest category. In India, the annual toll is about 644 000. Although treatable by antibiotics if caught in time, the only satisfactory long­term solution is to greatly reduce the risk factors, such as malnutrition, crowding, and smoke. It is clear, for example, that serious ARI declined in the presently developed countries long before the discovery of effective treatment.

Several studies of biofuel smoke as an ARI risk factor have been done in recent years, mostly in Africa which generally confirm that exposure to smoke is statistically associated with an increased risk of serious ARI. A child

V 0 l U ME 3 N U M BE R 3 + 31

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Monitoring of pollutants during cooking in a village kitchen

exposed to smoke by living in a biofuel-using house seems to be several times more likely to contract serious ARI. A study in Nepal showed a correlation between the number of hours spent at the stove each day (as reported by the mot~er) and the risk of serious ARI.

An interesting study has also been done in Ladakh where women's lung capacities were found to be directly related to the extent of exposure determined by analysing people's exhaled air. As might be expected in this high­altitude environment, both the poilu tion levels and the ill effects were substantially worse in the winter than the summer.

Chronic lung diseases and its corollary heart disease, cor pulmonale, are also common in north India, and in many areas, are found more among women even though they smoke much less than men. This has also been attributed to biomass cooking by a number of investigators, although the long delay between exposure and the appearance of effects makes quantitative judgement difficult. Autopsies have identified damage and deposits of material in the lungs of Kashmiris and others living in particul.arly smoky situations.

A set of studies dcme near Chand-igarh has found blood levels of carbon mqnoxide to be as high or higher among women shortly after cooking with biomass than among heavy smokers. These levels were elevated, but not by nearly as much, in women cooking with kerosene.

A study of about 2000 births in Ahmedabad examined several risk faGtors for low birth weight, stillbirths, and

32 + U R J A B H A R A T I

'infant deaths. After adjustment for such factors as the mother's educat.ion, caste, and place or residence, it was found that the babies of women exposed to cooking smoke during pregnancy were about 50% more likely to be stillborn. No significant effect was found for the two other types of ill effects.

There are basically four kinds of measures that might be taken to reduce the exposure frortt biomass cooking fuels: cleaner fuels, better stoves, enhanced ventilation, and behaviour modification (for example encouraging a custom whereby pregnant women are responsible for less cooking). Smokelesschulhas and better kitchen ventilation offer the best solution in the short run- India already has a major national programme to promote improved chulhas. In-the long term, however, cleaner fuels, perhaps made from biomass, will be needed to reduce exposures to acceptable levels. 0 ·

National Project on Biogas Development

Venkata Ramana P Tata Energy. Research Institute

Introduction Biogas is a versatile fuel which can be us~d for cooking, lighting, motive power and generation of electricity. Though India's interest in biogas technology is nearly a century old, the dissemination of biogas plants began in real earnest only in 1981 when the central government had launched the NPBD (National Project on Biogas Development) under the aegis of the Ministry of Agriculture with an outlay of Rs 50 crores, which was subsequently transferred to the then Department of Non­conventional Energy Sources. Today, NPBD is one of the most important renewable energy programmes of MNES (Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources) in the rural areas.

Objectives of National Project on Biogas Development

• To provide energy in a clean, !fnpolluted form • To make available enriched fertilizer as a by­

product for supplementing and optimizing the use of chemical fertilizers

• To reduce pressure on dwindling fuelwood supplies and prevent indiscriminate deforestation

• To eliminate the smoke-filled cooking environment, reduce drudgery, and prevent eye diseases

• To bring about an improvement in rural sanitation

A multi-model, multi-agency approach has been adopted in NPBD to ensure installation of plants suited to local conditions and to attract active participation of NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations). In order to disseminate biogas across all areas and classes, MNES devised a differential subsidy pattern based on the physical and economic disparities existing in the country. A lead bank was nominated in each district to co-ordinate the loan sanctioning activity with other banks and

institutions that would give loans to families which satisfy the criteria of minimum number of cattle, land, etc.

Features of NPBD • MNES-approved models (KVIC, ]anata, Deenbandhu,

Ferro-cement, and Pragn.ti) are used in the project. Recently, Swastik, a portable model made of flexi­rubber is also being promoted in the hilly areas and other difficult terrains.

• State governments implement yearly targets through nodal agencies at state and district levels.

• Technical and training support is provided by the regional biogas centres at Coimbatore, Udaipur, Pusa-Samastipur, Palampur, Kharagpur, Indore, Ghazipur, Hyderabad, Nasik, Anand, Jorhat, Bhubaneshwar, Bangalore and Wardha.

• Service charges are given at 5% of the average unit cost of the plant to nodal and other implementing agencies having a target up to 8000 plants and 2.5% for those having a target of more than 8000 plants.

• MNES provides subsidy to the individual owners according to the pattern developed for different regions. In addition, some state governments also . provide subsidies. All the nationalized banks provide soft loans to meet the non-subsidy part of the cost. NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) provides automatic refinancing facility to the banks. 1

• Rs 400 is paid for each biogas plant constructed on a turnkey basis against a guarantee of . two years maintenance.

• Rs 50 is paid per plant to the village level functionaries who act as motivators and facilitators.

• Under a rectification scheme, up toRs 1000 is given to repair /revive the defective/ dysfunctional plants,

• Special funds are disbursed to conduct trainers' orientation courses, construction I training courses, users' training courses, etc. Funds are also provided for setting up demonstration plots using biogas slurry manure.

• Financial incentives are offered in the form of awards of state governments, district and block officials for

V 0 L U M E 3 N U M B E R 3 + 33

\

Pattern of central subsidy for biogas plants (Amount in Rs)

Cgpacity of plant For NE Region Plain areas of For other areas Small and For all (cubic metre of gas/day) states excluding Assam, terai region SCfSTand marginal others

plains of Assam Sikkim of two hilly districts desert districts farmers & J&K, HP and eight hilly of UP, Western Ghats landless districts of UP excluding and other notified labourers

Terai regions of two districts hilly areas and A&N Islands

1 4000 2400 2000 2000 17QO

2 5100 3600 3100 3100 2200

3&4 6200 4300 3600 2600

Higher capacity plants continue to be promoted with bank loans.

achievements; additional turnkey fee for linking up the plants to latrines; and, for publicity.

• Under an all-India coordinated project, MNES supports a set of R&D organizations to carry out research in microbiological aspects of biogas development.

Performance of NPBD Since its inception, NPBD has consistently met or exceeded the set targets and by December 19~2, nearly 1.67 million family biogas plants were installed in different parts of the country, including remote places

such as Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman Islands, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Among the states, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh account for nearly 45% of the total plants. The other leading states are Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

In order to evaluate the performance of NPBD, independent consultants were commissioned to conduct evaluation surveys in 1985-86 and 1987-88, respectively. These surveys covering the plants set up till 1986-87 reported an average functional rate of about 85%. The biogas plants installed so far are estimated to save 5.27 million tonnes of fuel wood annually (in reduced energy

Installation of biogas plants (cumulative)

34 + U R 1 A B H A R A T I

No of blogas plants (millions) 2

0.7

0.5

0.3

1982·83 1984-811 1988-87

1.67

0.90

1988-89 1990·91 1992(0)

NPBD evaluation of biogas plants in selected states (%)

Functional plants

States 1985-86 1987- 88

Andhra Pradesh 93.6 92.9

Bihar 82.1 72.4

Gujarat .. "81.7

Haryana 79.4 96.7

Himachal Pradesh 100.0 92.2

Karnataka 86.1 94.1

Kerala 95.7 95.4

Madhya Pradesh 64.3 70.1

Maharashtra 93.0 92.5

Orissa 93.9 91.1

Punjab 96.6 92.9

Rajasthan .. 52.1

TamilNadu 88.1 92.8

Uttar Pradesh 77.0 60.6

West Bengal .. 89.2

Others 78.8 ' ..

Model of KVIC biogas plant

Non-functional plants

Operational defects Structural defects 1985-86

4.6

2.6

.. 13.0

0

6.6

3.3

4.2

5.4

2.2

1.7

.. 6.5

5.2

..

..

1987-88 1985-86 1987-88

5.3 1.8 1.8

23.8 15.3 3.8

11.2 . . 7.1

1.7 7.6 1.6

1.7 0 1.6

4.0 7.3 1.9

3.4 1.0 1.2

24.9 31.5 5.0

6.4 1.6 1.1

5.3 3.9 3.6

5.2 1.7 1.9

37.9 .. 10.0

4.9 5.4 2.3

27.6 17.8 11.8

5.6 .. 5.2

20.0 . . 1.2

demand) valued at Rs 264 crores, in addition to producing 25.3 million tonnes of enriched manure valued at Rs 160 crores. Thus, the total saving through biogas utilization is over Rs 420 crores.

Future prospects Ever since its en try into the rural areas, biogas has proved to be a viable alternative to traditional biomass fuels. However, a large potential remains to be tapped given the fact that just over 1% of the total rural households have been covered so far. Considering the vast resource of dung available in the country, the total potential of biogas is estimated to be in the range of 40 million family plants, that is, one-third of the households. If dung is supplemented with other biomass feedstocks, the potential could be unlimited and the use can be extended to other sectors such as small industries. In the Eighth Plan, Rs 320 crores has been allocated for promotion of biogas. Thus, after a decade of valuable experience, biogas is poised to make a greater impact on the rural energy scenario of India. 0

V 0 L U M E 3 N U M B E R 3 + 35

CASE STUDY

Success through co-operation: community · biogas plant at Methan

CBPs (community biogas plants) have been considered a socially appropriate technology as they would facilitate supply of energy to the weaker sections of the population. Apart from the social benefits, CBPs are also credited with the potential to act as nuclei for the economic development of the villages. Village Methan is a success story which demonstrates the virtue of co-operative management in realizing the potential of CBPs.

Methan is an electrified village in Siddhpur taluk of Mehsana district in northern Guja.r-at. It has 600 households with a population of about 400Q. The principal occupation of the village is dairy farming and animal husbandry. Another major source of income is the trade with Bombay city wherein about 2000 stall-fed cattle are transported every year to Bombay to supply milk, and are brought back after they become dry. Owing to this prosperous trade, most of the families in the village are reasonably well off.

Biogas project In the past, most households used fuelwood collected from the shrubs around the village, and dung- cakes. However, the success of the two family biogas plants installed in the village, prompted the demand for a community biogas plant. The successful model of milk co-operative gave the confidence to manage such a co-operative venture. · After parleys with national and state nodal agencies, their proposal was cleared by the MNES (Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources). The Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA) took up the project, and the initial assessment found sufficient demand for gas as well as adequate availability of dung and water. And in Apri11987, a 630 m' system, consisting of e.ight biogas digesters, was commissioned in Methan. These systems were located at three corners of the village so as to ensure uniform gas supply. The project cost of Rs 19 lakhs was provided by MNES.

In order to manage the system, a registered society named SJCS (Silver Jubilee Biogas Producers and Distributors Cooperative Society) was established in Methan with all the biogas beneficiary households as

36 + U R J A B H A R A T I

members who paid Rs 100 each as membership fee. In ad­dition, a sum of Rs 301 each was collected as connection fees which formed the capital base of the society.

Dung was supplied by the households and ca.ttleshed owners on a daily basis who in return got the slurry man­ure back on a pro rata basis. A tractor with trolley, pur­chased from the funds ofthe society, made house-to house collection of dung, and transported it to the plant site.

A view of the community biogas plant at Methan

System performance Initially, about 15-16 tonnes of dung was fed into the plant · daily with 100% capacity utilization. This resulted in a daily gas supply of 9-10 hours to the households, in the morning, afternoon and evening. In recent years, the dung input has gone down by nearly half owing to reduced dung supply from the users but is still sufficient to provide 7-8 hours of gas supply in summer, and 5-6 hours in winter. Currently, the total number of connections are 326 and the users are ,charged a flat monthly rate of Rs 40.

Since its inception, the system has run more or less continuously without any major problems. Whatever minor problems that occur, are sorted out by the villagers themselves with some training from GEDA. Financially, too, the system has performed in a viable fashion right

CASE STUDY continued

from the start with a positive operational benefit-cost ratio. The SJCS actually declared a 12% dividend for its meml-ers in the first year itself.

Benefits from the project One of the tangible benefits of the project has been the removal of drudgery for the women who previously had to collect fuel wood. And because of the smokelessness of biogas, housewives have greatly benefited in improved health and convenience.

Biogas slurry as manure is one factor that has greatly impressed the villagers. The system yields about 2000 tonnes of nutrient-rich slurry, and most of the users perceive increased crop production due to its use. The other benefit that accrued has been the irrigation water supplied from the tubewell set up at the plant site at a nominal charge.

Following the community venture,s in milk and then biogas, the villagers began other community activities; setting up a Water Distribution Society to regulate the water supply from the tubewell; getting sanction for a metalled road; and upgradation of the village high school. The SJCS also plans to enhance the capacity of the biogas system to supply gas to the lower caste, poor families of the village, at nominal rates.

Perhaps the most significant gain from the success of the project is the high level of environmental awareness generated in th~ villagers. A Health Committee in the . village has been established to monitor water pollution and take corrective steps whenever major problems are detected .. Street lighting was provided by photovoltaic systems which also illuminate the biogas plant sites. Sewerage systems are planned to be installed by the government in Methan with 50% cost being borne by the village.

Why is it a success? Thus, Methan can be considered a success by any measure. And that success could be attributed to the following factors: 1. When the idea of biogas system was mooted the

conditions were suitable-felt need for a viable fuel; abundant dung availability; and, a precedence of successful co-operation.

2. Presence of a strong, progressive village leader who exercised considerable influence in convincing the

people about the virtues of the project, and provided necessary leadership in planning and management.

3. Cohesive nature of the village, with the majority belonging to the same community with uniform lifestyle.

4. Diligent post-installation service provided byGEDA in the initial period.

5. Running the system as a profit centre, and thus giving a stake to the users in its well-being.

6. The total acceptance by the housewives, who are the direct beneficiaries of the project. Their insistence helped in promptly eliminating the minor problems to keep the plant running smoothly.

The Methan experiment is a good example of successful co-operative venture which has transformed a waste biomass resource into an economically viable and environmentally sound source of energy which is highly beneficial to the community at large. It remains an example worth emulating. 0

Venkata Ramana P Tata Energy Research Institute

V 0 L U M E 3 N U M 8 E R 3 + 37

I

i

Biomass gasification

VV N Kishore Tata Energy Research Institute

The growing scarcity and inefficient use of biofuels in the developing countries, makes it imperative to identify alternative and/ or efficient energy conversion routes for biomass. Among the conversion routes, biomass gasification is one of the most efficient and versatile.

Gasification process Gasification is a thermochemical process in which fuel gas is formed as a result of partial combustion of biomass (or any organic material). The .process breaks down biomass to yield gaseous products after an initial step of pyrolysis.

A variety of gasification methods are available, ranging in size and sophistication, from simple units suitable for running small engines to large capital-intensive plants linked to facilities for the manufacture of liquid fuels and chemicals. One basic distinction among types of gasification techniques is the source of oxygen for the conversion process. Air gasification is the simplest method, producing a low-energy gas due to the dilution effect of nitrogen in the air. This gas is well suited for direct heating applications or for use in engines. When the gasification process is carried out in presence of insuf­ficient oxygen (or air), the process results in producer gas, a mixture of carbon monoxide, methane and a significant amount of hydrogen (in the case of biomass) along with non-combustible gases, mainly nitrogen and traces of car­bon dioxide. The presence of high levels of nitrogen (78% in the inlet air) results in the low calorific value of the resultant gaseous fuel.

3

Gasifier designs Gasifier designs are of three main types: Up-draught, Down-draught and Cross-draught, depending on the way in which air is fed into the device. In each of these the material is fed in from the top and as it gradually works its way downwards through the gasifier, it is first dried and then pyrolyzed by the heat from the hotter zones below. Subsequently, in the combustion and reduction zones, oil and char components are partially oxidized, releasing heat and raising the temperattire. The remaining carbon reacts with carbon dioxide and water to yield carbon mo­noxide and hydrogen. The ash falls through a grate at the bottom. Depending on the design, the hot gas is released from either the side, the top, or the bottom of the unit.

The precise composition of the gas from an air gasifier depends on the type of biomass used, the temperature and rate of reaction. Typically, if wood is used as the feed, the gas composition has 10% carbon dioxide, 20-22% carbon monoxide, 12-15% hydrogen, 2-3% methane and 50-53% nitrogen. The main advantage of gasification techniques is that they enable solid biomass to be converted to a more convenient and versatile fuel form with only a minor loss of energy during the process. For many rural applications, air gasification is the most suitable approach, and its potential is tremendous. For industrial heating, equip­ment using oil or natural gas can be easily modified to run on producer gas, and overall conversion effic~encies (up to 70-80%) comparable to direct combustion can beach­ieved. For large-scale power generation, the gas can be

2

Biomass briquettes: 1. coir pith, 2. corn stalk, 3. sawdust, 4. bajra stalk

38 + U R j A B H A R A T I

Select R&D demonstration projects of gasifiers in India sponsored by Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources

• Sardar Patel Renewable Energy Research Institute, Vallabh Vidyanagar: 20 kW wood-based system in mechanical and electrical mode.

• IndianlnstituteofScience, Bangalore: 5 kW system running on powdery biomass such as rice husk, coir pith, and sawdust.

• Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay: 15 kW rice husk-based system. • Kumbhchaur village, Pauri-Garhwal district, Uttar Pradesh: 5 kW lantana

camara (weed)-based system. • Hosahalli village, Tumkur district, Karnataka: 5 kW wood-based system

supplying electricity to the households. • Khamla Village, Betul district, Madhya Pradesh: 10 kW gasifier based milk

chilling plant. • Navodaya Vidyalaya, Tumkur district, Karnataka: 100 kW system for power

generation. • Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh: 5 hp Stirling engine run on biomass to supply motive

power for drinking water supply. • Tat a Energy Research Institute, New Delhi: 10 k W multi-fuel, mobile gasifier for

mechanical and electrical applications.

Source: Annual Report, 1992-93, MNES

used as a fuel for both gas turbines and steam generators. The highest potential for rural areas for producer gas

resulting from air gasification is for small-scale power applications. The substitutability of producer gas for diesel and petrol in IC (internal combustion) engines, and the relative simplicity of its production makes producer gas an attractive alternative wherever competitive fuels are either scarce or expensive. Spark ignition (petrol) en­gines can run entirely on producer gas but major modifications and redesign are needed . to increase the compression ratios before it can be used. For compression ignition (diesel) engines very little modification is re­quired, and is simpler of the two options. The gas is asp ira ted into the cylinder of the engine by connecting the suction side of the engine through the cooler-cleaner unit of the gasifier. The engine sucks the mixture of air and producer gas, which is compressed and ignited by a pilot diesel spray. The process is initiated by a large number of diesel droplets but later progresses as turbulent flames propagate in the mixture of air and gaseous fuel. Up to 80% diesel can be substituted by this mode of operation of the diesel engin~ften called the DF (dual-fuel) mode as

both the fuels are used simultaneously. The main obstacles for small-s.::ale gasifier-based

technologies are: (1) technology is still not well developed with gasifier design procedures essentially based on empirical principles; (2) the cost of operating such systems is sensitive to the price of biomass, which shows a high degree of regional variation, making the costs of energy from gasifiers site specific; (3) gasifier costs can vary but in labour intensive small-scale industry . the costs will be lower; (4) an estimated one hour of maintenance per day of operation is required for the gasifier and a significant level of skill is required for the routine maintenance; and (5) size and weight of the system limits mobile gasifier operations and constrains fuel storage and feed. For this reason the use of gasifiers for static power appli-cations appears to be a more attractive option at present.

Some of the obstacles specific to the use of producer gas in diesel engines are as follows.

• Diesel replace-ment can vary from 40-80% under actual field conditions hence expenses on diesel may form a significant fraction of the variable cost.

V 0 L U M E 3 N U M B E R 3 + 39

\ I 1

\ 1

. • '•

• There may be as much as 30% derating (loss of power) in diesel engines operating in the DF mode depending on the load, the calorific value of the gaseous fuel and the provision for excess air in the engine.

• Effective cooling and cleaning of the producer gas is required . If not adequately cooled, the producer gas being sucked into the cylinqer is insufficient, and causes a loss of efficiency and misfiring. The tar in the gas causes rapid deterioration of the ·lubricant oil, resulting in the formation of phenolic compounds which cause corrosion of the bearing surfaces leading to depositions on the piston and rings. This may result in sudden engine stoppage due to valve sticking. Also, soot in the gas causes abrasion of the engine. Both these factors may reduce the life of the engine and necessitate greater maintenance requirement and thus higher operation and maintenance costs.

Despite the shortcomings, gasifier-based systems can compete with commercial and other alternative energy sources, especially where biomass waste/by-products have no other competing use.

From the analysis of the costs, the most attractive use of gasifier systems appears to be for direct heat applications. However, very little technology development has been undertaken for this application and the technical viability needs to be demonstrated.

When biomass is obtained free of cost, the cost of electricity is marginally lower than the cost of electricity from diesel engine operating in the independent mode (about Rs 1.9 and 2/kWh, respectively). The costs are comparable up to biomass costs of Re 0.35/kg, but the

. economics is sensitive to the capacity utilization factor. Detailed cost analysis suggests that the combination of small-sized gasifier for applications with low capacity utilization factors (such as for irrigation) may not have long-term economic viability even at the stage of full commercial production. Thus, economic viability for motive power and power generation is dependent on the number of operating hours and availability of cheap biomass.

The first condition can be met by promoting gasifiers for electric power generation, in higher capacity range, typically 40-100 kW. The second condition can be met by concentrating R&D efforts on gasification of waste material such as rice husk, sawdust, grotindnut shell, com cobs, and coconut husk. But it is possible that once a particular biomass waste is in demand, the prices will be raised by the producers. For example, large-scale usage of rice husk boilers in Punjab, India has resulted in a substantial increase in the price of rice husk in the state.

40 + U R j A B H A R A T I

Hence a strategy of utilizing the waste biomass in situ to supplement or augment the power needs of the factory producing the wastes itself would be a useful development. A fine example of this phenomenon is ~he use of bagasse for power generation in sugar mills. '

It is known that gasification of loose biomass is a difficult task; the Chinese rice-husk gasifier now com­mercially available in a few countries is an exception. The other alternatives are FBG (fluidized bed gasification), and briquetting and gasification in down-draught gasi­fiers. FBG systems are still under R&D and not much data are available on the performance, costs, etc. On the other hand the process of briquetting (densification) and then gasifying in a conventional or throatless down-draught gasifiers seems technically feasible. Electricity costs by this process works out lower than from diesel generation.

Thus, electricity generated by briquetting-gasification process is likely to be the most promising area in the near future. The capacity of briquetting machine will have an important bearing on the overaU economics because the capital costs would be higher for higher capacities. It is imperative that briquetting technology be made acceptable by a more intense R & D programme before or in conjunction with gasifier development. 0

CASE STUDY

Multi-fuel, multi-purpose gasifier system to meet

rural energy needs

Though generators are convenient for power generation, they use fossil fuels such as coal (for large capacities in-. power plants) and diesel for small capacity and decentralized power generation, which are becoming increasingly scarce and costly. On the other hand, biomass in the fonn of agricultural wastes such as groundnut shells, mustard stalks, coir pith and coffee husk, and industrial waste such as tobacco dust from cigarette factory, bagasse from sugar factory, and herbal waste from ayurvedic industry are available in surplus or as by­products of industrial processes. Such biomass in the dense briquetted form can either be used directly as fuel instead of coal in chulhas anq furnaces or in the gasifier for obtaining producer gas, which in turn can be used in burners to supply process heat or for producing electricity to save diesel in generator sets. Gasifier based system can also solve the problem of waste disposal by utilizing wastes as fuel.

Hence, the importance of gasification as a technology for effective utilization of biomass residues need not be over-emphasized. Barring a few high ash materials such as rice husk and straw, several residues have similar properties in relation to proximate analysis, calorific value, ash content and devolatilization. Briquetting of such materials can result in the production of fuel with a uniform shape and size which can be gasified in a suitable down-draft gasifier. Thus, the briquetting-gasification route can be a potential means of generatingmotivepower from several, if not all, biomass residues which can be used to meet part of the rural energy demand. Further, the briquettes obtained convert locally available loose biomass into more compact and convenient form which can be used in domestic chulhas or community chulhas in place of wood, charcoal, etc.

TERI's gasification system The Tata Energy Research Institute · (TERI) has been working on biomass gasification since 1983, and has developed a down-draft throatless gasifier with low specific gasification rate with emphasis on fuel and end­use flexibility, in a project sponsored by the Ministry of

Non-conventional Energy Sources. It is an integrated biomass gasifier system capable of utilizing several biomass residues as fuel along with associated cooling and cleaning train, fuel processing system and power generating system. The system can be ~ssembled on a single trolley making the complete unit an independent source of energy suitable for rural applications in remote areas. One such unit, capable of handling 5 kW electric load, was installed at village Dhanawas in Haryana in April 1989 to produce biomass briquettes and provide electricity to the village temple, and it is functioning without any major problems. The salient features of this gasifier system arc: (1) down-draft throatless design helps in obtaining clean producer gas and allows smooth fuel movement, (2) low specific gasification rate with smooth fuel movement due to larger diameter, (3) continuous ash removal system, s0 as to handle fuels with high ash content, (4) low pressure drop across the gasifier system, (5) higher reactor temperature ensures better quality of gas with less tar content, (6) fuel bed agitator ensures smooth fuel movement in continuous operation by avoid­ing bridging in fuel bed, (7) ability to use different biomass residues, and (8) a novel multi-stage gas cleaning and cooling system, ensures effective performance; it is simple in construction and requires negligible maintenance.

The down -draft throatless gasifier developed by TERI

VOLUME 3 NUMBER 3 + 41

CASE STUDY continued

Briquetting loose biomass

Briquetting is usually considered as an energy intensive operation. This is not true from the point of view of overall energy balance in conjunction with electricity generation. Data from various types of briquetting plants indicate a specific electricity consumption of about 0.1 kWh/kg for power briquetting i.e. only about 10% of electricity generated is consumed for briquetting, because the specific electricity generation from gasifier based systems is known to be about 1 kWh/kg. The energy consumption figures are even lower in the present system owing to low density briquetting by screw extrusion method.

Mustard stalk briquettes obtained from the system were tried in Hara chulhas used to · slow-boil the milk in Haryana. The villagers were satisfied as these emit less smoke and burns for a longer period compared to traditional cowdung cakes. These briquettes were also supplied to nt?ilrby dhabas for trial testing. They burned quite well but very rapidly. For chulhas in the dhabas, slow burning briquettes are preferable, which can be achieved by high density briquettes with clay as binder material. At present, work is going on to try different options such as charring the loose 1Mmass and then briquetting it or charring the briquettes. TERI has developed a pyrolizer for charring the biomass before bri'quetting.

To make the gasifier system capable of using different biomass fuels, a fuel processing system has been developed to convert loose biomass into ~riquetted form. This system consists of chopper, pulverizer, and briquetting machine. The chopper and pulverizer are used to reduce the length of biomass to 1- 2 mm. Then adding cowdung or molasses as a binding material, biomass is treated through a screw extruder type machine to produce briquettes. These can be directly used as a fuel in furnaces or as gasifier fuel to obtain producer gas.

· Fiel~ performance All the ~>omponents of the briquetting- gasification system namely, gasifier, cooling-cleaning train, diesel engine, alternator, and briquetting machine are assembled on the trolley, making the complete system as a stand-alone source of motive pqwer which can be either used for producing electricity or running any mechanical system, such as irrigation pump, oil expeller, and flour mill. The unit has been successfully tested.with fuels such as bajra stalk, mustard stalk, sawdust, coir pith, groundnut shell, and tobacco dust. ·

At present, a 7.5 kVA generator is connected to the system and electricity thus obtained is being supplied to the village temple. The system has now been working

· ·smoothly for more than three years. The system perform­ance has sho~ that, in a dual-fuel mode, it is possible to replace almost 70-80% of diesel with producer gas.

42 + U R J A B H A R A T I

Diesel replacement in dual fuel inode operation Oieul rulaetmnt t•) 100 ,--____:.:,...-_ .:...;__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ --,

80 r-:--

50

~0

20

0~--~--~--~--~--~ 0

Lood (kW)

Thus; such an integrated biomass g~sification system with fuel and end-use flexibility, as demonstrated by its performance over the last three years, has considerable potential in rural areas. As the whole system is mounted on a mobile trolley, it can serve as a stand-alone source of energy in remote areas for a variety of electricity and process heat applications. Therefore, there is a need to ex­pand the scope of present work to include larger capacity systems for wider applications. This can go a long way in improving the rural energy scenario in the country. 0

P Raman, Sanjay Mande, V V N Kishore Tata Energy Research Institute

Solar photovoltaic programme in India

Suneel Deambi Tata Energy Research Institute

Photovoltaic (PV) technology deals with the direct continuous conversion of sunlight into useful electricity through semi-conductor electronic processes. It is a con­venient technique of generating electricity from the abun­dantly available sunlight in an environmentally clean and reliable manner. The existence of PV technology for over a decade in India, has not only established a sound re­search base and a promising industry, but has also found several applications as well, especially in the rural areas.

Technology status The first commercial PV cells in world were developed in the fifties. Initially used in space applications, PV devices penetrated consumer and commercial markets in the eighties. PV modules with efficiencies ranging from 11% to 17% are now commercially available, while experimental cells have demonstrated laboratory efficiencies as high as 34%. Likewise,the efficiencies of BOS (balance-of-system}-inverters, batteries- have also gone up. The world PV market now has a size of 58.6 MW.

The Indian PV technology programme originated in ·1976. The capabilities of Indian PV industry stretch to complete cell manufacture, module· lamination and system development. While the complete system manufacturers are still limited, there are numerous local industries employed in the BOS development.

Though higher input costs combined with duties and taxes lead to a higher module price in India, certain decentralized low capacity applications are still viable on a life cycle cost basis. Scope for cost reduction in PV cells may lie in utilizing full production capacity through identification of new PV applications.

Dissemination programme In India, the MNES (MinistryofNon-conventional Energy Sources) formulates the policies and programmes for the dev~opment of R&D activities in photovoltaics also and ensures their dissemination. The programmes are implemented with the active co-operation of various central and state government departments, state nodal agencies and non-governmental agencies. For most of these activities, the costs are shared between the central and state agencies, whereby MNES pays for the cost of PV modules and the state agency bears the expenditure on

BOS and local works. Provision has been made by the REC (Rural Electrification Corporation) to allow the state electricity boards to make use of REC loan funds for PV based electrification. In some cases, the specific state agency secures a contribution from the beneficiary. This contribution varies from state to state and is usually 10-25% of the total cost.

BOS is usually procured by these agencies through normal tendering procedures. Turnkey contracts especially for the PV plants and the large-scale installations are executed by private firms offering good capabilities. Overall co-ordination of the entire PV programme is done by MNES.

In the rural areas, PV technology has found several applications including pumping of drinking water, minor irrigation, domestic lighting, street lighting, lighting for community installations (e.g. television), remote microwave communication relays and microwave repeater stations, and refrigeration. Till date, more than 40 000 such systems have been installed in Inqia.

Domestic lighting units used in remote locations are of three types-fixed domestic lighting, portable lighting, and street lighting. Fixed domestic lighting unit comprises a single module, ~wo_ CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps) of 7 Wand controls, and costs about Rs 9000. Portable lighting unit commonly known as the solar lantern includes a 10 W module, 5-7 W CFL and a sealed battery, and is priced at Rs 5000. Domestic lighting systemsarealsoavailable to the users through community

Photovoltaic programme of MNES

Application Achievement up to

October 1992

(number)

PV water pumps 1180

PV power units 316.9 kWp

PV community lights/TV 719

PV domestic lighting units 11430

PV street lights 28887

V 0 L U M E 3 N U M B E R 3 + 43

Status of Indian photovoltaic industry

Company Production Product range

available indicating a strong need for increasing performance reliability. In this regard, the solar refrigerator developed by Tata BP Solar with a gross volume of 45 litres and programmed to produce 2 kg of ice per 24-hour cycle to facilitate vaccine transportation, o_ffers much promise. Direct receiving dish antennae TV systems are also of significant value in the direction of extending TV transmission to remote areas. Other potential app­lications are in the areas of defence (battery charging units), oil exploration (cathodic protection of pipelines), etc. Considering the low education levels in remote locations, running adult education fiteracy programmes with the help of PV lighting can be quite relevant. Likewise, PV-powered water purifiers can be promoted to reduce the incidence of water-borne diseases.

Cllpacity (MW)

Central Electronics Limited 2.00 Cells, modules and systems

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd 0.25 Cells, modules and systems

Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Ltd 1.00 Modules and

systems

Udhaya Semiconductors Private Limited 0.30 Cells, modules and ·

systems

Suryovonics (Licensed) 3.00 Cells, modules and systems

Tata BP Solar - Modules and systems

Renewable Energy Systems - BOS installation and commissioning

Others - BOS installation and c:Qmmissioning Promising future

based PV plants at service connection charges ranging from Rs 5 to Rs 20.

Street lighting systems (SLS) being one of the first systems to be introduced in the country, has passed through three successive stages of development. The most modem SLS are made of two modules, CFL with timer control and a day/night sensor offering full night operation. Further design modifications are being worked upon in lighting systems to increase their reliability.

Similarly at the village level, two types of systems in the form of community PV lighting systems and PV power plants have been introduced. A 300 Wp PV installation for the community centres largely consists of lights and television.

In spite of high initial costs, PV systems have an important role to play in remote areas, where the grid extension is difficult and financially nonviable. At present, the largest economically viable application ensuring rural linkage with the outside world is the telecommunication, though PV for rural lighting, water pumping and vaccine refrigeration have appreciable social benefits. A large commercial order has already been placed by the DOT (Department of Telecommunications) for supply of 20 000 PV power packs.

For rural n:mote areas, PV refrigeration systems are of a great value to the health services. So far only about 15 such systems have been field tested with the feedback

44 + U R ) A B H A R A T I

In order to accelerate the dissemination of PV technology and to promote

indigenous entrepreneurs, the Government has undertaken several policy initiatives. For instance, the need for an industrial license stands eliminated now, provided no foreign investment is involved. For the import dependent PV machinery I components, a drastic cut in the custom duty has been made. 'Some relevant items have either been exempted from central tax payment or substantial concessions have been granted. The IREDA (Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency), specially set up to deal with RETs (Renewable Energy Technologies), is also providing term loans to PV manufacturers up to Rs 1.5 crore with a total repayment period of eight years.

In the Eighth Plan (1992- 97), a budget of Rs 90 crore has been allocated for the PV programme. The recently sanctioned GEF (Global Environment Facility) funding worth Rs 165 crore, to be routed through IREDA, aims at commercialization of PV systems for efficient lighting, water pumping and rural community services. It would essentially involve establishment of a circulating fund for concessional consumer financing, infrastructural support for marketing, delivering and servicing of products to support an estimated installation of 12 MWp of PV systems. With such active promotion strategies, PV is likely to make a greater impact in India in the years to come, especially for stand-alone applications. 0

CASE STUDY

Photovoltaics for rural power

Till1989, Barodia, a village in the arid plains of Lalitpur district situated on Uttar Pradesh-Madhya Pradesh border, was so remote that it almost. defied identification. It is an extreme! y backward village with no electrification, and has a large illiterate population, a majority of whom are socially and economically deprived. Only a few children go to school in a neighbouring village. The village comprises clusters of mud and thatched hutments, with a few pucca houses. Bu t in December 1989, Barodia became a recipient of PV (photovoltaics) technology, and now is an example of how renewable energy technology could contribute to the rural community.

At present, a PV power plant of 4 kWp capacity, installed by UP-NEDA (Uttar Pradesh- Non­c-onventional Energy Development Agency), is providing energy for domestic lighting, street lighting and television. The system consists of a PV array, battery bank, control panel, cable fixtures and lighting loads. The array comprises a series and parallel arrangement of 126 single crystal silicon modules. The battery bank in this case is a 48-cell system which is charged during the daytime. The load (mainly lighting) is switched on in the evening. Batteries are of a low maintenance type and require only occasional topping up with distilled water available from the solar still installed at the site. Control panel circuitry, indicating the charging current and other parameters such as load current due to street lighting, domestic lighting and television, is housed in the room adjacent to the battery bank room.

Initially, the system had a few snags such as malfunctioning or defective luminaries or1 non-

availa15ility of spares, resulting in regular breakdowns. Following this, UP-NEDA strengthened the maintenance of the system including the prompt supply of spares and distilled water. The technical performance of the system has been satisfactory as indicated by the tests carried out. The data for most parameters have been fairly consistent over time (see tables). The miil.or variation in the data is mostly due to climatic factors such as insolation, ambient temperature, and humidity. Even the condition of the batteries during different seasons has been very good. The state of charge was also to full capacity. Though a module was damaged during a hailstorm, the plant performance was not affected severely.- The module surfaces were cleaned regularly. Apart from the community television, the system now feeds 20 streetlights and 80 domestic lighting points.

Response to the system The villagers were enthusiastic about the stand-alone system at the time of installation. However, they began to lose interest when the system developed problems in the formative period. At this stage, UP-NEDA made some changes in the maintenance system: a project officer and other staff were posted at Lalitpur to make the approach easier than when it was at Jhansi; a mechanic from Lali tpur now visits the village once in two weeks; and the caretaker appointed to look after the system has also acquired some skills in making minor repairs. With the application of remedial measures and the smooth functioning of the system, the people now fully appreciate the benefits of the system which enables children to study

Array parameters

Month Insolation Charging voltage Charging current (W/m2) (Max) (V) (Max) (A)

September '92 1096 125.0 19.0

October '92 1010 117.5 12.0

November '92 1160 127.5 15.0

V 0 L U M E 3 N U M B E R 3 + 45

CASE STUDY continued

Month Insolation (W/m2)

July'92 897

September '92 994

October'92 730

November '92 1062

February'93 760

Month No. of cells Juzving electro-

lyte level indicator

July'92 25 I

September '92 28

October 192 27

November '92 24

February'93 26

A view of the PV potoer plant

46 + U R j A B H A R A T I

Module performance

Power output Efficiency

. (W) (%)

19.37 5.39

20.80 5.23

14.56 4.98

21.36 5.02

19.22 6.32 . I

-;

Battery performance

No. of cells No. of cells No. of cells ' Juzving full showing full with terminQl electrolyte voltage corroded

level

-4

0

17

48

I

' 48 9

48 7

48 14

48 6

48 7 -

at night, provides secu£ity through- lighting and entertainment via supply of energy fpr televisions. However, most of them have strongly expressed the need to increase the capacity of the system to facilitate the use of fans and more lights .

. Thus, Barodia not only demonstrates the potential of PV systems to m.eet the energy needs of remote and inaccessible locations but also emphasizes the need to have a proper system of operation and maintenance for the maximization of benefits from stand-alone systems. 0

S Deambi, D Tyagi, PM Sadaphal, A Chaurey, M Sangal

Tata Energy Research Institute

Micro hydel: a promising source of rural energy

Chandra Shekhar Sinha Tata Energy Research Institute

Small/ mini-micro hydel (hereinafter ,.referred to as micro hydel) is a technology with enormous potential which could exploit the water resources to supply energy to remote rural areas with little access· to conventional energy sources. Moreover, micro hydel eliminates most of the negative environmental effects associated with large hydro projects (large-scale displacement, loss of biodiversity, etc.). However, till October 1992 only about 86.44 MW (spread over 127 projects) of the total estimated potential of 5000 MW in India has been reportedly harnessed. In order to provide a sharper focus to this renewable source of energy, small hydel development up to 3 MW capacity was transferred to the MNES (Ministry of_ Non-conventional Energy Sources) from the Department of Power in 1989. MNES had earlier initiated some small demonstration projects in the high, medium, and low head categories with the ultimate objective of making them models of their types of heads and flows in design, engin~ring, and equipment selection. At present, there are 115 schemes with a total capacity of 123.25 MW under various stages of completion.

The Eighth Plan commitment for the small hydel sector is Rs 100 crores. Further, the World Bank is expected to provide a loan of $70 million (Rs 210 crores) for developing 110 MW, to be routed through IRED A (Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency). The GEF (Global Environment Facility), being administered through UNDP and the World Bank, has agreed to finance the development of small hydel projects in the hilly regions of the country by investing US$ 7.52 million (Rs 22.6 crores). The total funds available for small hydro development is thus likely to be about Rs 332 crores during 1992-97. With participation of state governments, private entrepreneurs, and other financial institutions, etc., additional investment of Rs 100-150 crores would be possible,taking the total inflow to around Rs 42~80 crores for small hydro development. Thus, micro hydel is going to be an important technology in the Eighth Plan for energy development in rural areas. ·

Experience with small hydro in India During the Seventh Plan (1985-90), the initial batch of schemes was conceived, designed and executed as scaled

down versions of large conventional hydro installations leading to numerous redyndancies in the design, resulting in high costs. The cost effectiveness of such schemes was further undermined by the use of excess technical staff to operate and maintain the pilot schemes. The feedback on performance of the pilot schemes has been utilized by MNES to attain qualitative improvement of the programme. In fact, detailed re-examination of the project reports in five states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu (totalling over 130 MW of proposed capacity) has been completed by the ESMAP of the World Bank. Over 30% cost reduction has resulted from this exercise.

Cost of micro hydro development The costs of constructed/ committed micro hydel projects vary widely fromRs 4700/kW to as much as Rs 80 000/ kW. The average cost for the listed projects is about Rs 28 000/kW. These estimates are based on historical costs. Optimizing the design to increase the energy output, and reducing design complexities to lower the costs for 145 micro hydel units in five stat~s totalling about 130 MW (by ESMAP) resulted in lowering the average cost toRs 20 000/kW.

Financial incentives for sn;tall hydro development All micro hydel projects in grid connected areas are now eligible for 25% capital subsidy of the government on the 'reasonable' cost of civil and electro-mechanical expenses. For non-grid connected areas (defined as areas where the gridismorethan 1 kmaway)thesubsidycan beupto50%. Based on a decision of CASE (Commission on Additional Sources of Energy), these subsidies can be availed of by any investing organization-public, joint, co-operative~

private or voluntary. · MNES also announced in May 1991, a scheme of

sharing 50% of the costs incurred on DPR (Detailed Project Report) preparation, subject to a limit of Rs 10 000 plus Rs 100/kW of investigated capacity. The scheme is open to all organizations, including those from the private sector.

V 0 L U M E 3 N U M B E R 3 + 47

Status of micro hydel projects (up to 3 MW)

State fliTs Projects installed Projects under completion

Number Capacity (MW) Number Capacity (MW)

Andhra Pradesh 4 3.01 4 5.00

Arunachal Pradesh 25 15.16 19 18.40 I

Assam 1 2.00 - -

Bihar - - 1 1.00

Goa - - 2 2.90

Gujarat - - 1 2.00

Haryana 1 0.20 1 0.10

ffiznachalPradesh 13 9.17 1 0.30

\ Jammu & Kashmir 5 2.31 5 5.40 I

Karnataka 1 0.40 3 1.39

Kerala 2 0.02 4 10.00

Madhya Pradesh 2 1.20 7 9.05

Maharashtra 3 3.58 4 6.20

Manipur 4 2.60 5 4.70

Meghalaya 1 1.51 - -

Mizoram 7 2.95 3 4.27

Nagaland 4 2.82 5 5.60

Orissa - - 9 5.23

Punjab 4 3.30 - -Raja& than 2 0.57 5 5.56

Sikkim 6 6.90 2 2.40

TamilNadu - - 3 4.75

Tripura 2 1.01 - -

Uttar Pradesh 35 20.27 30 27.80

West Bengal 5 7.46 1 1.20

Total 127 86.44 115 123.25

(As on 15 August 1992)

48 + U R J A B H A R A T I

Manufacturing infrastructure Significant indigenization has been achieved in the manufacture of micro hydel equipment with the help of technology · transfer tie-ups with nine prominent equipment manufacturers in the world.

2 x 500 kW Sessa mini hydel power project, Arunachal Pradesh

Possible measures for increased small hydro utilization 1. Increasing reliability. The reliability of the micro hydel system can be substantially increased through inno­vative and inter-linked design of micro hydel facilities. The design of micro hydel projects on the basis of river basins using the principle of cascade development, can be a major factor in increasing reliability. Such cascade systems, which can be as much as 10-20 MW, can then be integrated to form a local rural grid which, in tum, may be connected to a regional grid, helping in hastening the process of rural electrification.

2. Reducing costs. The recent World Bank survey of the designs of micro hydel facilities reveals the possibility of bringing down the unit cost of small hydro plants to one­third of the current costs by a combination of design modi­fication and standa-rdization of equipment.

3. Standardization of the hydro-electrical equipment (water turbine-generator combinations) through establishing technical specification and the consequent improvement in the quality of manufacture and reduction in unit costs is another measure which can go a long way in making implementation of micro-hydel projects reliable and quicker.

4. Role of private entrepreneurs. Power generation and distribution, though on the concurrent list, is basically a state subject. For private entrepreneurs to participate,

state governments have to formulate policies and guidelines to enable generation by private sector.

In addition, for the non-grid connected systems, it is necessary that entrepreneurs be allowed to operate as licensees of the State Electricity Boards to generate power, and distribute and sell it at prices which ensure economic viability of the project.

5. A number of financial incentives applicable to other renewable energy equipment running on solar, wind, etc., such as permission to depreciate 100% of the capital cost in the first year of purchase under the Income Tax Act, import without any license and generally with duties ranging from 0% to 40%, and total exemption from central excise and sales taxes should be extended to small hydro, too. Such a move could result in a cost reduction of about 25%.

These measures are likely to go a long way in harnessing the micro hydel potential in a sytematic fashion, and MNES has already initiated several activities on these lines. 0

V 0 L U M E 3 N U M B E R 3 + 49

Nodal agencies for renewable energy programmes*

ANDHRA PRADESH

1. Non-conventional Energy Development Corporation C?f Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad · Programme: NPBD, NPIC, solar thermal, photovolt­aics, wind energy, biomass, urjagram

2. Chief Engineer, Projects, Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board, Hyderabad Programme: Mini-micro hydel

ARUNACHAL PRADESH

1 . . Rural Works Department, Itanagar Programme: NPIC, solar thermal, wind energy, biomass, urjagram

2. Director of Agriculture, Itanagar Programme: NPBD

3. Chief Engineer, Department of Power, ltanagar Programme: Mini-micro hyde!

Ass,t.M 1. Director of Rural Development, Guwahati

Programme: NPBD, NPIC 2. Department of Science, Technology & Environment,

Dis pur ·Programme: Solar thermal, photovoltaics, wirid energy, biomass, urjagram

3. Member (Generation), Assam State Electricity Board, Guwahati

Programme: Mini-micro hy_del

BrnAR 1. Bihar Renewable Energy Development Agency, Patna

Programme: Solar thermal, photovoltaics, wind energy, biomass, urjagram, NPBD, NPI~

2. Director (Tech)., Bihar State Hydro Electric Power Corporation, Patna Programme: Mini-micro hydel

GoA 1. Directorate of Agriculture, Panaji

Programme: NPBD 2. Rural Development Agency, Panaji

Programme: NPIC 3. Chief Engineer (Electrical), Panaji

Programme: Solar thermal, photovoltaics, mini-micro hydel

4. Goa, Daman & Diu Council for Science & Technology Programme; Biomass

·*State/nodal agency/department

50 + U R J A B H A R A T I

GUJARAT

1. Gujarat Energy Development Agency, Vadodara Programme: Solar thermal, photovoltaics, wind energy, biomass, urjagram, NPIC, community biogas

2. Gujarat Agro-Industries Corporation, Ahmedabad Programme: NPBD

3. Chief Engineer (Civil), Gujarat Electricity Board, Vadodara

Programme: Mini-micro hydel

HARYANA .

1. Directorate of Agriculture, Chandigarh · Programme: NPBD

2. Department of Social Welfare, Chandigarh Programme: NPIC

3. Haryana State Council for Science & Technology, Chandigarh Programme: Solar thermal, urjagram, biomass

4. State Electronics Development Corporation Programme: Photovoltaics, wind energy

5. Chief Engineer (Hydel), Haryana State Electricity Board, Yamuna Nagar Programme: Mini-micro hydel

HIMACHAL PRADESH

1. Director of Agriculture, Shimla Programme: NPBD

2. Rural Development Department, Shimla Programme: NPIC

3. Himachal Pradesh Energy Development Agency (HIMURJA), Shimla Programme: Biomass, urjagram, solar thermal

4. Himachal Pradesh Agro-industries Corporation Programme: Photovoltaics, wind energy

5. Chief Engineer (Pig.), Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board, Shimla Programme: Mini-micro hydel

JAMMU & KASHMIR

1. Department of Agriculture, Srinagar Programme: NPBD

2. J & K Energy Development Agency, Science & Technology Department, Srinagar Programme: Biomass, urjagram

3. Department of Science; Technology & Environment, Srinagar Programme: Solar thermal, NPIC, photovoltaics

4. Power Development Corporation, Srinagar Programme: Mini-micro hydel

I<ARNATAKA

1. Department of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Bangalore Programme: NPBD, NPIC

2. Karnataka State Council for Science & Technology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore Programme: Solar thermal, photovoltaics, wind energy, biomass, urjagram

3. Kamataka Power Corporation Ltd., Bangalore Programme: Mini-micro hydel

I<ERALA

1. Deparbnent of Agriculture, Thiruvananthapuram Programme: NPBD

2. Agency for Non-conventional Energy & Rural Technology (ANERT), Thiruvananth~puram Programme: Solar thermal, photovoltaics, wind energy, biomass, urjagram, NPIC

3. Chief Engineer (Civil), Kerala SEB, Thiruvananthapuram Programme: Mini-micro hydel

MAHARASHTRA

1. Department of Rural Development, Bombay Programme: NPBD, NPIC

2. Maharashtra Energy Development Agency, Bombay Programme: Solar thermal, photovoltaics, wind energy, biomass, urjagram

3. C.E. (Hydro Project), Department of Irrigation, Bombay Programme: Mini-micro hyde!

MADHYA PRADESH

1. Madhya Pradesh Agro Industries Corporation, Bhopal Programme: NPBD

2. M.P. Urja Vikas Nigam, Bhopal Programme: NPIC, solar thermal, wind energy, biomass, urjagram

3. C.E. (Civil) S & I, Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board, Jabal pur Programme: Mini-micro hydel

MANIPUR

1. Department of Science, Technology and Environment, Imphal Programme: NPBD, urjagram, NPIC, solar thermal, photovoltaics, wind energy

2. C.E. (Power) Hydro Electric Investigation Circle,

Imp hal Programme: Mini-micro hyde!

MEGHALAYA

1. Meghalaya Non-conventional Energy & Rural Development Agency, Shillong Programme: NPBD, solar thermal, biomass, urjagram

2. Planning Department, Shillong Programme: NPIC

3. Secretary, Electricity Department Programme: Photovoltaics, wind energy, mini-micro hydel

MIZORAM

1. Directorate of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, Aizawl Programme: NPBD

2. Rm'al Development Department, Aizawl Programme: NPIC

3. Deparbnent of Power & Electricity, Aizawl Programme: Solar thermal, photovoltaics, wind energy, mini-micro hydel

4. Scientific Officer, Mizoram Council of Science, Technology & Environment, Aizawl Programme: Biomass

NACALAND

1. Department of Rural Development, Kohima Programme: NPBD, NPIC

2. Department of Power, Kohima Programme: Mini-micro hydel, solar thermal, biomass

3. Development Commissioner, Kohima Programme: Photovoltaics, wind energy

ORISSA

1. Orissa Renewable Energy Development Agency, Bhubaneshwar Programme: NPBD, solar thermal, photovoltaics, wind energy, biomass, urjagram, NPIC

2. Orissa Power Generation Corp. Ltd, Bhubaneshwar Programme: Mini-Micro Hydel

PuNJAB

1. Director of Agriculture, Chandigarh Programme: NPBD

2. Department of Science & Technology, Chandigarh Programme: NPIC

3. Punjab Energy Development Agency, Chandigarh Programme: Solar thermal, photovoltaics, wind energy, urjagram

4. Engineer-in-Chief/M & MHP, Punjab State Electricity Board, Patiala

V 0 l U M E 3 N U M B E R 3 + 51

Programme: Mini-micro hydel 5. Punjab Agro Industries Corporation Ltd., Chandigarh

Programme: Biomass

RAJAS1HAN

1. Special Scheme & Integrated Rural Development Department, Jaipur Programme: NPBD

2. Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Department, Jaipur Programme: NPIC

3. Rajasthan Energy Development Agency, Jaipur; and Rajasthan Agro-Industries Corporation Ltd., Programme: Solar thermal, photovoltaics, wind energy, biomass, urjagram

4. C.E. (Mini Hydel), Rajasthan State Electricity Board, Jaipur and Rajasthan Agro-Industries Corpn Ltd. Programme: Mini-micro hydel

SIKKIM 1. New & Renewable Sources of Energy Department,

Gangtok Programme: NPB,O, NPIC, solar thermal, photo­voltaics, wind energy, biomass, urjagram

2. Add. Chief Engineer, Power Department, Gangtok Programme: Mini-micro hydel

TAMJLNA·DU

1. Department of Rural Development, Madras Programme: NPBD, NPIC

2. Tamilnadu Energy Development Agency, Madras Programme: Solar thermal, biomass, urjagram, photovoltaics, wind energy

3. C. E. (Planning), Tamil N adu Electricity Board, Madras Programme: Mini-micro hydel

TRIPUM

1. Department of Agriculture, Agartala Programme: NPBD

2. Department of Science, Technology & Environment, Agartala Programme: NPIC, solar thermal, photovoltaics, wind energy, biomass, urjagram

3. C.E. (Electrical), Department of Power, Agartala Programme: Mini-micro hydel

UrrAR PRADESH

1. Non-conventional Enet;gy Development Agency, Lucknow Programme: Solar thermal, photovoltaics, wind energy, biomass, urjagram, mini-micro hydel, NPIC

2. Department of Rural Development, Lucknow Programme: NPBD, NPIC

52 + U R J A B H A R A T I

WEST BENGAL

1. Department of Cottage & Small Scale Industries, Cal~utta Programme: NPBD

2. Relief & Welfare Department, Calcutta Programme: NPIC

3. Science & Technology Department, Calcutta Programme: Solar thermal, urjagram

4. West Bengal State Electricity Board, Calcutta Progamme: Photovoltaics, wind energy, biomass

5. C.E. (Hyde!), West Bengal State Electricity Board, Calcutta Progamme: Mini-micro hydel

ANDAMAN & NICOBAR IsLANDS

1. Development Commissioner & Development Secretary, Port Blair Programme: NPBD

2. Department of Electricity, Port Blair Programme: Solar thermal, biomass, mini-micro hydel

3. Department of Energy, Port Blair Programme: Photovoltaics, wind energy

CHANDIGARH

1. Department o{Rural Development, Chandigarh Programme: NPBD

2. Department of Social Welfare, Chandigarh Progamme: NPIC, solar thermal

DADRA AND NAGAR HAVELI

1. Animal Husbandry-cum-Veterinary Officer, Silvassa Programme: NPBD

2. Development & Planning Officer, Rural Development Department, Administration of Dadra & Nagar Haveli (U.T.), Silvassa Prowamme: Solar thermal, biomass, NPIC

DELln

1. Delhi Energy Development Agency, Delhi Programme: NPBD, solar thermal, photovoltaics, wind energy, biomass, NPIC

PONDICHERRY

1. Director of Agriculture, Pondicherry Programme: NPBD, photovoltaics, wind energy, biomass, NPIC

2. District Rural Development Agency, Pondicherry Programme: Solar thermal

Compiled by Soma Dutta

VIEWPOINT

Institutional financing for renewable energy

development in India

R C Sekhar Institute of Rural Management, Anand

Only in recent times is the technical promise of renewable energy systems grudgingly admitted in India as being reliable and having potential. As most of these technologies gain increasingly firmer ground, the role of institutional financing, too, is becoming more important.

The viability of technologies based on renewable energy have a range and variability depending upon the location and context, which are related to the technical input-output parametric relationships and to extending these to financial results using their opportunity costs. This has so far been a major barrier in promoting institutional financing or in developing general guidelines for its implementation.

Relevance of institutional financing Institutional financing is particularly useful and desirable when there is viability of an investment in the long run, but there may be problems in the 'short run' in terms of cash flows. In addition, there may be risks owing to variability in perfotmance. Noting the greater risks in investments iri. renewable energy, the coverage of risks is considered an important aspect of financing renewable energy. It is often suggested that it is not the capital costs but risk coverage that is the critical factor for extension of renewable energy technologies, such as biogas. If risk of failure needs only to be covered, then the financing mechanisms need to be different.

Distortions in the energy sector is another reason for supporting institutional financing. It is well understood that the energy tariffs of the conventional, non- renewable sources and of nuclear power are highly underpriced and subsidized. Consequently, they strangle all development in rational energy planning. This is further aggravated by the lack of mechanisms of internalizing of external costs (such as environmental damage) and benefits.

If the tariffs were to be rationalized, there will be a strong movement towards conservation and of development of renewable sources. Some, if not most of them, could be planned properly by these very energy

supply organizations. These would be bankable as the economics of both, conservation and renewables, are quite sound with rational tariffs. The support could also be extended differentially in favour of the poor; this would mitigate and compensate for a merciless market approach.

The high front end-cost and low running costs associated with most renewable energy technologies makes financing even more relevant. Therefore, when there are capital constraints, moderate risks and long­term returns, institutional support is a healthy quasi­market moderating corrective for naked market mechanisms.

The merit of institutional financing is in its ability to monitor and correct inefficiencies and misallocation of resources at low transaction costs. In several circumstances, it may be better than less market oriented and more administratively control oriented mechanism. It's approach is inherently and very refreshingly pluralistic. It presents both the giver and taker of finance with freedom of choice, action and decision. The decision-making is decentralized and dispersed to agents who have more intimate contact.

But all these arguments are relevant only for private returns for an individual or a firm and not for social returns. Institutional finance can only monitor and cope with individual returns. Social returns are too cumbersome for it and would be ineffective in promoting social objectives.

Institutional financing for renewable energy In India, institutional financing in the past was usually linked with government schemes of subsidies or grants, whether it be the biogas, social forestry programmes or any other programme. These were operated not only through individuals and corporate or collective users but also through manufacturers. These schemes of subsidies suffered from lack of innovation on the economics and technological soundness of the investment. Evidently,

V 0 L U M E 3 N U M B E R 3 + 53

\ I

·, I

\ I

VIEWPOINT continued

this approach has had a limited impact in achieving the desired objectives. The element of subsidy led to wrong investment decisions and also resulted in .major leakages. Even the operating economics of running the project was often ul)iavorable due to investments in incorrect places and situations. · Some new initiatives such as the creation of the IRED A (Indian Re-newable Energy Development Agency) 41nd Programme for Accelaration of Commercialization of Energy Resources have been taken. These initiatives are welcome because they attempt to bring in the discipline ()f the market, choosing those segments that are not likely to be perversely distorted by market mechanisms. Alternatively, they bypass market mechanisms for evaluation, typically in R&D. But they are still on a small scale and can only make a limited impact. Most of all they are still not cognizant, except in R&D funding, of the problems of risks which inhibits many takers. Therefore, an expansion of the scale of operations by organizations like IRED A is dearly indicated, which hopefully will take place following substantial funding from the World Bank and UNDP under GEF (Global Environment Facility), to

develop renewables such as wind and PV systems. In conclusion, one may say, that institutional funding

for renewable energy systems has several difficulties owing to the dispersal of activities it demands, the variability of financial viability due .to very dissin:Ular conditions, and the higher risks these projects inherently have. Lastly, it has to be only one of the many tools of intervention. It can certainly not cope with the social returns criterion unaided by other measures such as subsi­dies and fiscal incentives. Among the very important aids for internalizing external costs, is correcting the tariff pol­icy for energy from non-renewable large centralized units.

Many innovations are possible to reduce the problems of disperSed application; one such is the DEFENDUS strategy propounded by Amulya Reddy~ which enjoins the centralized producers of energy to execute dispersed energy conservation and renewable energy deve­lopments. Lastly, not standardized projeCts but tailor­made programmes have to be handled by financing insti­tutions. This means considerable education and dis­cretion for them, much more than provided hitherto. 0

INDIAN RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (IRED A)

The Indian Renewable Energy Develapment Agency (IRED A) was set up as a public sector undertaking in 1987 with an aim to extend financial assistance to promote, develop and commercialize technologies relating to NRSE (new and renewable sources of energy). In order to strengthen its resource base, the government allowediREDA to raiseRs 25 crore from the capital market through 9% tax free bonds. A plan allocation of Rs 3.4 crore has been made for IRED A for the year 1990/91. IRED A has also received assistance from the Dutch Government in form of a grant-in-aid of over Rs 16 crore to promote NRSE technologies in the country. The World Bank has also shown a keen interest in assisting projects to generate power through small hydro, wind-farms and solarphotovoltaics. With the likelihood of it receiving huge funding to the tune of US $275 million through GEF (Global Environment Facility), IRED A is poised for a quantum leap in its operations.

Ooer the years, IRED A has promoted projects and technologies in areas of NRSE such as biomass utilizationJ wind energy, mini and micro hydel, solar thermal energy, solar photovoltaics, and generation of biogas from industrial effluents. Projects have also been-promoted in manufacture by NRSE equipment as well as direct utilization of such technologies.

IRED A which has completed five years of its existence had, til131 March 1992, approved a total of177 projects worth Rs 209.35 crore. Out of this, IREDA's loan commitment is Rs 66.79 crore. During 1991-92, financial assistance sanctioned for 52 new projects amounted toRs 24.84 as against Rs 26.29 crore in the previous year. Loan disbursements during the year amounted toRs 10.18 crore representing an increase of 23:8% over the previous year's disbursements.

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Suggested readings

Journals Appropriate Technology, IT Publications Limited,

103-105 Southampton Road, London, Great Britain WCIB 4HH

Boiling Point, Technical Enquiry Office, ITDG, Myson House, Railway_ Terrace, Rugby, Great Britain CV213HT -

Changing Villages, Consortium on Rural Technology, D-320 Laxmi Nagar, Delhi 110 092

Down to Earth, F 6 Kailash Colony, New Delhi 110 048

Economic and Political Weekly, Hitkari House, 284 Shahid Bhagatsingh Road, Bombay 400 038

Energy Management (India), National Productivity Council, Lodi Road, New Delhi 110 003

Energy- The International Journal, Pergamon Press, Headington Hill Hall, Oxford, Great Britain OX30BW

Energy Economics, Butterworth Scientific Ltd, PO Box 63, Westbury House, Bury Street, Guilford, Surrey, Great Britain GU2 SBH

Energy Policy, Butterworth- Heinemann Limited, Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford, Great Britain OX2 8DP

Journal of Rural Development, National Institute of Rural Development, Rajendra Nagar, Hyderabad 500 030

i<hadi Gramodyog, Khadi and Village Industries Commission, Gramodaya, 3 Irla Road, Vile Parle (West), Bombay 400 056

Moving Technology, Council for Advancement of People's Action & Rural Technology, 58 Institutional Area, Pankha Road, D-Block, I anakpuri New Delhi 110 058

Natural Resources Forum, Butterworth-Heinemann Limited, Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford, Great Britain OX2 8DP

RERIC International Energy Journal, Regional Energy Resources Information Center Library and Regional Documentation Center, Asian Institute of Technology, GPO 2754, Bangkok 10501, Thailand

Rural Technology Journal, Information Service Division, CDRT IERT, 26 Chatha'n Lines, Allahabad 211 002

Sadhana, Indian Academy of Sciences, L V Raman Avenue, PB No. 8005, Sadashivanagar, Bangalore 560 080

-,_

SESI Journal, Tata Energy Research Institute, 9 Jor Bagh, New Delhi 110 003

Sun World, International Solar Energy Society, PO Box 52, Rockville, Victoria 3052, Australia

TIDE (TERI Information Digest on Energy), Tata Energy Research Institute, 9 Jor Bagh, New Delhi 110 003

URJA, . Post Box 3008, G- 82 Sujan Singh Park, New Delhi 110 003

World Development, The American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave~ NW, Washington DC 20016

Yojana, Yojana Bhavan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi 110 001

Books/Monographs Advisory Board on Energy, 1985. Towards a Perspective on

Energy Demand and Supply in India in 2004/05. New Delhi: ABE

Agarwal B. 1986. Cold Hearths and Barren Slopes . New Delhi: Allied Publishers. 209 pp.

Asia and Pacific Development Centre. 1985. Integrated Energy Planning: a Manual. Volt Energy Data, Energy Demand, Vol 2. EnergyS~pply, Vol3. Energy Policy. Kuala Lumpur: APOC

Baldwin S F. 1986. Bionbs Stoves: Engineering Design, Development_ and D~~~ination, Arlington, Virginia, USA: Volunteers in Technical Ass~stance. 287 pp.

ChambersR, SaxenaN C,Shah T.1983. To the Hand of the Poor: Water and Trees . Essex: Longman Scientific and Technical Publishers

Centre for Science and Environment. 1985. State of India's Environment 1984- 85: Second Citizen's Report, New Delhi: CSE

Food and Agriculture Organization. 1983. Wood fuel Surveys. Rome: HAO. 202 pp.[GCP/INT/365 SWE]

Goldemberg J, Johansson T B, Reddy A K Ni Williams R H. 1988. Energy for a Sustainable World. New Delhi: Wiley Eastern

Moulik T K. Shukla P R. 1990. IMEEP. Interactive Model for Energy and Environmental Planning (System documentation). Ahmedabad: Indian Institute of Management

Munslow B, Katerere Y, Ferf A, O'Keefe P. 1988. The

V 0 l U M E 3 N U M B E R 3 + 55

.Fuelwood Trap; a Study of the SADCC Region. London: Earthscan in association with the ETC Foundation

Natarajan I. 1985. Domestic Fuel Survey with Specific ·Reference to Kerosene. New Delhi: National Council for Applied Econo_mic Research

Ramani K V (ed.). 1988. Rural Energy Planning~ Asian and Pacific Experiences. Kuala Lumpur: Asian and Pacific Development Center

Johansson T B, Kelley H, Reddy A K N, Williams R H (eds). 1993. Renewable Energy: Sources for Fuel and

. Electricity. Island Press

Vimal 0 P, Tyagi P D. 1985. Energy from Biomass. New Delhi: Agricol Publishers

WillkerTS,RyanJG.1990. VillageandHouseholdEconomies in India's Semi-arid Tropics. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press ·

World Bank. 1992. World Development Report: Development and the Environment. New York: Oxford University Press. 308 pp.

Reports/Conference proceedings Bhatia R. 1987. Economic evaluation and diffusion of

renewable energy technologies: case studies from India [Manuscript Report IDRC MR162e]. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre

Geller H S, Dutt G S. 1982. Measuring cooki~g fuel economy in wood fuel surveys [Report GCP /INTI 365/SWE]. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization

Intermediate Technology Publications, Tata Energy Research Institute/Institute of Development Studies. 1988. Promoting large scale manufacture and commercialization of decentralized energy systems in India. [Project no. ADE/933/86/04 executed by IT Power Ltd in association with the TERI and IDS for the Commission of European Communities and the Government of India]

Joshi V, Ramana P V. 1989. Rural energy surveys: review of methodologies and issues. Proceedings of the

· Workshop on Decentralised Rural Energy Planning and Implementation, Nagpur, India, 1- 2 September 1989

Joshi V, Suresh MR. 1989. Institutional aspects of rural energy planning. FAO/ESCAP/UNDP Regional Training Workshop on Comprehensive Approach to Rural Energy Assessment and Planning, China Centre for Rural Energy Research and Training, Beijing, 24- 30 September 1989

Planning Commission. 1989. Agroclimatic regional planning: an overview. New Delhi: Government of India

Ryan P, Openshaw K. 1991. Assessment of biomass energy resources: a discussion on its need and methodology. Industry and Energy Department Working Paper [Energy Series Paper No. 48]

US Office of Technical Assistance. 1992. Fueling development: energy technologies for developing countries [OTA-E-516]. Washington DC: US Government Printing Office

Working Group on Energy Policy. 1979. Report of the Working Group on Energy Policy. New Delhi: Planning Commission, Government of India

Papers Alam M, Dunkerley J~ Reddy A K N . 1985. Fuelwood use

in the cities of developing world: two case studies from India. Natural Resources Forum 9.(3): 205-213

Chopra S K. 1987. Integrated rural energy programme-design, programme contents implementation. Urja

Mukharji N. 1989. Decentralisation below the state level: need for a new system of governance. Economic and Political Weekly 24 (March 4): 467-472.

O'Keefe P, Munslow B. 1989. Understanding fuel wood: I A critique of existing interventions in Southern Africa; TI Starting with people. Natural Resources Forum 13 (1): 2- 10; 11- 19

PrasadCR,PrasadKK,Reddy AKN.1974. Biogasplants: prospects, problems and tasks. Economic and Political Weekly9 (32-43): 1347-1364

Rao C H Hanumantha. 1989. Decentralised planning: an overview of experience and prospects. Economic and Political Weekly 24 (8): 411- 16

Rao V M. 1989. Decentralised planning: priority economic issues. Economic and Political Weekly24 (iS): 1399- 1406

Reddy A K N, Goldemberg J. 1990. Energy for the developing world. Scientific American 263 (3): 110-119

Reddy A KN, Sumithra G D, Balachandra P, d'Sa A.1990. Comparative costs of electricity conservation: centralised and decentralised electricity generation. Economic and Political Weekly 25 (22): 1201- 1216

Reddy A K N, Subramanian D K 1979. Design of Rural Energy Centres, Sadhna (Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Science) C-2, part 4:417-433.

Compiled by Nandita Hazarika

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