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Biomass for Energy;
Resource Assessment in India
Indian Institute of Science,Bangalore
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Biomass resource assessment in India;
OBJECTIVES1. Assess the biomass fuel consumption
- firewood, crop residue and animal dung
2. Assess the sources of biomass fuels
3. Assess area under forests, afforestation rates andbiomass & Carbon stocks
4. Estimate land available for biomass feedstockproduction for energy
5. Estimate sustainable biomass production for energy
6. Present barriers to spread of biomass production forenergy and spread of biomass power
7. List co-benefits of biomass production for energy
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Fuelwood, crop residue and
cattle dung consumption (Mt)
Year Fuel wood CropResidue
Dung Reference
1978-79 94 37 83 NCAER, 1981
1995 298 156 114 Ravindranath & Hall, 19951996 214 67 64 Sarma et al, 1998
1996 162 Planning commission, 1999
2010 381 132 98 Sarma et al, 1998
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End uses of biomass fuels (Mt)
Year Household Bricks Cottage
industries
Industrial
establishments,Rituals, hotels
Reference
1995 252 (rural)
+30 (urban)
6 10 Ravindranath
and Hall, 1995
1996 162 NA 25 14 FSI, 1996
2000 180 NA NA 40 CSE, 2000
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Sources of fuelwood (Mt)
Year Source Forest Farm forestry,
common land and
other resources
Plantations
1995 Ravindran
ath& Hall,
1995
71 98 60
1996 FSI, 1996 103 21 77
1999 NFAP,1999 70 23 79
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Crop residue production and use as energy
1997 2010
Crops
Type of residue
Total
residue
production
(Mt)
Quantity
used as
fuel (Mt)
Energy
used as
fuel
PJ
Total
residue
production
(Mt)
Quantity
used as
fuel (Mt)
Energy
used as
fuel
PJ
Rice husk 27 5 65 36 6 78
Rice straw 112 18 234 173 21 273Red
gram Waste 14 13 176 11 9 126
Other
pulses Shell+Waste 17 9 112 17 8 117
Ground
nut Waste 21 4 56 28 4 56Rape
seed &
mustard Waste 14 14 182 24 24 312
Other oil
seeds Waste 18 18 247 27 27 364
Cotton Seeds+ Waste 50 50 750 56 56 840
Sugar
cane Bagasse+Leaves 111 44 704 186 76 1216
Coconut,
arecanut Fronds 20 16 256 28 23 322
Total 407 191 2782 585 255 3704
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Dung production and use as
energy (fresh weight in Mt/year)
1997 2003 2010
Total dung production 659 669 730
Dung directly utilized as fuel 185 250 340
Dung utilized in biogas plants 22 30 99Total use 207 280 439
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Trends in area under forest and
tree cover (Mha)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003
Forestandtre
ecover(Mha)
Forest cover Tree cover
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Cumulative area afforested during
1951 to 2005 (Mha)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
1951
1961
1966
1969
1974
1979
1980
1985
1990
1991
1992
1997
1998
1999
2001
2003
2004
2005
Cum
ulativeareaafforested(Mha)
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Trends in carbon stock estimates
for Indian forests (MtC)
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
1880
1980
1986
1986
1994
2005
Carbonstock(MtC)
Biomass carbon Soil carbon
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Land available for biomass
production for energy (Mha)Study Land categories and land availability (Mha) Total area
(Mha)
Degraded land quoted in Planning
Commission (1992)
Degraded forest36, Degraded non-forest94 130
Chambers et al. (1989)
Land available for tree planting
Cultivated land13, Strips and boundaries2,
Uncultivated, degraded land33, Degraded
forest land36
84
Kapoor (1992)
Land available for tree planting
Agricultural land45, Forest land28, Pasture
land7, Fallow land (long and short)25,
Urban land-1
106
Ministry of Agriculture (1992) Forest land with < 10% tree crown cover11,Grazing land12, Tree groves3, Culturable
land15, Old fallow11, Current fallow14
66
Sudha and Ravindranath (1999) Cultivable land under agro-ecological zones
26.1, Land not suitable for cultivation---13.6,
Pasture land- 2.9
42.6
Ravindranath et al (2001) Short Rotation (SR) - 38.2, Long Rotation (LR) 14.0, Forest regeneration 11.0,
63.2
NRSA (1995) Forest degraded land16.27, Wasteland
38.11, Other category11.07
65.45
NRSA (2004) 55.2
NRSA (2005) 41.0
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Biomass Energy Options and Potential
TRADITIONAL BIO-FUELS Traditional use of biomass for energy is largely for heating &
process heat purposes, in activities such as cooking, heatingwater, and brick making
Traditional biomass use for energy is characterized by lowefficiency of use, drudgery and environmental degradation
MODERN BIOENERGY OPTIONS
- Energy efficient, sustainable, substitute fossil fuel OR non-sustainable biomass extraction, reduce GHG emissions,
BIOENERGY OPTIONS Biomass power through combustion and gasification Liquid fuels (Biodiesel and Ethanol) Gaseous fuel (biogas)
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Biomass production and biomass
power generation potentialLand category Area in
Mha
Biomass
productivityt/ha/year
Total biomass
production forenergy (Mt/year)
Power generation
in TWh / year
6.6 (withoutgeneticimprovement
and fertilisers)
228 228Short rotationenergyplantation
a
34.6
12 (with genetic
improvementand fertilizer)
415 415
6.6 (withoutgeneticimprovement
and fertilisers)
158 158Short rotationenergyplantation
b
24.0
12 (with geneticimprovement
and fertilizer)
288 288
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Bio-diesel production potential
Land
category
Area (Mha) Options Oil seeds
production
(Mt/year)
Oil
extracted
Mt/year
Bio-diesel3
(Mt/year)
70a
(low
yield)
21 20Jatropha
curcas1
168b
(high
yield)
50.4 48
Fallow land 14
Tree based 2
(Karanja or
Pongamia
pinnata)
70 21 20
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Barriers to Sustained Biomass Supply
Tenurial uncertainty for wastelands, particularly public orgovernment lands, for power utilities and the utilities cannot getaccess to government and community lands for producing biomass.
Absence of policy or regulatory provisions for long-term contractbetween farmers and biomass power utilities for sustained biomasssupply from farm lands to biomass power utilities
Lack of access to easy credit, financial incentives and guaranteedprice for biomass feedstock to farmers and such incentives areavailable for biomass power utilities and not for biomass producers
Absence of package of practices for high biomass yields in different
agro-climatic zones.
Long-gestation period in producing biomass (a minimum of 3 to 5years for harvesting)
High transportation cost for large scale biomass power utilities
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Co-benefits of Biomass Production for Energy
Reclamation of degraded lands, which are subjected to soil erosionand degradation due to absence of vegetation cover
Carbon sequestration in degraded lands & standing vegetation &soil
Greenhouse gas emission reduction, if bioenergy is used tosubstitute fossil fuel energy
Promotion of biodiversity, if adequate sustainable production
practices, such as a mix-of species and leaving a fraction of landfallow for natural forest succession, are adopted
Local employment and income generation from biomass production
practices, harvesting, transportation and processing
Improved socio-economic conditions and quality of life, if access tomodern bioenergy is provided to rural communities, such as biogasfor cooking and biomass power for lighting and mechanical
applications.
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CONCLUSIONS
1. Large dependence on traditional biomass fuels2. Forest area in India has stabilized and land is available for
biomass production for energy3. Conservative estimate of Wasteland & fallow land of 24 to 36 Mha
can produce- 228 to 415 Mt of woody biomass for energy- Produce 228 to 415 TWh
4. Despite financial incentives to biomass power utilities, financial
viability and favorable IRR, biomass production for energy islimited by;- Tenurial uncertainties, lack of incentives for biomass producers,long-gestation period, lack of package of practices for high yields
5. Co-benefits: Large co-benefits such as- biodiversity conservation, degraded land reclamation andwatershed protection, local employment generation, GHGemission reduction