Electricity via biomass in India

The aim of the CHP plant in India is to collect available and unused waste biomass resources and use them effectively to generate electricity. The project is a 2.50 MW combined heat and power plant based on rice husks that generates electricity and steam, displacing electricity from the Indian grid. This way of producing electricity saves coal that would otherwise have been used to produce steam, avoiding harmful emissions. The project is located in a rural area and makes a positive contribution to India's sustainable development by further strengthening four pillars of sustainable development. Firstly, the project activity contributes to a slight increase in local employment by employing skilled and unskilled personnel to operate and maintain the plants. Secondly, the gap between electricity demand and supply can be closed at local as well as national level. In the economic sphere, the increase in demand for rice husks has an impact on the price of rice, which benefits local farmers through additional income. At the same time, coal is saved and can be diverted to other sectors of the economy. Furthermore, the advanced and sustainably used technology offers long-term benefits for the project's sustainability. The environment benefits through the saving of greenhouse gas emissions.

India's renewable energy capacity has grown 286 percent in the past 7.5 years to more than 151.4 gigawatts, including hydropower. This represents about 39 percent of total capacity. Wind capacity accounts for 40.08 GW of this total, which is the third-largest share of total installed renewable energy capacity after solar capacity and large hydropower plants.Even though the use of climate-friendly energy sources has increased significantly since 2014, renewable energy is still far from being able to meet the needs of the population. Coal-fired power therefore remains an important component of India's energy supply and continues to have a future in India. Currently, 281 coal-fired power plants are still in operation, and another 28 are under construction. Nevertheless, the government has plans: by 2030, projected carbon emissions are to be reduced by one billion tons, and the goal of net zero CO₂ emissions is to be achieved by 2070.

Biomass energy is a "bridge solution" that can help the world transition from fossil fuel power generation to 100 percent clean, renewable energy. Until energy storage grows and the grid becomes more flexible, it can help meet electricity demand and supplement fluctuating wind and solar power.High-carbon biomass can be harvested to produce heat or steam for electricity generation or processed into oil or gas. In this way, carbon that is already in the cycle is transported from the atmosphere to the plants and back again. Biomass energy is only a real solution if it is derived from suitable feedstocks, such as factory waste, agricultural waste, or sustainably grown perennial crops. The use of annual grains such as corn and sorghum millet depletes groundwater and requires high energy inputs.

The biomass project is located in Paragoan village, Nawapara-Rajim, Chhattisgarh state in India. You can find the exact location on our map.