Biomass Energy –

Potential & Prospects

CII – Godrej GBC Publication RES - Fact Sheet - No.1 June 2004

Introduction husk, coconut

f r o n d s ,
Biomass contributes to about 14% of the total energy
coconut shell,
supply worldwide.
and crop
India, being a stalks etc.,
t r o p i c a l can be used.
country, has
1 MW grid
tremendous
connected
potential for
b i o m a s s
e n e r g y
based power plant operating for 5000 hrs in a year
generation
would require about 6000T of dry wood (Approximately
t h r o u g h
1.3 kg of dry wood per kWh).
biomass and
its residues. Biomass energy is normally produced The investment required for a typical 1 MW
from firewood, agricultural residues such as bagasse, biomass based power plant varies from Rs. 3.5
crop stalks, animal dung and wastes generated from to 4.0 Crores.
agro-based industries.
Case study:
In India, biomass energy is being utilized mainly for A 4.5 MW biomass based power plant installed in
domestic, commercial and industrial applications. Karnataka, consumes about 150 Tons of biomass per
day to generate about one lakh units of electricity.
Potential in India - 16,000 MW
The fuel used comprises of Cane trash, Coconut fronds,
(excluding co-generation)
Rice husk, Saw mill wastes and Firewood (eucalyptus).
Installed capacity - 630 MW
Project under implementation - 630 MW The ash collected from the boiler is processed and
used as organic manure for agriculture.
Globally, India is in the fourth position in generating
power through biomass and with a huge potential, is 2) Biomass Gasification
poised to become a world leader in utilization of
biomass. Biomass gasification can be used for both thermal
and electrical applications.
Applications Generally, firewood, agricultural residues such as rice
husk, cashew shell etc., are being used in biomass
Various applications that are widely in use are the
gasifiers.
following:
™ Power generation In India, there is wide range of gasifiers available
with capacities varying from 20 kW to 500 kW for
™ Biomass Gasification for thermal heating and power
electrical applications. Largest biomass thermal
generation
gasifier used in India for industrial application
™ Biogas generation for cooking and distributed power has been of 1.0 MW capacity. This has substituted
generation conventional fuel (furnace oil).

Thermal gasifiers finds applications in industries

1) Biomass-based power generation
like steel re-rolling, engineering industries, tiles
Biomass based power plants can generate grid quality manufacturing, brick kilns, chemical Industries
power. A wide variety of fuels like firewood, rice etc.,

Confederation of Indian Industry

CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre
Typical 1 MW Biomass gasifier requires about
Rs 2.5 to 3.0 Crores investment and have a
simple payback period of 3 – 4 years depending
on the type of fuel and capacity utilization.
Case study:
A 200 kW biomass gasifier system has been installed
for power generation in a Potassium Chlorate
manufacturing company.
An average of about 3800 units is generated in a day.
Of the total power generated, about 12% is being
consumed by axillaries.
CII- Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre
The CII – Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre is a
joint initiative of Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, Godrej &
Boyce Mfg Co and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
with the technical support of USAID – a unique model of
public – private partnership.
The centre will strive to become the “Centre of Excellence”
for Energy Efficiency, Environment, Green Buildings,
Renewable Energy, Water and Climate change activities
in India.

The gas produced contains tar, particulate matter etc

and is being filtered and cooled with scrubbers and
micro filters. The electricity generated is used for
electrolysis to produce potassium chlorate.

The cost of power generation works out to Rs 3.0 per

unit vis–a-vis present grid electricity charges of
Rs 4.50 for HT industries.

Total investment for this project was Rs 61.0 lakhs.

The estimated annual savings of this project is about
Rs 17.0 lakhs per annum which was paid back within
two years, after considering the subsidy component.
3) Biogas Generation
The various services being offered from GBC are: Green
Building rating, World class energy efficiency, Green
Audits, Renewable Energy services, Green Business
incubation, Exhibit of green equipments and materials
at the technology centre and Information centre.

Biogas Produced from organic materials such as animal
dung, canteen wastes, industrial wastes and selective
plants could be used in biogas plants. The gas
essentially comprises of methane and CO2 in the
ratio 55:45. It is the methane which has the fuel
value.
It is estimated that about 100 metric tones of
cattle dung would be required to generate 300
kW of power.
CII – Godrej GBC has formed 5 national councils to
address Green Buildings, Energy Efficiency, Renewable
Energy, Water Management and Environment & Waste
Recycling.
The major thrust of Renewable Energy council is to
advance adoption of Renewable Energy in India. The
council has over 50 members comprising all stakeholders
drawn from all over the country. This council is led by
Mr Ramesh Kymal, Managing Director, NEG-Micon
(India) Ltd.

Case study:
Issue sponsored by:
An Industry which generates about 200 to 250 kgs
of solid wastes has installed a 25m3 capacity biogas
plant. The system has two burners of 2m3 and 3 m3
capacity. The installation of biogas plant has reduced
the consumption of LPG to the tune of 20 – 22
cylinders in a year. For further details, please contact:

The cost of LPG being Rs 450 per cylinder has resulted Confederation of Indian Industry
CII – Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre
in a saving of Rs 1.0 lakh per year.
Survey No.64, Kothaguda Post, Ranga Reddy Dist
The total cost of the project was Rs 2.0 lakh Hyderabad – 500 032
Tel: 040 – 23112971 – 73 Fax: 040 – 23112837
after 50% subsidy, with a pay back period of two
Email: gbc@ciionline.org
years. Web: www.greenbusinesscentre.com

Confederation of Indian Industry

CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre