Bio Data of Wonder Bio Fuel
Context: India’s commitment for setting up of a Compressed Biogas (CBG) plants can ensure social, environmental and financial advantages for India.
Key Advantages of Compressed Biogas (CBG)
- Social advantage: reverse rural migrations (by creating employment)
- Hub-and-spoke model to service a CBG plant can create employment in biomass creation, agroforestry, logistics and other support functions.
- CBG plant combined with 750 acres of Food Forest (FF) can ensure employment for 400 people.
- Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) with FF initiatives, could provide employment to 20 lakh people.
- Negligible carbon footprint: CBG is a cleaner fuel compared to fossils (coal-bed methane results into ‘nongreen’ generation) and can generate carbon credits in terms following environmental benefits:
- Carbon-fixing when the biomass is building.
- CBG being the hi-tech version of gobar gas can reduce fire-related accidents (CBG plant produces sulphur-less methane).
- Reduction of greenhouse gases: It can reduce the emissions of carbon monoxide, nitric oxide and hydrogen sulphide.
- Reduced groundwater pollution: by replacing chemical fertilisers with organic fertiliser (crop stubble and agriwaste as CBG).
- Financial and energy security:
- Foreign exchange saving of ?22,400 crores annually through 20% blending with ethanol and substitution of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) by CBG.
- Boost farmer incomes by 25-50% by guarantying better prices (supplying agri-waste at ? two a kg to CBG plants), reducing farm input costs, easier access to export markets.
- Revitalise rural economies by ensuring high internal rates of return of over 20% for standalone CBG plants and 30%, when combined with FF (estimated ?150,000 crores).
- Small payback period of 4 years makes it an attractive proposition for entrepreneurs.
Conclusion: CBG plants should start working their magic for India’s rural economy through environmental clearances and availability of finance.
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