Prospects of biomethanation technology in the Indian context: a pragmatic approach

Energy has a major economical and political role as an important resource traded worldwide. Energy consumption in the developed countries has been more or less stabilized whereas in developing countries like India it is increasing at a high rate. The Government is looking forward to Biomethanation Technology (BT) as a secondary source of energy by utilizing industrial, agricultural and municipal wastes. A large amount of money is being invested in this direction with various projects under implementation and many to follow them. Hence the long-term sustainability of the technology needs to be judged. In this paper the prevailing situation is analyzed in keeping with the prospects and problems associated with BT in India. The paper discusses the technical feasibility, operational stability and commercial viability of BT in India. Various potential merits of BT like reduction in land requirement for disposal, preservation of environmental quality, etc. are also reviewed. A comparative study of researches related to the performance of various anaerobic digesters in different developed countries has been carried out wherein various fractions of municipal solid waste (MSW) have been utilized. To understand the technical feasibility in the Indian context, a comparison is made between the characteristics of Indian waste and the wastes under study. Further problems of the operational stability and commercial viability of BT in India have also been discussed. Against this background, developmental plans covering issues in the formulation of national policy, improvements in collection and transportation systems, marketing strategy, funds allocation, etc. have been outlined to establish BT in India. With the growing energy crisis supplemented by environmental concerns, BT can serve as a potential waste-to-energy generation alternative. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.