Compressed Biogas: Boosting India’s Energy Security

Context

Compressed Biogas (CBG) significantly strengthens India’s energy security by providing a localized, renewable alternative to imported crude oil and natural gas. It is produced using waste materials from the agriculture sector and waste from households, which lessen reliance on volatile, global markets, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, and generate rural wealth through a circular economy. 

What is Compressed Biogas (CBG)?

• CBG is generated by the anaerobic breakdown of organic matter such as crop residues, cattle manure, sewage and food waste.
• Purification Process: The raw biogas is purified to filter out impurities like hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, and moisture.
• Gas Quality: Energy content and combustion characteristics of the product are more than 90% methane similar to commercial CNG.

How CBG Enhances Energy Security

• Import Reduction: CBG is the same chemical as CNG. Using waste to produce biogas and replacing imports with local gas shields the economy from fluctuations in the global supply chain. 
• Leverage Domestic Feedstocks: India produces vast amounts of agriculture and cattle dung and urban solid waste. By capturing and utilising it, a decentralised energy grid that doesn’t depend on the global shipping network comes into existence. 
• Agricultural Resilience: Processing farm stubble and organic waste into fuel avoids the environmental damage of crop burning while supplementing farmer incomes. 

Strategic Impact on India’s Energy Security

• Mitigation of import dependency: CBG displaces imported Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), directly. Switching from foreign fuels to local fuels helps protect the economy, from external geopolitical effects, and conserves foreign exchange.
• Decentralisation of the Energy Grid: CBG feedstock is spread evenly in both rural and urban India, unlike the traditional fossil fuel-based energy grid. A CBG creation programme at a regional level would provide a robust and modular energy system that is increasingly resistant to single-point failures.
• Diversification of the Primary Energy Mix: India plans to grow share of natural gas in primary energy mix from current ~6% to 15% by 2030. CBG offers an environmentally sustainable solution to meet this target while avoiding a rise in fossil fuel imports.

Multi-Dimensional Benefits of CBG

1. Environmental Stewardship

• Mitigating Stubble Burning: Utilizing paddy straw and agricultural residue as feedstock addresses seasonal air pollution (smog) in Northern India.
• Decarbonisation: CBG is a carbon neutral fuel, which helps to reduce the GHG emission in the transport and industrial sector.

2. Socio-Economic Empowerment

• Rural Wealth Creation: Biomass collection, processing and supply creates sustainable employment in rural areas.
• Organic Agriculture: The primary by-product is Fermented Organic Manure (FOM), which serves as a high-quality organic fertilizer, alleviating reliance on chemical alternatives and government subsidy for fertilizers.

Key Government Frameworks and Policies

• SATAT Initiative (2018): “Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation” is a scheme which guarantees the installation of commercial CBG plants by providing entrepreneurs with assured off-take agreements via the public oil marketing companies.
• GOBARdhan Scheme: Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan – a scheme for generation of wealth and energy in rural clusters by utilizing cattle dung and solid waste.
• Phased Blending Mandates: The government has implemented mandatory blending of CBG in the CGD network with a gradual increase from 1% to 100% over a period of time to ensure the availability of a secure domestic market.

Way Forward

India should institutionalize a strong Biomass Supply Chain Model with incentives to the Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) for aggregation to achieve the potential of CBG. Specific classification of CBG infrastructure as Priority Sector Lending (PSL) will help in institutional funding. Last but not least, the linkage of the city gas grids with the rural production hubs will further establish CBG to be a major component of India’s green energy security. 

Source: The Hindu

UPSC Mains Practice Question 

(Q) With reference to Compressed Biogas (CBG) in India, consider the following statements:

1. Compressed Biogas is produced by processing biodegradable organic waste through anaerobic digestion.
2. CBG can be used as a substitute for Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in the transport sector.
3. The SATAT initiative aims to promote the production and use of Compressed Biogas in India.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A. 1 and 2 only
B. 2 and 3 only
C. 1 and 3 only
D. 1, 2 and 3

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