Biogas - A Green-fuel that Can Help India Meet its Security and Decarbonization Goals

1. Biogas: A Green-fuel that Can Help India Meet its Security and Decarbonization Goals Countries across the globe are realizing the importance of biogas - an environmentally friendly fuel. India is no different. Over the past few years, the Indian government has been proactively developing and implementing policies or strategies concerning the use of biogas in the country. The benefits of biogas for the environment and the economy are no longer unknown. The gas offers several benefits. However, biogas adoption in India has entered a progressive phase recently. One of the biggest reasons for slow biogas adoption is the need for a comprehensive market environment. It is also the reason behind the sluggish establishment of biogas manufacturing facilities. In the case of offtake and pricing, the industry failed to offer lucrative returns or incentives to the plant owners. The system complications made obtaining permission and clearance unattainable. Apart from these, the Indian government’s disaggregated nature and poor financial support to the country were also hindering the gas’s adoption. Even though several ministries and departments had policies or schemes for Compressed Biogas plants, the multi-ministry approach only increased the implementation gap. This ultimately led to slow progress in this sector.

2. To cater to this, the government introduced different levels of assistance in the National Bioenergy Scheme. In addition, they introduced GOBARdhan - A scheme covering several policies/schemes concerning the transformation of organic waste into CBG or biogas. Even with many encouraging schemes, the absence of guaranteed offtake is one big reason for its slow adoption. It is because of this that the entrepreneurs are afraid to cover their capital, let alone the profits. However, recently introduced policies like revising the rate of compressed biogas to reflect the global gas price increase and plans to make 5% CBG procurement compulsory for natural gas marketing companies have ignited the interest of the private sector in the industry. This ensures the purchase possibility of compressed biogas to the producers. Another reason behind biogas’ slow adoption in the country is the feedstock’s availability in a form that can be processed. For example, a 2 cubic meters biogas plant can produce enough biogas for a family of five to meet their cooking and other household needs. However, one household alone cannot produce enough organic waste. As a result, the need for biogas feedstock mapping of industrial and agricultural waste arises. Biogas or CBG plants can be linked to waste, helping the country reach a balance between waste required to produce the outcome. Moreover, the government needs to shift to generation-based incentives from capital expenditure (CAPEX) to ensure long-term and effective operations of biogas plants. THE ENCOURAGEMENT The Indian government needs to encourage biogas adoption in the country. This is possible by igniting the interests of private sector players. Of all the giants, Adani Group and Reliance Industries have already shown their interest by announcing the establishment of 105 compressed biogas plants respectively in the upcoming five years. The government’s interest in boosting the biogas industry in India is clear. But, they still need to bridge policies or offtake gaps necessary for the smooth operation of this sector. Increased adoption of biogas can significantly reduce the country’s dependence on crude oil imports and other fuels, driving the country towards self-sufficiency. It can also ensure financial stability for the players in the industry, along with an overall economic boost. Last but not least, gas adoption will help the country reduce GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions and increase renewable energy production. Source: https://biogasplant.weebly.com/blog/biogas-a-green-fuel-that-can-help-india-meet-its-security- and-decarbonization-goals