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A long-term feasibility analysis of a 100 ton per day mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plant for municipal solid waste (MSW) valorization and material and energy recovery was carried out. It involves the material recovery and segregation stage (MRSS), organic extraction (pulping), thermophilic anaerobic digestion (AD), composting, effluent treatment plant (ETP), and biogas genset stages producing: 11.90% recyclables, 33% refused derived fuel (RDF), 5% compost of total waste received, 70 m3/day recyclable water and 0.435 MWh/day electricity. The biogas and methane yield were 0.535 and 0.350 m3/kg VS added (avg.), respectively, with 40% VS removal (avg total solids (TS) 10%). Less than 3% (inert) of total waste received was subjected to landfill disposal. The MBT plant's revenue generation is 995 US$ per day/148 tons ($ 6.72/ton) waste processed. The gross OPEX is 24 US$/ton making the net OPEX of 17 US$/ton (minus revenue), which could be considered as the excellent OPEX for MSW based MBT plants as per global benchmarks. Further, local usage of RDF can significantly reduce the OPEX to 14 US$/ton, as almost 16% of the OPEX goes towards RDF disposal to cement companies located at a distance of 200–500 km from the MBT plant site. As per LCA study, the total GHG emissions have been calculated to be −25.68 tons CO 2 eq./100 tons MSW. The negative emissions result from the export of electricity, compost, and RDF as well as recycling of paper and plastic products. Our study presents a cutting-edge scenario of all-inclusive recycling, recovery, and reuse loop of MSW direly required for accomplishing a circular economy. [Display omitted] • Long term performance of first successful 100 tons/d MBT plant in India was studied. • 12% recyclable, 33% RDF, 0.435 MWh/d power, 5% compost, 70 m3/d water were recovered. • Biogas and methane yield were 0.535 and 0.350 m3/kgVS added (65%CH 4), 40%VS removal. • MBT plant has OPEX of US$ 24/ton and revenue of $6.72/ton; net OPEX of US$ 17/ton. • LCA study revealed the negative GHG emission of −41.45 tons CO 2 eq./100 tons MSW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biogas is a locally accessible and renewable energy source that can be generated from organic feedstocks under anaerobic conditions. This paper aims to assess the future biogas potential in India from varied sources (crops residues, animal manure, municipal solid wastes, municipal and industrial wastewater). The study uses a bottom-up, resource focused approach for the assessment of biogas potential. The paper assess agriculture and animal residues as well as generation, collection and availability of municipal and industrial waste for biogas production. The results show considerable potential of biogas in the next two decades due to rising waste generation and deployment of infrastructure for improving waste collection efficiency. The analysis estimates that the biogas potential ranges from 310 to 655 billion m3/year in the year 2040 depending upon availability of different resources. The estimated biogas potential in the year 2040 is around 36% of India's current (2015) total primary energy supply in the high availability scenario. Finally, the paper offers policy recommendations aimed at realizing the biogas potential. • Future Biogas potential from animal and agricultural based waste resource in India is estimated. • Bottom-up resource based approach is used for assessment. • Estimated future biogas potential is around 12.8 EJ in 2040. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of compressed biogas (CBG) in day-to-day livelihood has garnered significant attention in modern day era. It is considered as a potential solution to curb the increasing energy demand and other environmental concerns. The process involves anaerobic digestion (AD) (hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acetogenesis and methanogenesis) of organic substrate under an optimum operating condition (pH, temperature, etc.) via anaerobic microorganisms. This paper aims to describe some major facts about different technological options related to pre-treatment, AD, cleaning and up-gradation system. It also highlights the practical challenges related to high investment cost, inadequate infrastructure, clearance and approval issues, poor feedstock supply chain management etc. in adaption of CBG plants in India. The review examines the significance of both dry and wet continuous digester systems, which includes its advantages and challenges, considering factors, such as feedstock characteristics, process stability, and operational efficiency. It was also found that the type of feedstock and its availability in existing market plays a vital role in smooth functioning of CBG plants. Therefore, the study presents a comprehensive review discussing potential feedstock readily available for CBG plants in Indian market. It was concluded that the usage of agricultural waste (such as Napier grass) has higher CBG potential compared to other feedstock. At the same time, the study presents a broader aspect to policy makers and governing authorities to reframe the existing structure for financial assistantship, regulatory laws, subsidiary schemes etc. for CBG plant owners. It also gives an opportunity to technocrats, industrialist and investors to come-up with an indigenous technology with in-house manufacturing units to promote CBG production in India. [Display omitted] • India has 46 compressed biogas plants with an overall capacity of 272 tonnes/day. • Elaborated the significance of both dry and wet continuous digester systems. • Setting-up a compressed biogas plants requires high investment and operational cost. • Potential market for bio-fuels and bio-fertilizer needs to be explored in India. • Existing financial assistantship and subsidiary schemes need transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• First time the solar-wind-biogas-VRFB integrated micrgrid is modeled and validated. • The capacity optimization and energy management with lowest LCOE is done by HOMER. • Peak load shaving with optimal sources and grid is shown by PSCAD using real data. • Optimal schedule of renewable sources and VRFB ensures zero LPSP at consumer end. • Financial study of hybrid microgrid demonstrates project viability and up scaling. Uninterrupted access to electric power has become the basic need of today's world. Rural parts of many countries still do not have access to electricity or have electric power access to weak distribution grids with inadequate transmission and distribution system infrastructure. However, the countries where there is an abundance of solar radiation, a good potential of bio-degradable waste and average availability of wind source, access to electricity for those remote areas can be managed by distributed power generation. Considering the fact that the renewable energy sources (Solar, Wind etc.) are intermittent in nature, battery energy storage systems (BESS) and other reservoirs like biogas energy sources are the potential candidates to be integrated with the renewable sources to ensure continuous access to electricity and energy security. In this paper, a unique combination of Solar PV, Wind, Biomass and Vanadium Redox Flow Battery (VRFB) storage integrated hybrid Microgrid has been modeled and implemented practically for the first time. The capacity selection of different renewable sources for satisfying daily energy demand and their techno-commercial optimization has been performed through HOMER simulation. Further, the peak load shaving that is a limitation of HOMER model, has been established through PSCAD simulation by providing the real life data of different renewable sources, VRFB storage and the load profile as input to the model. The simulation model performances have been validated by a practical 10 kW P solar PV, 1 kW wind and 15 kVA Biogas generator integrated with 1 kW 6 h VRFB storage based Microgrid installed at India Institute of Engineering Science and Technology campus, India. In addition to these, zero loss of power supply probability (LPSP) has been ensured by implementing smart scheduling and controller considering the intermittency of the renewable sources. As a part of the financial analysis, project Investment on Return (IRR) and pay back has been calculated considering initial investment, operation and maintenance cost and revenue of generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the benefits and potential of biogas generation and uses in India, with focus on advances made in hydrogen production by catalytic reforming technologies with steam, O 2 , and CO 2 as the oxidants. Utilization of biomass by means of generating biogas is one of the easiest and cost effective methods of harnessing renewable energy. As India is an agricultural country, a tremendous amount of biomass and livestock waste is generated every year. Likewise the large population of India generates much food and municipal solid waste that is not being utilized for biogas generation. Fuel cells are one of the effective means of utilizing biogas, although the synthesis gas or hydrogen generated from biogas can also be used in internal combustion engines. Higher efficiency of fuel cells (45%) compared to internal combustion engines (30%) and even higher with co-generation systems (70%) make them highly desirable for biogas utilization for power generation. Investigations of hydrogen productionfor fuel cell use are in their infancy stage in India. Apart from a few scattered investigations not much work has been undertaken in the area of research. Large scale hydrogen production is achieved by steam reforming of hydrocarbons, in particular natural gas. Although the process is a proven technology it has come under considerable scrutiny due to its environmental impact and the energy intensive nature of the process. Several technical and scientific challenges have to be overcome for assimilation of the technology for hydrogen production from biogas and wide scale application in India. These challenges include development of less energy intensive features, highly active and poisons-resistant catalyst, and fuel cell development for utilization of biogas generated hydrogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Energy for cooking is a major concern of consumers and policy makers in India. Most of the cooking in rural India is done using biomass. Traditional biomass stoves cause significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to formation of products of incomplete combustion. As far as urban population is concerned, around 95% of the population has access to LPG as cooking fuel at subsidized rates. To increase accessibility of LPG to rural areas is economically incompetent option when compared with the solar and biogas as other options available in rural areas. In this paper, an effort has been made to review the developments occurred in cooking sector rural areas in Indian context. The work carried out on different cooking fuels and cook stoves has been presented in order to use renewable energy sources and to identify the barriers of their dissemination. The status of cooking sector in India and the initiatives taken by the government of India has also been discussed and presented in the paper. It has been observed that the government of India is running several programs for the promotion of solar and biogas as cooking fuels in rural areas and it has succeeded to an extent. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Electricity generation for rural applications through biomethanation process is very promising in countries like India where availability of biomass feedstock is very high. However, sustainability of biomass power plants requires meticulous planning starting from assessment of feedstock availability to collection, storage, transport and conversion in power plant. All these parameters are spatially inter-linked and therefore use of spatial tools such as GIS is helpful in such planning. This paper investigates electrical power generation potential of a newly constructed biomethanation plant in Sonitpur district of Assam, India. Spatial availability of locally available biomass feedstocks for methane generation is assessed using GIS. The GIS is also used for optimal biomass collection and transportation network design. Altogether, 7 different types of biomass feedstock (kitchen waste, vegetable waste, cow dung, pig droppings, goat droppings, poultry droppings and rice straw) are identified in the surrounding villages of the plant within optimum biomass supply radius. Biomass feedstock of the area can produce 37,000 m 3 methane; sufficient for continuous generation of 5.3 MW electricity. Power supply from the proposed plant would improve rural living standard and key areas such as education and health will be particularly benefited. However, biomass assessment and supply logistics would require managerial attention to minimize cost of power generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, electricity use in rural areas accounts only 23% of national total usage. It is necessary to expand the access to electricity in Rural India for sustainable development. Biomass, a viable resource is the most direct and simple way at households and rural areas. Organic waste can be converted into an alternative source for cooking, heating and electricity. Biogas, a biofuel produced from organic waste (food scraps and animal waste) through Anaerobic Digestion. It is mainly composed of methane and carbon dioxide produced through Anaerobic Digestion in either large scale or small scale digesters. Traditionally, biogas has been used for cooking. Based on village level survey, electrical energy is the only commercial form of energy that has been used in villages. Biogas production paves the way to produce electricity at villages through high temperature fuel cell unit like Solid Oxide Fuel Cell; thus it is the best possible way to generate and utilize power close to where people live. The present paper discusses about the rural energy requirement, overview of biogas production and fuel cells, potential and operational challenges for biogas fed Solid oxide fuel cell, technical barriers with Solid oxide fuel cell and issues related to rural electrification using renewable energy. Also, a comparative analysis of SOFC with bio and thermo chemical conversion of biomass has been analyzed with a case study and reported. • Based on village level survey in a village at Dindigul Dt, Tamilnadu, India, electrical energy is the only commercial form of energy that has been used. • Biogas production paves the way to produce electricity at villages through high temperature fuel cell unit like Solid Oxide Fuel Cell; thus it is the best possible way to generate and utilize power close to where people live. • The present paper discusses about the rural energy requirement, potential and operational challenges for biogas fed Solid oxide fuel cell. • A comparative analysis of SOFC with bio and thermo chemical conversion of biomass has been analyzed with a case study and reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, lignocellulosic biomass has gotten a lot of coverage, especially for the captured energy through the anaerobic degradation. The conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to biogas through an anaerobic digestion process has been facing challenges such as low biogas production, low buffering ability, poor end quality of products, and potential heterogeneity of biomass which have difficulties to define an optimized unit operation. These deficiencies may be related to the recalcitrant disposition of agricultural wastes or low mass transfer. India has a large amount of lignocellulosic biomass, and this biomass remains unused in the harvested field. However, it has a scope of utilization by conversion into useful biofuel. Furthermore, it could be enhanced the farmer's income as well as helps to contribute reduce the loss of environmental impact. Hence, the present review script discusses the potential, composition, biomethane production, pretreatment methods and technology related to lignocellulosic biomass, challenges, progress, and the latest program initiated in India. However, only 10 major types of lignocellulosic biomass have been reviewed in this paper. [Display omitted] • Lignocellulosic biomass has a scope to convert into biofuel. • The conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to biogas facing some challenges. • Pretreatment necessary for conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to biogas. • Out of all the pretreatments, alkali pretreatment (NaOH) is the most promising. • The combination of two or more pretreatments provides a better result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: India and Indonesia are privileged with abundant biomass resource potentials, 23 Giga-watt (GW) and 50GW equivalents respectively, yet both countries harvest small proportions, with fundamentally different deployed policies and articulated strategies. In this regard, this paper focuses on analyzing evolution and deployment of different policies and execution of strategies by two countries. It analyzes the effects of the biomass energy policies and executed strategies in India and Indonesia with a holistic approach. Such an approach takes the policy and strategy of the whole biomass energy sector rather than a segmented and separated sector as biofuel, biogas, biodiesel, etc. Furthermore, how they have resulted in different outcomes is also addressed. Our analysis shows that India's biomass energy policy has evolved from incremental to more radical changes, while Indonesia's policy remains incremental. India has also a relatively more unified biomass energy strategy than Indonesia. India has been more focused on technology development and deployment along with strong institutional creation, whereas Indonesia has not been able to create any biomass sector supporting strong institutions. Therefore, in terms of biomass energy utilizations, India has demonstrated better performance than Indonesia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Jammu and Kashmir the northern most state of India is blessed with immense potential for utilization of renewable energy. The state at present is fairly untapped in terms of energy utilization and thus venturing into this region would definitely prove to be profitable. The natural energy sources like sunshine, wind, vegetation, water flow, biomass and other biological wastes though abundantly available in the state yet are not being potentially harnessed resulting in very low per capita energy availability, deforestation and poor health. Renewable energy acquires a promising option not only for energy availability next view and of environment protection but also the socio-economic conditions of the people residing in these areas can be improved to a great extent. The hydroelectric power has tremendous potential for generation of electricity in the state because the topography of the state provides extensive network of canals and streams. This paper describes the resource potential and opportunity to enter the market and bring more renewable energy projects in the form of solar, biomass derived fuels, biogas and hydroelectric in the state. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Since 2003 India has been actively promoting the cultivation of Jatropha on unproductive and degraded lands (wastelands) for the production of biodiesel suitable as transportation fuel. In this paper the life cycle energy balance, global warming potential, acidification potential, eutrophication potential and land use impact on ecosystem quality is evaluated for a small scale, low-input Jatropha biodiesel system established on wasteland in rural India. In addition to the life cycle assessment of the case at hand, the environmental performance of the same system expanded with a biogas installation digesting seed cake was quantified. The environmental impacts were compared to the life cycle impacts of a fossil fuel reference system delivering the same amount of products and functions as the Jatropha biodiesel system under research. The results show that the production and use of Jatropha biodiesel triggers an 82% decrease in non-renewable energy requirement (Net Energy Ratio, NER=1.85) and a 55% reduction in global warming potential (GWP) compared to the reference fossil-fuel based system. However, there is an increase in acidification (49%) and eutrophication (430%) from the Jatropha system relative to the reference case. Although adding biogas production to the system boosts the energy efficiency of the system (NER=3.40), the GWP reduction would not increase (51%) due to additional CH4 emissions. For the land use impact, Jatropha improved the structural ecosystem quality when planted on wasteland, but reduced the functional ecosystem quality. Fertilizer application (mainly N) is an important contributor to most negative impact categories. Optimizing fertilization, agronomic practices and genetics are the major system improvement options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The potential of biogas generation from anaerobic digestion of different waste biomass in India has been studied. Renewable energy from biomass is one of the most efficient and effective options among the various other alternative sources of energy currently available. The anaerobic digestion of biomass requires less capital investment and per unit production cost as compared to other renewable energy sources such as hydro, solar and wind. Further, renewable energy from biomass is available as a domestic resource in the rural areas, which is not subject to world price fluctuations or the supply uncertainties as of imported and conventional fuels. In India, energy demand from various sectors is increased substantially and the energy supply is not in pace with the demand which resulted in a deficit of 11,436MW which is equivalent to 12.6% of peak demand in 2006. The total installed capacity of bioenergy generation till 2007 from solid biomass and waste to energy is about 1227MW against a potential of 25,700MW. The bioenergy potential from municipal solid waste, crop residue and agricultural waste, wastewater sludge, animal manure, industrial waste which includes distilleries, dairy plants, pulp and paper, poultry, slaughter houses, sugar industries is estimated. The total potential of biogas from all the above sources excluding wastewater has been estimated to be 40,734Mm3/year. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Distillery spent wash can be one of the major polluting wastewaters, if discharged into water bodies without adequate treatment. Anaerobic lagooning was the only treatment option mostly practiced by distillers to treat distillery spent wash before 1980s. Thereafter, significant development in management of distillery spent wash has been achieved in this country. Today almost all distillers recover biogas from distillery spent wash through the biomethanation process. Anaerobic digesters, anaerobic fixed film systems and two-phase anaerobic treatment are some of the treatment options popularly practiced by Indian distilleries for biomethanation. Production of biogas from spent wash not only reduces the pollutional load but also reduces the payback period of the effluent treatment plant. This paper details the performance evaluation of a full-scale effluent treatment plant for distillery spent wash. In addition, the approach that included detailed biological and physico-chemical treatability studies for improvement in treated effluent quality is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compression Ignition (CI) engine is used to generate power for various stationary applications in remote places due to the non-availability of centralised grid connectivity. The burning diesel in CI engine leads to fossil fuel depletion and environmental degradation. Hence, there is a huge demand of generating remote electricity by utilizing available renewable resources with the help of existing CI engines. In this paper biogas (BG) and producer gas (PG) based CI engine technology for remote electricity generation in India has been reviewed. The study is organised in two sections. The first section focused on conceptualizing the influence of these gaseous fuels in CI engine as secondary fuel under dual fuel (DF) mode with diesel/biodiesel as pilot fuel. The effect of various operating parameters on the performance, combustion and emission characteristics have been reviewed. It is evident from the study that induction of gaseous fuel declines the engine performance to some extent, however emission characteristics reported to be enhanced. However, changes in the operating conditions bring with immense scope in the improvement of the engine performance. The study develops a clear understanding on the possibilities of these gases to be used as a primary source for generating rural electricity. In the second section, a discussion on the implementation of such technologies in various rural localities of India considering the biomass potential of the country has been addressed. An exhaustive review is also carried out on various electricity generating units in India powered by BG and PG individually. The literature on use of combined BG and PG units for energy generation are limited and no suitable economic model has been developed considering these gases for rural power generation. This study provides a complete insight to every pros and cons associated with such power generating units and its socio-economic impacts on rural livelihood. • Review on performance and emission behaviour of biogas run dual fuel engine. • Review on performance and emission behaviour of producer gas run dual fuel engine. • Lower NOx emission achieved with biogas and producer gas run dual fuel engine. • Discussion on need of decentralised power generation for remote electrification. • Case studies on decentralised electricity generation from clean gaseous fuel in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]