Author(s):

Sangeet and Raj Kumar

Abstract: A safe, reliable and inexpensive energy supply is at the centre of any laudable economic growth and development. Being an agriculturally dominant nation, the strength of India’s bio-energy programs mostly lies in the agricultural sector generating over 500 million tons of biomass in the form of crop residues every year. In Punjab state which produces about 19% of wheat and 11% of rice of the country, the disposal of agro residue in the beneficial way along with its pollution is a very serious problem. Therefore, the study synthesized and evaluated the energy potential for the power sector from the available crop residue in the state. It was estimated that of the total crop residues generated in the state (48.2 million tons), the surplus residue about 16.9 million tons (35% of the total generation) belonged to cereals (94.1%). The highest residue generated per unit of area was from sunflower (7.88 t ha^-1). It was estimated that the surplus crop residue has a potential to generate about 77.3 MW of bio energy annually in which the contribution of wheat and paddy is maximum due to higher area under these crops in the state during their respective rabi and kharif seasons. The crop wastes are capable to meet about 28652 Joules capita^-1 energy requirements per annum. Against the potential for power generation at 3472 MW, there exists an installed capacity of only 317.10 MW for total biomass forming about 23% of the total power generating capacity in the state. Majority of the installed capacity in the state comes from thermal sources (60.6%) followed by hydro (28.4%) and nuclear (1.5%) and renewable sources form only 9.5% of the total installed capacity. Thus biomass energy, from crop residues available in plenty in the state, can be used as substitute to fulfill the additional energy requirements and reduce dependency on fossil fuels.

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