Bio-CNG, also known as compressed biogas (CBG), was added to the government agenda in 2018 when the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) launched Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT).
Before this, some plants had already started experimenting with making electricity from biogas and compressed biogas.
SATAT saw obvious advantages—lesser dependence on crude oil import, decarbonization of the economy, waste management and job creation—that are a casualty in any other renewable energy source.
It was estimated that 62 million tons of CBG can be produced in India every year from various sources. To tap this, MoPNG announced that 5,000 CBG plants will be set up by 2025 and produce 15 million tons of CBG.
At the 2018 consumption level, this was projected to take care of 40% of the annual CNG requirement in the country (44 million tons then) and produce 50 million tons of bio-manure for crops.
Under SATAT, oil and gas marketing companies are supposed to pick up ready gas from CBG companies. Companies like Indian Oil, BPCL and Avantika in Indore issue letters of intent (LOIs) to CBG companies that help them apply for loans and central financial assistance for setting up the plant.
The SATAT homepage shows about 3,500 LOIs issued to date all over India. However, only 37 plants have been commissioned.
“We use less than 2.5% of bio-CNG potential from MSW and wastewater. If we account for other sources such as agricultural and livestock dung, the net utilization will be even less than 0.5% of the total potential,” said Prakash Singh of IIT Guwahati.
Avantika in Indore issued 11 LOIs to interested companies.
"But only one is supplying gas. The companies are finding it difficult to generate adequate and consistent feedstock," he observed. "Unless there is a feedstock of 100 tons per day, it is difficult to sustain a CBG plant."
Avantika is trying to issue more LOIs because of the rise in global prices of CNG. “We need more indigenous sources of CBG soon,” said Himanshu Srivastava, manager of Avantika.
High capital investment is also stopping small investors from entering the CBG scene.
“If the cost of setting up compost plant for 100 TPD waste is 20 to 30 crores, a CBG plant for same input requires 40 crore rupees. Some 40% of the investment is for setting up biogas purification infrastructure,” said SWM expert Subhashish Parida.
This story was produced with support from Internews' Earth Journalism Network. It's the third of a three-part series (parts one and two are also available). It was first published in Down To Earth on November 30, 2022, and has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Banner image: CBG technology, still in a nascent stage, faces a lack of sector experts at the ground level / Credit: Ravleen Kaur.
Ravleen Kaur
