Assessment of Surplus Agricultural Residues Available for Biomass Briquetting in India

Abstract

India has a surplus of agro residues, which amounted to about 300 million tonnes in the year 2012. These residues when utilized properly to produce energy could satisfy 65 % of the total rural energy demands of the country. Efficient utilization of such an enormous source of energy would help in addressing the current energy crisis of the country. This paper critically discusses the scope and potential of the biomass briquetting in India. The output of various agro residues produced in the country for the last 10 years, distribution of agro residues in different states, surplus agricultural residues available in different states of India and various biomass briquetting techniques available in India have been studied in this paper. The paper would help the interested industrialists and entrepreneurs in setting up their briquetting plants in the regions or states with high potential for briquetting and also assist the government agencies in framing policies and taking decisions concerning the efficient use of agro-residues available in India. From the study, it was found that the potential for biomass briquetting is high in the western states of Gujarat and Maharashtra and the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. The average amount of surplus agro-residues available in these states was found to be as high as 40 million tonnes. With continued efforts and improvement in the briquetting technology, combined with the support of the government, the development of densified biofuels in India seems to be a promising prospect.