Biomass status vis-a-vis bioenergy prospects and options for India

India has a large biomass energy potential if its underutilized resources are used in modernized biofuels and bioenergy conversion systems. India uses about half traditional and half commercial energy sources. However, with a fast-growing population, a relatively slow-growing economy, and few fossil energy resources, the need to use indigenous resources more efficiency is becoming more pressing. Currently, about 400 million tonnes of biomass (fuel wood, crop residues, and cattle dung) is burnt in millions of traditional cooking stoves, especially in the rural sector. The net energy loss could be as much as 5 EJ. Converting only a fraction of this biomass to biogas, a much cleaner and more efficient fuel, could meet the total cooking requirements of the rural sector. The remainder of the biomass could be converted for use as producer of gas and ethanol. Nearly 15 percent of about 0.6 million villages are unelectrified. Modular power generation using biomass-fueled producer gas-fired generators could meet the rural needs at less cost than grid extensions. Ethanol is already proven in Brazil and the U.S. as a gasoline substitute and extender that mitigates air pollution in urban areas. (author)