Potential of manure based biogas to replace conventional and non-conventional fuels in India

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential of biogas in India for energy conservation and its potential in emission reduction through proper manure management and utilizing the tappable droppings while replacing the conventional and non-conventional fuel. Design/methodology/approach – The authors have looked at the production, use and tappability of animal excreta for possible biogas generation and reduction in fuelwood consumption on one hand and emission reduction across the Indian states on the other. The average percentage of Biogas potential is created in the GIS database for analyzing the data set in the spatial domain using ArcGIS 9.2 software. Findings – The paper examines that unused manure contributes to the greenhouse gas (GHG) and has huge potential of reducing the emission through proper utilization across the Indian states. Keeping current climate change dilemma in view this could be one of the feasible options to cope with the climate change and mitigating the threats. Research limitations/implications – A comprehensive data regarding methane emission from various sources is not readily available so far. With the help of this research work the authentic data has been collected from different government departments’ data banks and past research work. However, the authors have limited to few conversion aspects in quantifying the emission factor due to complexity of the various data sets. Practical implications – Looking at the availability of usable animal excreta in different climatic regions, the attempt has been made in demarcating economically viable and technically feasible areas for biogas generation in India. An environmental and economic cost benefit analysis for adopting this renewable energy source has also been incorporated within this research. Originality/value – The paper examined the GHG contribution of unused manure and the possibility of reducing it through proper utilization. The adverse environmental consequences of the use of conventional and non-conventional cooking fuels have also been analyzed in terms of GHG emissions. The same was assessed for the whole lifecycle of liquefied petroleum gas, which is commonly assumed as a clean fuel.

Nitrogen pollution from cattle production in India: a review of the social, cultural and economic influences

“…Manure is a valuable underutilized resource that, when properly managed, can significantly reduce the emissions from livestock production (Nautiyal et al ., 2015). But poor manure management results in wasted resources and have the potential to emit environmental pollutants.…”

“…But poor manure management results in wasted resources and have the potential to emit environmental pollutants. Besides, over-application of manure in fields can also lead to toxicity, odour, water pollution and pose a risk to human health (Dominguez and Edwards, 2011;Nautiyal et al, 2015). In India, the three most common types of manure use include (1) producing dry cakes from manure for use as fuel in rural households, (2) storing in heaps for composting as organic fertilizer for crops where traditionally, manure has been allowed to be composted with bedding and residual crop straw and (3) when animals are kept outdoors, the manure is not recycled and is generally allowed to decompose in the fields/pastures (Abrol et al, 2017).…”

Life cycle assessment of anaerobic digestion systems

“…A few of the very popular methodologies used today include: gasification (Peterson and Haase, 2009;Puig-Arnavat et al, 2010), incineration (Kirkeby et al, 2006;Koroneos and Nanaki, 2012), anaerobic digestion (Abbasi et al, 2012;Mondello et al, 2017;Salame et al, 2016;Mohanty, 2012) and aerobic digestion (De Baere and Mattheeuws, 2013). But, anaerobic digestion methodology has been used for decades and is identified as one of the best methodologies with commendable efficiency for biogas energy production by using organic waste (60-70 percent of methane) (Antognoni et al, 2016;Capodaglio et al, 2016;Korres et al, 2013;Nautiyal et al, 2015). Anaerobic digestion can provide multiple positive effects by sustainable treatment of waste, production and utilization of biogas and digestate (Lansche and Müller, 2012;Munster and Lund, 2009;Sebastian et al, 2011).…”

Achieving Sustainability: Insights from Biogas Ecosystems in India

“…Slurry from digesters can be used as fertilizer [30]. Biogas has the potential to replace about 37 percent of fuelwood consumption and about 30 percent of the energy supplied by conventional fuels such as fuelwood, kerosene and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) [31]. With 95 percent of livestock in rural areas, there is the potential to harness 48,220 million cum (cubic meters) of biogas per year and reduce GHG emissions by replacing fuelwood with manure management [31].…”