AgroGas: A revolutionary technology that will end the problem of stubble burning along with saving fossil fuels
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- Harshad Tulpule
‘Stubble burning’ in Panjab and Haryana has been a burning issue since last many decades. The fire flared up few days back when Delhi government declared health emergency due to unbearable high level of air pollution. Public is demanding complete ban on stubble burning but it goes against the interest of farmers as they don’t have any alternative. So, does this problem have any concrete solution?
The answer is YES!
A Pune based firm named Primove Engineering Pvt. Ltd. has developed a technology of converting biomass into CNG. It is not only a laboratory experiment, but cars are actually running on CNG produced from biomass. On the backdrop of the problem of pollution caused by stubble burning, let us know about this revolutionary technology in detail here.
What is AgroGas technology?
The CNG, which is commonly used in vehicles comprises methane gas (CH4) which has to be extracted from earth. methane is also produced from cow dung and wet waste which is commonly used as bio-gas for cooking in rural areas.
AgroGas is nothing but the methane directly produced from agricultural waste, grass or any such kind of biomass. It is the replication of natural system of generation of methane. The technology can be called as ‘artificial cow stomach’. Grass eaten by cow is digested in her stomach by a bacterial process and converted into cow-dung which further produces methane. In the same way, shredded biomass is stored in a big tank and it is processed by the same types of bacteria that prevail in cow’s stomach. Acidogenic bacteria convert the biomass into acids and methanogenic bacteria produce methane and CO2 from the acids.
The gas which is produced from such bacterial process contains 50% methane. In the next process, only methane is extracted from the gas and compressed at the pressure of 200 bars. It now becomes ready to be filled in vehicles.
Now this has not remained a laboratory experiment only but cars have actually started running on AgroGas. A pilot project of AgroGas in India has been established at Pirangut, a village near Pune in Maharashtra. It was inaugurated in 2016 by the then Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. Currently, it produces 100kg of CNG per day. First commercial AgroGas plant in India is being established in Nagpur which has the capacity of 5-tonne CNG production per day.
Best alternative to stubble burning:
Farmers burn stubble at the end of rainy season because it is the most cost-effective and time-saving method of disposing stubble before sowing for winter crops. However, the problem of air pollution in Delhi, Panjab, Haryana and some parts of Uttar Pradesh is also genuine. Imposing ban on stubble burning often goes against the interest of farmers because they don’t have any option.
AgroGas is a novel solution to this critical problem as the stubble can be purchased from farmers as raw material and used for CNG production. In fact, the technology incentivizes farmers for not burning stubble.
Now, Primove is also working with the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, under the leadership of Minister Prakash Javadekar, to find the permanent solution to the Stubble burning. The technology demonstration plant is proposed to be set up within a year, and based on its success, the master plan will be prepared to completely stop the burning of stubble, in about 4 to 6 years.
Benefits to environment and Indian economy:
AgroGas technology is most eco-friendly in both ways. First, it prevents pollution caused by burning of biomass and second, it provides the most eco-friendly and equivalent alternative to fossil fuels with zero pollution.
This technology has the potential to run all types of vehicles, even railways on AgroGas. India’s annual energy requirement is around 750 Mtoe, out of which, around 86% is fed by coal and crude oil. India has to import 80 per cent of the crude oil from Arab countries for which we have to spend around five to six lakh crore rupees every year. AgroGas technology will save this huge outflow of money and redirect the same to Indian farmers. This will indeed bring about a revolution to Indian economy.
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