How to Implement Biogas Programme?

In this article we will discuss about the common approaches adopted for implementing biogas programme. Also learn about the areas for research and development endeavours in biomethanation.

Common Approaches for Implementing Biogas Programme:

Biogas programme in a country should be pursued by a nodal agency which can be supported by agencies identified for promoting biomethanation. In India, this programme is also recommended to be pursued after linking with integrated rural development programme and dairy development programmes.

Some important aspects of this programme are short term and long term target-set­ting, programme monitoring, information dissemination, training and develop­ment, arranging financial support for meeting plan targets, conducting workshops and seminars, and pursuing R&D activities.

The programme also needs to be evaluated periodically on the basis of following activities:

i. Socio-economic evaluation of the impact of biomethanation on living standards and quality of work-life of the affected population.

ii. Assessment of biogas programme as a public health measure for waste treatment.

iii. Economic evaluation of impact of biogas programme on improvement in agricultural productivity following application of enriched fertiliser.

iv. Programme evaluation for meeting integrated energy needs of an area.

v. Evaluation of programme impact on deforestation following reduced de­pendence on fuelwood as cooking fuel.

Programme Implementation through Centralised Coordinating and Planning Agencies:

For popularising and implementing the biogas programme during the sixth plan period, Government of India set up the NPBD and assigned overall responsibility to MNES with following goals:

i. To advance in consultation with central and state governments, grants, subsidies and loans directly to the public corporate bodies like state renew­able agencies, KVIC, KVIB, state agro-industries corporations, dairy development corporations, tribal development corporations etc.; and to secure voluntary agencies support in programme implementation.

ii. To promote biogas programme by providing training and extension facilities.

iii. To liaise with national and international research organisations and act as focal point for information dissemination.

iv. To liaise with banking and other financial institutions for arranging bank loans and institutional finance for setting up biogas plants.

v. To liaise with the concerned government departments for release of special quotas of cement, steel etc., earmarked for the programme.

vi. To interact with concerned government agencies in solving implementation problems.

vii. To sponsor research projects on biomethanation at agricultural universities and other institutions.

viii. To develop, test and popularise low cost models of biogas plants developed by various agencies from time to time.

ix. To undertake R&D activities on various aspects of biomethanation such as improvements in design of plants, use of locally available materials in plant construction and operation, supply and portability of gas, and the like.

Promoting Programme on Turn-Key Basis:

Installation of biogas plants on turn-key basis is one of the important approaches in implementing biogas programme. A limited experiment of plant installation on turn-key basis was initially tried out in Gujarat during early eighties.

This approach was later extensively followed during late eighties and nineties. Adoption of turnkey approach is largely responsible for phenomenal success of biogas programme in India in recent years resulting in installation of nearly 2 lakhs plants a year.

Necessary guidelines and framework for this approach are as follows:

i. Implementing agency is required to work out feasibility report giving estimates of plant capacity, finances needed, resource inputs, and identifica­tion and availability of locally available materials both in plant construction and plant operation.

ii. Following approval of the feasibility report by the beneficiary, implement­ing agency initiates action for arranging loan from banks and subsidy from government departments as applicable.

iii. Implementing agency keeps a track of skilled artisans locally available for undertaking plant construction on daily or piece rate basis.

iv. Implementing agency should have requisite facilities at its disposal such as a small workshop to manufacture steel components like gasholder, class­room facilities to impart necessary training to the concerned staff, in­frastructure support for plant maintenance, adequate space for storing cement and steel, and personnel and accounting division for keeping record of administrative and financial activities.

Promoting Programme by Forming Cooperatives:

Biogas plants in a region can also be set up by forming a cooperative society. Cooperative law aims at incorporating the principles of cooperation that distinguish them from industrial enterprises. Distinctive features of a cooperative are open and voluntary membership, democratic control, and savings belong to members, limited interest on capital, cooperative education, and cooperation among cooperatives. A. Mazumdar and N.K. Gopalakrishnan proposed modus operandi of a biogas cooperative.

Cooperatives can be formed at village, block and district levels and there can be a national level organisation to coordinate and monitor their activities. For individuals to become members of a cooperative, it is necessary that they live within the area of operation of society and they should be competent to contract.

The responsibility of audit of cooperative institutions vests with the registrar of cooperative societies while in companies members at the annual general meeting appoint auditors on the recommendations of the Board of Directors.

A cooperative functions like any other organisation except that its by-laws differ. A biogas cooperative is expected to possess expertise in preparing feasibility reports, arrange loan from banks and subsidy from the concerned government departments, own workshop facilities and trained workforce for setting-up plants and work relating to their day-to-day maintenance and operation.

It should also have facilities for training and development of individuals in construction, operation and maintenance of biogas plants. A cooperative can receive financial assistance from several cooperative financial institutions and technical and managerial input from the State Cooperative Union (SCU), District Cooperative Union (DCU), and National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI).

Apart from forming separate cooperatives, biogas programme can also be pursued by linking with dairy and milk cooperatives already in existence. The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) which helps to establish village dairy cooperatives can also work towards biomethanation.

Dairy cooperatives can be particularly helpful in popularising biogas plants among milk producers. The integrated dairy-cum-biogas cooperative can ensure that each milkshed has at least one community plant and one demonstration family unit. Visit of farmers to demonstration units can help to promote biomethanation.

A National Workshop on the ‘Policy Issues in the Biogas Programme’ which focused on the role of biogas technology for the development of rural women and protection on natural resources was organised by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme at New Delhi during August 21-22, 1995. The Workshop was co-sponsored by the Aga Khan Foundation and the European Commission. It recommended that the NPBD should launch awareness cam­paign among women about benefits of biomethanation.

It also sought involve­ment of women’s rights and women’s health activists in obtaining women support for biogas programme. The Workshop stressed collaboration of biogas programme with forestry, health care and rural employment programmes. The Workshop also stressed the need to continue government support for the biogas programme by continuing to provide subsidies.

The Workshop felt that in the governments drive to promote market-driven economy, withdrawing subsidies will hurt marginal and landless farmers most and hard hit already overburdened women and forest resources. Instead a more careful and cautious approach with gradual introduction of market forces need be tried. The Workshop also proposed that for at least five years the subsidy should not fall below its current level.

During that time, agencies can experiment with alter­native marketing and production strategies. The promotional incentive of Rs. 50 per plant for motivators should continue and be available with im­plementing agencies. Government subsidy to support service charges and turnkey fee should also continue.

Biogas programme suffers from lack of hard data needed to perform cost benefit analysis for use in policy-making. The Workshop also felt that it was necessary to evaluate biomethanation vis-a-vis other energy sources, estimate cost burden on economy and quantify total benefits. Promoters of biomethana­tion should also devise different ways to finance the programme for harnessing its full potential and penetration into rural areas.

More focus need be placed on gender aspects of biomethanation which should be seen as a social programme based on appropriate technology rather than a mere technical programme. Biogas plant design should be standardised into a design which can be moulded, fabricated and delivered to the beneficiary. Government should have a mini­mum 20 year time-frame for achieving a long range target of 10 million plants.

Areas for R&D Endeavours in Biomethanation:

There is considerable scope to pursue R&D to improve plant design, construc­tion methodology and operation, and make them more cost-effective.

Some important areas for research are as follows:

1. Site specific studies for identifying optimum mix of locally available feed materials containing efficient strains of micro-organisms for obtaining higher gas yield at low cost need be carried out prior to setting up community or cluster of biogas plants in a particular region. This may include evaluation of locally available materials for anaerobic fermenta­tion, pre-treatment of influent slurry, and impact of environmental con­ditions on fermentation efficiency.

2. Microbiology of bacteria in anaerobic (able to live without oxygen), aerobic (able to live under oxygen) and facultative (able to live under different conditions) environment need be studied for analysing their behaviour, growth rates and nutrient needs; and impact of environmental factors on their metabolism activities.

3. Addition of hydrogen producing bacteria during anaerobic fermentation improves biogas yield. Further studies need be carried out to establish their full potential in improving the gas yield.

4. For plants utilising municipal refuse as feed, it is necessary to develop low cost techniques for separating inert and non-digestible constituents before feeding to a digester which clog and create scumming problems during digestion.

5. Even after achieving considerable success, more efforts need be directed for developing low cost plant designs which simplify construction and use locally available materials. Optimisation techniques can be used for maximising gas yield for varying loading rate, retention time, digester temperature, and pH of digester contents. Specific studies for reducing gasholder size by varying system parameters to suit applicable rates of gas utilisation can be conducted explored on plant-to-plant basis.

6. In view of increasing automation of biogas plants, there is a need to develop low-cost technologies for manufacturing accurate and sensitive instruments for measuring parameters like feed rate, effluent outflow rate, digester temperature, pH of digester contents and gas flow rate.

7. For any large-scale commercial application of biogas whose output varies with seasons, it is important that adequate storage facilities be created. Storage of biogas unlike LPG is particularly troublesome following difficulties in liquefaction and higher proportions of carbon dioxide compared to other gaseous fuels.

8. Success of both small-scale and large-scale biogas plants, among others, depends on their trouble-free operation and therefore efforts need be directed to ensure that plant operation be made as much trouble-free as possible.

9. Apart from making increasing use of locally available materials as feedstock, handling techniques also need to be improved for using effluent as enriched fertiliser under varying conditions of soil and en­vironment. Technologies for producing unconventional products like vitamin B₁₂ from plant effluent also need to be developed further.

10. Biogas apart from being used as cooking, lighting and engine fuel, can also be used for making products like ammonia and methanol through multi-stage decomposition and successive recycling. There is thus scope in developing technologies to produce these products on commercial basis.

11. As proportion of methane in biogas is less compared to other gaseous fuels, its usage as dual-fuel needs to be studied on engine life, selection of engine parameters for efficient performance, and redesign of engine carburetor and ignition system. Furthermore, in view of large proportion of carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and other impurities in biogas, it is necessary to develop low-cost anti-corrosive measures to protect vul­nerable parts from their harmful effect.

12. Most agricultural farms need electric power for operating farm machinery, energy requirement of which, can largely be met by power supply from biogas-based decentralised energy systems. However, energy supply from decentralised systems in many cases is not cost-effective. Efforts can thus be made to improve the economics of power generation by such systems. Gas-based decentralised energy systems can even supply power to the state power-grids in the event of surplus power generation.

13. Concept of integrated farming systems involving cultivation of food and energy crops, algal cultivation, pisciculture and biogas generation wherever feasible needs to be popularised and promoted.

14. There is a need to retain and possibly enchance the subsidy amount offered by the government for promotion of biogas programme. This should be backed up by launching of effective nationwide demonstration programmes to promote intensive utilisation of biogas plant fertiliser.

15. For reviewing biogas programmes in different countries and making international comparisons, detailed surveys needs to be conducted peri­odically by international organisations. It may involve study of- number and type of plants set-up, number of plants in operation and under break-down; plant category whether individual, institutional or com­munity type; pattern of plant ownership and beneficiary’s economic background, construction costs incurred, pattern of annual operating costs, annual yield of biogas and effluent produced; pattern of biogas usage in cooking, lighting, and operating farm machinery etc.; and socio-economic and behavioural aspects of programme implementation.

16. Significance of analysing and controlling feed rate, gas flow rate, temperature, pH, and pressure needs to be promoted among beneficiaries.