GS Paper 3
Syllabus: Conservation and pollution-related issues
Source: DTE
Context: The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) revised the financial grants for biomass pellet manufacturing units.
What are Biomass pellets?
| Meaning | These are a type of solid fuel made from compressed organic material (biomass) such as industrial waste and co-products, food waste, agricultural residues, energy crops, and untreated lumber. |
| Types | These are of two kinds – torrefied (Biomass processed at 250-350°C in the absence of oxygen) and non-torrefied pellets (biomass is shredded, ground and sent to a pellet reactor, where it is compressed and bonded). |
| Advantages | Pellets are extremely dense and can be produced with a low moisture content (below 10%) which allows them to be burned with a very high combustion efficiency.
Emissions such as NOx, SOx and volatile organic compounds from pellet burning equipment are in general very low. |
| Disadvantages | A recognized problem is the emission of fine particulate matter into the air.
The capital expenditure for setting up a pellet manufacturing unit entails variables such as land, machinery, air pollution control devices, factory infrastructures such as sheds and offices, etc. |
| Potential | Pelletised biomass can potentially produce 6% of India’s total electricity in 2030/31, in addition to direct biomass co-firing for electricity production. |
Biomass pellets production/usage in India:
- It is mandatory to use biomass or agricultural residue (5-10%) as combustion fuel along with coal in coal-fired thermal power plants.
- The biomass used for co-combustion in the power plants is processed and refined into pellets with a calorific value comparable to coal.
CPCB decision:
- Increased the budget for manufacturing non-torrefied biomass pellets to 28 lakhs (from 14 lakhs) per tonne per hour (TPH) of production capacity/40% of the capital cost of the plant and machinery – whichever is lower.
- In the case of manufacturing torrefied biomass, no changes are introduced in the fund allocation (of Rs 28 lakhs per TPH) in the revised CPCB guidelines.
Concerns:
- These allocations are grossly insufficient to meet the current requirements of the pellet manufacturing industry.
- The cost of machinery with a production capacity of one TPH is approximately Rs 1 crore and the grants would cover only 28% of the capital investment.
- This gross underestimation will not help close the existing demand-supply gap as the country has limited pellet manufacturers.
Way ahead:
- An imminent need to escalate the biomass pellet manufacturing capacity in the country.
- Indira Gandhi Super Thermal Power Project of NTPC in Jhajjar, Haryana has taken steps towards facilitating the establishment of pellet manufacturing units.
- More such initiatives need to be taken by the power generators and the government.
- All the actors in the supply chain, starting from the farmers and aggregators to pellet manufacturers, must be incentivised.
Insta Links:
National Mission on use of Biomass in coal based thermal power plants
