Estimation for Potential of Agricultural Biomass Sources as Projections of Bio-Briquettes in Indian Context

Abstract

Energy is an indicator of the socio-economic development of any country and has become an indispensable part of modern society. Despite several renewable sources of energy generation, biomass sources are still under-utilized due to the absence of standard policies of estimation of resources at the country level. This paper attempts to estimate the gross crop residue and surplus residue potential for all provinces of the agricultural country, India. In India, the total area under crop production is 94,305 thousand hectares and the yield from all significant crops is 309,133 kg per hectare. It is estimated that total gross crop residue generation in the country is 480 million tonnes. Subsequently, after consumption of crop residues for numerous applications, the surplus crop residues are 121 million tonnes. The bioenergy potential from the surplus residues is estimated as 1988 PJ, which offers a huge potential energy source, from materials otherwise treated as waste. The Indian province Punjab, rich in agricultural sources and covering only 7% of the total cropping area of the country, generates 11% of the total surplus crop which could be used for further efficient use as bio briquettes.