ECONOMICS OF BIOGAS PLANTS AND THEIR ROLE IN SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT

Biogas, its composition and uses Energy equivalence and Commonly used organic matter for biogas generation Overall scheme for anaerobic digestion of organic matter Nutrient Contents of Digested Slurry from biogas plant and FYM

Types of biogas plants

Role of Biogas plants in saving of environment

Status of biogas development in India

Economics of family size biogas plants

What is Biogas
A gas obtained due to anaerobic decomposition of organic matter (cattle dung) It is a mixture of methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, water vapor, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen. Biogas has been known as swamp gas, sewer gas, fuel gas, marsh gas etc. In India, it is more commonly known as gobar gas. The digester in which the decomposition takes place is known as BIOGAS PLANT

Composition of Biogas
Methane Carbon dioxide Hydrogen Nitrogen Water Hydrogen sulphide Oxygen 50-70% 30-45% 0-1% 0-1% 0.1% 0-1% 0-1%

Common Uses of biogas

Cooking Lighting Power generation Engine running

Energy Equivalence of biogas

Use of 1m3 of biogas as fuel can save other sources of energy as: 0.52 litre of diesel 0.62 litre of kerosene oil 3.40 kg of wood 12.30 kg of cow dung cakes 0.43 kg of LPG 1.46 kg of coal 4.70 KW of electricity

Commonly used organic matter used for generation of biogas

Cattle dung Kitchen and dining hall waste Vegetable market waste Poultry dropping Crop residue Pig and horse excreta Aquatic weeds such as water hyacinth Agro industrial waste Sewage Sludge

Comparative Biogas Production of Different Feed Stocks

S No Type of feed stock Gas Yield per Normal Feed availability per Kg ( m3 ) animal per day (Kg)
0.036 0.07 10 to 15 0.5

1 2

Cattle dung Human excreta

3
4 5 6 7

Horse dung
Sheep dropping Camel droppings Piggery waste Poultry droppings

0.045
0.042 0.056 0.08 0.062

10
1 6 2.25 0.18

Overall scheme for anaerobic digestion of organic matter

1st Phase- hydrolysis of complex organic materials, i.e.,carbohydrates,fats,proteins, nitrogen compounds,salts etc. into soluble organic compounds, i.e., sugars,fatty acids,amino acids etc. 2nd Phase- soluble organic compounds are reduced to simpler compounds, i.e., organic acids (acetic acid, propionic acid etc.) , simpler alcohols and acetone. 3rd Phase- Organic acids ,mainly acetic acid and certain other oxidised compounds are converted to methane and carbon dioxide by methanogenic bacteria.

and digested slurry

Nutrient Contents of Digested Slurry from biogas plant and FYM

S.No. Nutrient FYM Range % Average % Biogas slurry Range % Average %

1.

Nitrogen (N ) 2 Phosphorus (P O ) 2 5

0.5 to 1.0

0.8

1.4 to 1.8

1.6

2.

0.5 to 0.8

0.7

1.1 to 2.0

1.55

3.

Potash (K 0) 0.5 to 0.8 2

0.7

0.8 to 1.2

1.0

Source: Biogas Technology: A training manual for extension, FAO

TYPES OF BIOGAS PLANTS

FLOATING DRUM TYPE FIXED DOME TYPE
JANTA BIOGAS PLANT DEENBANDHU BIOGAS PLANTS

KVIC MODEL BIOGAS PLANT (Floating drum type)

JANTA BIOGAS PLANT (Fixed dome type)

Deenbandhu biogas plant

Modified Deenbandhu and Janta biogas plants

The inlet in the traditional biogas plant is designed and modified by providing 12 inch dia pipe inclined at about 75 degrees with horizontal. The outlet is accordingly modified as per requirement The water requirement : 30 % of cattle dung as compared to 100 % of cattle dung in traditional biogas plants Digested Slurry is more thick hence easy to manage

Modified Janta biogas plant

Inlet 30 cm diameter PVC pipe Angle of inclination of pipe with horizontal=75o

DEMONSTRATION OF MODIFIED JANTA BIOGAS PLANT AT THE RESIDENCE OF SH. TARSEM SINGH, RURKI KHURD

DEMONSTRATION OF MODIFIED JANTA BIOGAS PLANT AT THE RESIDENCE OF MANJEET KAUR, BHARBHURGARH

DEMONSTRATION OF MODIFIED DEENBANDHU BIOGAS PLANT AT THE RESIDENCE OF LABH SINGH, BEEPUR

Role of Biogas plants in saving of environment

Direct and immediate impact :
Save other fuels and hence less stress on other fuels Using biogas as a kitchen fuel can prevent deforestation and hence soil erosion Change of environment in the house as biogas is a clean fuel. Other fuels being commonly used creates pollution by generating smoke. The use of biogas prevents chances of eye diseases and respiratory diseases. Hence healthy life of rural woman. Clean kitchen and utensils and hence saving in the time of women Clean House and hence less expenditure for maintenance of house

Role of Biogas plants in saving of environment (contd)

Reduction in green house gases:
How?

Green house gases

The gases which trap heat in the earth's atmosphere and cause rise in temperature are known as green house gases.
Greenhouse gases are the major cause of global warming.

Different green house gases

Naturally present green house gases in the atmosphere

carbon dioxide, methane nitrous oxide water vapor and ozone

hydroflurocarbons (HFCs) perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluride.

Green house gases due to human activities

Some activities responsible for green house gases

Agriculture and industrialization
Fossil fuel burning like that of coal in power plant leads to high emissions of carbon dioxide gas. Methane generated during Anaerobic decomposition of organic material Emission of nitrous oxides due to nitric acid production, use of cars with catalytic converters, the use of fertilizers in agriculture and the burning of organic matter
.

Kyoto Protocol for Control of green house Gas emission

An international agreement signed (December 1997) by about 180 countries with the aim to reduce green house gases emissions in order to save the environment Countries have been assigned maximum carbon emission levels and can participate in carbon credit trading.

Carbon Credit system and carbon trade

The carbon credit and carbon trade system was ratified in conjunction with the Kyoto Protocol. Its goal is to stop the increase of green house gas emissions.

For example,
if an environmentalist group plants enough trees to reduce emissions by one ton, the group will be awarded a credit. If a steel producer has an emissions quota of 10 tons, but is expecting to produce 11 tons, it could purchase this carbon credit from the environmental group. The carbon credit system looks to reduce emissions by having countries honor their emission quotas and offer incentives for being below them

Potential of methane wrt carbon dioxide as green house gas

Green house gas methane is more than 20 times as powerful as carbon dioxide at entrapping heat in the atmosphere. Reaction during burning of methane (biogas).

CH 4 2O2 CO2 2 H 2 O Heat

Hence one molecule of methane is converted into one molecule of carbon dioxide and as such the effect of methane will be reduced to 1/20th of its effect as compared to when it is released as such in the atmosphere.

Theoretical computation of carbon credit for 3 m3 biogas plant

1 m3 CO2 = 0.483 kg of carbon at about 30o C 1 m3 of CH4 = (20-1)0.483 =9.18 kg of carbon For a 3 m3 biogas plant Estimated biogas generated per day= 3 m3 Assuming 60 % methane in biogas As such 3 m3 of biogas = 0.6*3 m3 of CH4 = 1.8 m3 of methane 1.8 m3 of methane =1.8*9.18=16.52 kg of carbon/day In one year = 365*16.52 =6030 kg of carbon=6 tonne of carbon 1 tonne of carbon credit = 17 Euro Equivalent credit earned in one year by 3 m3 biogas plant= 102 Euro 1 Euro= Rs 59 102 Euro = 6018 Rs Thus a 3 m3 biogas plant can theoretically earn carbon credit equivalent to Rs 6018 in one year.

Status of biogas development in India

Total potential of biogas plants based on cattle dung in India: 1,23,39,300 Biogas plants installed as on 31-12 2009 :41,85,442 % of total potential exploited : 33.9 For Punjab % of total potential exploited for Punjab : 24.7 % of total potential exploited for Punjab : 17.8 Change for India in last 2.5 years : 2.8 % Change for Punjab in last 2.5 years : 5%

State/ Union Territories

Estimated Potential (Nos. of Biogas Plants) 7300 897000 150000 5000 554000 680000 6700 8000 695000 1065000

Cumulative achievements* as on 31/12/2009

Percentage of Biogas Plants installed against total potential 94.9 86.2 82.8 75.4 73.1 60.5 55.9 48.5 44.0 42.5 38.9

S No 1 Sikkim 2 Maharashtra 6926 773410 124202 3770 404973 411241 3743 3878 305760 452499

3 Kerala 4 Mizoram 5 Gujarat 6 Karnataka 7 Nagaland 8 Goa 9 West Bengal 10 Andhra Pradesh

11 Orissa

605000

235393

Arunachal Pradesh 12 13 Himachal Pradesh

7500 2818 125000 45488 615000 215033 6058 101705 74187 419516 1491000 287549 19.3 17.8 17.1 13.3 11.6 36.4 35.0 25.2 24.7 24.2 21.6 37.6

14 Tamilnadu 15

Meghalaya

24000 411000
307000 1938000

16 Punjab 17 Assam Uttar Pradesh 18 19 Madhya Pradesh

20 Haryana 21 Bihar 22 23 Pondicherry Uttarakhand

300000 733000
4300 83000

53345 125688 573 9590

Tripura

28000

24 Dadra & Nagar Haveli 25 26 Chattisgarh 27 Rajasthan 2000

2771

9.9

169

8.5 7.6 7.3

400000
915000 1400 2200

30576 67172

28 Chandigarh
29 A&N Islands

97
137

6.9
6.2 5.6 5.3 4.4 1.8

30 Manipur 31 Delhi 32 Jharkhand 33 Jammu & Kashmir

38000

2128 679 4408 2352

12900
100000 128000

Total

1,23,39,300

41,85,442

33.9

Economics of Family size Deenbandhu Biogas Plants

Estimated cost and Payback period for Deenbandhu biogas plants on the basis of saving of LPG
S.No. Item 3 1. 2. Estimated cost (Rs.) Equivalent Biogas produced per month in terms of LPG (Cylinders) 14000 2.57 Capacity of Biogas Plants (m3) 4 15500 3.42 5 16500 4.28 6 18000 5.14

3.

Monthly saving from 771 Biogas in terms of LPG (Assumed cost of LPG cylinder =Rs.330/-) Approximate pay back 1.50 period of Biogas Plant (years)

1026

1284

1542

4.

1.25

1.10

1.00

Economics of Family size Biogas Plants

The initial cost of the plant can be recovered in a very short time due to savings in the use of alternate fuels. The user will be getting the biogas from the plants for more than 25 years.

User is saved from the increase in cost of alternate fuels during the life of plant
All the farmers rearing animals should adopt this technology as it requires one time investment and its benefits are derived for rest of the life of plant. Government of India provides an incentive of Rs. 8000/- or 50% of cost which ever is less for the installation of biogas plants.

Economics of Family size Biogas Plants (contd)

An additional incentive of Rs 1000/- is provided for connecting the toilet to the biogas digester Attachment of toilet to the biogas plant will decrease the cost of toilet significantly as no separate septic tank will be required for the toilet. Value of the good manure and carbon credit earned has not been considered in computing the payback period. Keeping all the incentive into consideration the initial cost will be recovered in a very short time. There is no major maintenance cost for the plant and the operation of the plant is very simple.

Requirement of dung and number of animals for different size of biogas plants
Capacity of Approximate Quantity of biogas plant No. of fresh dung (m3 ) animals required required (kg) Cooking for number of persons

1 2
3 4 6

2-3 4-5
6-7 8-10 13-15

25 50
75 100 150

2-3 4-5
7-8 10-11 14-16

Alternate model of promoting Biogas programme

Some farmers may feel difficulty in arranging the initial capital for installation of biogas plant For such farmers a programme may be framed in which the bank provides interest free loan to the farmers. The loss in to the bank is compensated from the incentives to be provided to the farmers. The direct incentive to the farmers may be reduced in such cases

Installment for 20000/- loan at different rates of interest

Rate of Interest Monthly Installment for 20000 loan(Rs) Period of Return (Months) 36 48 60 Total Interest paid (Rs) Period of Return (Months) 36 48 60

8 7 0

643

497 488 425.5

411 402 339

2491

3363 2925 0

4260 3700 0

633.5
571.5

2170 0

Hence
The use of biogas plants reduces the green house effect due to anaerobic decomposition of organic matter to a large extent and helps to save our environment. Attaching the toilet to the biogas plant will improve the sanitary condition in villages and help in reducing the cost of the toilet. The biogas plants are easily affordable and economically viable and must be installed at a rapid rate to achieve 100 % potential of biogas plants . The investment is one time and the benefits are derived for rest of the life of plant.