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Biogas Technology: towards sustainable development

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 1
Biogas Technology

INTRODUCTION

Biogas plant is a device for conversion of fermentable organic matter into

combustible gas and fully matured organic manure. This is achieved by
subjecting the material to microbial decomposition in the absence of air, yielding
finally, methane, carbon dioxide and water. This process is called anaerobic
decomposition and was known to exist in nature from quite long time back. It
was only during the past hundred years that this secret was unlocked by some
scientists, as a source of energy. Biogas is also known as the swamp gas, sewer
gas, fuel gas, marsh gas, wet gas and in India more commonly as gobar gas.
Biomethanation in conventional biogas plants is simple and low cost processes
which can be economically carried out in rural areas where organic wastes are
generated aplenty which otherwise pollute environment and pose health
hazards. In the recent years, in view of the fuel crisis and the environmental
pollution associated with the fossil fuel, biogas has attracted world wide
attention and its importance as an efficient and non-polluting energy source is
now well appreciated.

To a large extent, biogas can be used directly for heating and lighting
purposes or used in an engine driven generator to generate electricity. The
effluent resulting from biogas plant is an excellent fertilizer that tends to improve
physical properties of soil such as aeration, moisture holding and water
infiltration capacity. Biogas plant helps to bring improvements in ecology and
environment by providing a way for safe disposal of sewage, animal and human
faeces in urban and rural areas. An integrated energy system based on biogas
can also help to prevent soil erosion and deforestation. Besides, biogas provides
some exciting possibilities and solutions to counter problems of global warming
through minimization of fossil fuel consumption and curbing greenhouse gas
emission. Despite the fact that biogas is a feasible and environmentally friendly
technology it has not been popular as it should be because of the weaknesses in
institutional arrangements.

1.1 Biogas as a Renewable Energy Source

 Energy sources can be grouped into two main categories viz. Renewable and
Non-renewable as shown in Fig. 1.1. Renewable energy includes solar, wind,
hydro, oceanic, geothermal, biomass, and other sources of energy that are
derived from ―solar energy‖, and are thus renewed indefinitely in nature.
Renewable resources are the inexhaustible resources that have the inherent
ability to reappear or replenished themselves by recycling, reproduction,
regeneration or replacement. Renewable resource can be replaced within a few
human generations. The phrase a ‗few generations‘ is necessary because some
resources are replaceable on very long, geological time scales. For instance, rocks
even though they are being recycled in nature, it occurs many thousands of times
slower than the rates of their use that, for all intents, they are almost
nonrenewable on a human. Thus non-renewable resources are those that
replenished by extremely slow natural cycles or for practical purpose are not
recycled at all. However, solar energy, despite the sun‘s definite life period, is
considered renewable due to two reasons, firstly, solar energy is actually
supplied faster than we can use and secondly, it will take numerous human
generations before the sun virtually ceased to emit energy.

Biogas is a renewable energy source. Like all other renewable energy

sources, the energy for biogas generation comes from the sun, through
photosynthesis by plants (Fig. 1.2). The plant biomass, the storehouse of solar
energy is used either directly as feedstock to run the biogas plant or after partial
digestion in animal guts. Ruminants consume plant biomass in both dry and
green forms. The dry fodder consumed are usually in the form of crop straw,
residuals of cereals, pulses, oilseeds after harvesting of the crop produced while
in mountain regions grasses from permanent pastures and forest areas are fed.
Biogas is obtained from these animal wastes through anaerobic digestion in
digesters. Inside the biogas plant the complex organic polymers, primarily
carbohydrate, lipids and proteins in the biomass are fermented to produce biogas
mainly comprising of methane and carbon dioxide. In the last few decades
biogas has assumed considerable importance as an alternative to conventional
energy sources throughout the world, particularly in developing countries like
China and India.
 Energy Sources

Renewable Non-renewable

Wind Hydro Solar Hydrogen Fossil Fuel Nuclear Fuel

Uranium
Biomass Ocean Geothermal
Thorium
Biological Thermo-chemical

Biogas Pyrolysis Coke Petroleum Ethane, Natural Gas

Coal
Alcohol Crude Oil Methane
Gasification LPG
Fermentation
Briquetting Peat Kerosene Oil
CNG
Lignite Petrol

Anthracite Diesel

Bituminous

Fig. 1.1 Classification of Energy sources into Renewable and Non-renewable

India has vast potential of renewable energy sources and a number of

technologies have been developed to harness them for various applications. The
major renewable energy sources and devices in use in India are listed in Table 1.1
along with their potential and present status in terms of the number of
installations or total capacity. Even if a small percentage of this potential is
tapped it would be possible to meet the total energy requirement of the country.
Realizing these huge potential, India is implementing one of the world‘s largest
programs on renewable energy covering the entire gamut of these technologies.
The Prime Minister of India has announced a goal of 10 % share for renewable
energy in the power generation capacity to be added during the period up to
2012.

It is apparent that conventional energy sources cause pollution, adversely

affecting human health and environment. Besides, fossil fuels are costly and
finite and therefore power generation based on it cannot be sustained in the long
run. This spotlights the urgency of exploring the possibilities of fuel substitution
by renewable resources and use of fuel efficient devices. Some of the advantages
of relying on renewable energy include, (i) its perennial nature, (ii) use of locally
available resources that does not need elaborate arrangements for transportation,
(iii) suitability for decentralized applications and use in remote areas, (iv) low
gestation and less capital intensive (v) modular in nature, i.e. small-scale units
and systems can be almost as economical as large-scale ones, (vi) environment-
friendly and (vii) can be effectively used both for augmenting availability of
power and as a tool for rural development and social justice. Therefore, there
has been a growing consensus world-wide favoring the use of renewable energy
sources as clean and sustainable source of energy.

SUN

Plants
CH4 & CO2
Animals
Formic Acid

Lignin
Acetic Acid

Lipids Long Chain Fatty Acid

Cattle dung

Propionic Acid

Proteins Amino Acids Keto Acids

Lactic Acid

Carbohydrates Alcohols Butyric Acid Pyruvic Acid

Fig. 1.2 Biogas as a Renewable Energy

In India, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) provides

financial incentives, such as interest and capital subsidy. As a result of efforts
made during the past quarter century, a number of renewable technologies and
devices have been developed and have become commercially available. There
has been a steady increase in power generation based on renewable sources and
as of December 1999, 1600 MW, representing a little over 1.5 % of the total grid
capacity was based on renewable sources. Of the 1600 MW energy from wastes
accounts for 0.9 %, solar photovoltaic 2.6 %, small hydro 13.1 %, biomass 16 %,
and wind power 67.4 %. By 2005 renewable sources already contribute to about
5% of the total power generating capacity in the country. The country ranks
second in the world in biogas utilization and fifth in wind power and
photovoltaic production.
 Table 1.1 Estimated potential and current status of different renewable
technologies in India

Sources/System Estimated Cumulative % age of

Potential installed capacity achievement
/number* over potential
Wind power 45 000 MW 3595 MW 7.99
Biomass power 16 000 MW 302.53 MW 1.89
Bagasse cogeneration 3 500 MW 447.00 MW 12.77
Small hydro (up to 25 MW) 15 000 MW 1 705.63 MW 11.37
Waste to energy
 Municipal solid waste 1700 MW 17 MW 1.00
 Industrial waste 1000 MW 29.50 MW 2.95
Family-size biogas plants 12 million 3.71 million 30.92
Improved chulhas 120 million 35.20 million 29.33
Solar street lighting systems — 54 795 —
Home lighting systems — 342 607 —
Solar lanterns — 560 295 —
Solar photovoltaic power plants — 1 566 kWp —
Solar water heating systems 140 million m2 1 million m2 of 0.71
of collector area collector area
Box-type solar cookers — 575 000 —
Solar photovoltaic pumps — 6 818 —
Wind pumps — 1 087 —
Biomass gasifiers — 66.35 MW —
* as on 31 March 2005
Source: Adapted from MNES, Government of India

1.2 Scope of Biomethanation

In India the principal substrate used for running biogas plants is cattle dung.
This facilitates the assessment of potential of biogas plant installation in the
country. The combined population of domestic animals in India is around 974.01
million heads, comprising of 485 million livestock and 489 million poultry (Table
1.2). These animals produce about 1386.23 million tones of animal excreta and
dropping annually. Assuming that 75 % of total animal waste is collected and
further leaving 25 % of the waste not usable for biogas generation due to animal
holding pattern and other uses, about 693.12 million tones of animal excreta are
available per year that can be used for biomethanation. This can generate about
290 x 108 cubic meter of gas having 188.66 x 108 cubic meter of methane. At
present under the National Biogas Programme, over 3.7 million biogas plants in
the capacity of 1–6 m3 had been installed. The estimated biogas production from
these plants is over 3.5 million m3 per day, which is equivalent to a daily supply
of about 2.2 million m3 of natural gas.

Table 1.2 Livestock population in India (in Millions)

Annual fresh Annual gas

Number
Livestock/poultry dung production production*
(in millions)
(million tonnes) (million m3)
Cattle 185.18 675.91 13518.14
Buffalo 97.92 536.11 10722.24
Sheep 61.47 44.87 1121.83
Goat 124.36 90.78 2269.57
Pigs 13.52 7.40 259.08
Horse and Ponies 0.75 4.11 82.13
Mules 0.18 0.99 19.71
Donkeys 0.65 2.37 47.45
Camel 0.63 4.60 68.99
Yak 0.06 0.22 3.29
Mithun 0.28 1.02 20.44
Total Livestock 485.00 1368.38 28132.85
Total Poultry 489.01 17.85 892.44
Grand Total 974.01 1386.23 29025.29
*Production from 50 % of the animal wastes produced annually

Besides the cattle dung, organic wastes available in the country can
technically be used to generate biogas. As shown in Table 1.3, over 273.67
million tones of crop residue from rice, wheat, sorghum, maize, pearl millet,
barley, finger millet, etc. are available each year in our country. Annual
production of wheat and rice in India during 1999-2000 is 71.78 and 88.55 million
tonnes respectively, which paves way for the generation of 258 million tonnes of
straw accounting for about 70 % of total crop residues available in India. About
45 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables wastes accumulate each year. A large
portion of this biomass remains unutilized and creates a problem of disposal and
leads to environmental pollution. Besides the bulky nature of organic residues,
their low thermal efficiencies and copious liberation of smoke are the major
limitations in the use of these farm residues economically. In recent years, a
number of advanced biogas designs have been developed for effectively treating
wastes such as by-products from food processing industries, agricultural
residues, market wastes, garden wastes and other biomasses, sewage sludge,
municipal and industrial wastes etc. If all these biomasses are taken into account
as feedstock the potential for biogas generation in the country could be virtually
unlimited.
 Table 1.3 Estimates of the availability of some crop residues in India

Residue to Residue yield

Crop
economic yield ratio (‗000 t)
Rice 1.5 110 495
Wheat 1.5 82 631
Sorghum 1.5 12 535
Maize 1.5 11 974
Pearl millet 1.5 6 967
Barley 1.5 2 475
Finger millet 2.0 5 351
Sugarcane (Stripped cane) 0.1 22 736
Potato tuber 0.5 7 867
Groundnut (pods) 1.5 10 598
Total — 273 629
Source: Bhardwaj (1994)

In addition to gas yield, the organic manure produced from the biogas plants
can meet a substantial amount of the nutrient requirements of the country. There
has been a growing interest in using the biogas slurry as suitable manure for
organic farming. If the entire quantity of cattle dung produced in the country is
available for biomethanation, the resulting digested spent slurry can generate
one million tones of nitrogen, one million tones of phosphate, and half million
tones of potash that can be used as fertilizer (Mital, 1996). As per the reports of
the MNES, studies have shown that the digested slurry obtained from biogas
plants contains 80 % carbon, 1.8 % nitrogen, 1 % phosphorous and 0.9 % potash
making it an excellent source of not only humus but also micronutrients for
crops.

Biogas technology has the potential to address the pressing needs of social,
environmental and economic problems in rural areas. From the social
perspective, the use of biogas can save time and labour engaged by women in
cleaning, washing and cooking, which they can use for other productive
activities. From the economic perspective, the spent slurry can supplement
chemical fertilizers, improve soil and boost agricultural production. It can boost
livestock and biomass production through adoption of integrated farming
system. From the environmental perspective, it can mitigate the problems of
indoor air pollution, reduce soil pollution due to use of excessive chemical
fertilizer, water pollution due to organic wastes disposal. The use of biogas fuel
for cooking and lighting can drastically reduce the depletion of natural resources
like forests, which are otherwise the primary source of energy in rural areas.
Therefore, biogas technology offers a wide scope in the rural areas of India.

1.3 Historical developments of Biomethanation

The mysterious appearance of flickering lights and flamed emerging from

below the surface of swamps was noted by Plinius (Van Brakel, 1980). Van
Helmont recorded the emanation of an inflammable gas from decaying organic
matter by 1630. He listed among fifteen different kinds of gases, an inflammable
gas that evolves during putrefaction and is also contained in intestinal gases.
Shirley is sometimes quoted as having discovered marsh gas in 1667. Alessandro
Volta concluded in 1776 that there was a direct correlation between the amount
of decaying organic matter and the amount of flammable gas produced, and that
in certain proportions, the gas obtained forms an explosive mixture with air.

Cruikshank proved beyond doubt that methane does not contain oxygen in
1801. In 1808, Sir Humphry Davy determined that methane was present in the
gases produced during the anaerobic digestion of cattle manure. He collected 0.3
liters of methane and twice as much carbon dioxide from cattle manure kept in a
retort under vacuum. In 1804-1810 Dalton, Henry and Davy established the
chemical composition of methane, confirmed that coal gas was very similar to
Volta's marsh gas. Bunsen (1856) and in particular Hoppe-Seyler (1886), made
important contributions to the first microbiological knowledge of anaerobic
digestion. By the time when SÖhngen wrote his thesis in 1906 it was understood
that organic materials were hydrolyzed by what we now call enzymes and
broken down into alcohols and fatty acids, whereas methane was formed from
these products (Van Brakel, 1980).

The taming of the anaerobic technology began in the late 19th century and
early 20th century prompted by the sanitation concerns of individuals and
municipalities. Anaerobic microbes (clostridium) were first described by Pasteur
during a study of butyric fermentation. Not only did he observe the ability to
grow in the absence of oxygen but he also found that oxygen in quite small
amounts was toxic. At a time when the experiments of Priestley and Lavoisier
accepted oxygen as the obligatory ‗staff of life‘ Pasteur‘s discovery was not
readily accepted by his contemporaries.

Gayon, a student of Pasteur, fermented manure at 35°C, obtained as much as

100 liters methane per cubic meter of manure. While presenting this finding at
the Academy of Science in Paris in 1884, Louis Pasteur concluded that this
fermentation process could be a source of heating and lighting. At about the
same time (1875), the Dutch farmer Wouter Sluys became the first to use methane
for the purpose of illumination. However, the gas was not generated by
fermentation, but was natural gas from well.

From, 1860 onwards, the idea of a septic tank was introduced in sewage
purification. Although it was known that methane was formed in these tanks it
was not collected for use. It was only in 1895 that Cameron in England designed
a septic tank in which he collected the gas for lighting streets in Exeter, England,
while gas from human wastes in the Matinga Leper Asylum in Bombay, India,
was used to provide lighting in 1897. By the 1900‘s, anaerobic digesters was used
in many parts of the world, mostly in anaerobic ponds. In 1904, Travis
developed a two-stage process, in which the suspended material from the
wastewater was charged into a separate "hydrolyzing" chamber.

It was not until towards the end of the 19th Century that methanogenesis was
found to be connected to microbial activity. In 1868, Bechamp named the
"organism" responsible for methane production from ethanol. In 1876, Herder
reported that acetate in sewage sludge was converted stoichiometrically to equal
amounts of methane and carbon dioxide (Zehnder, 1978, 1982). In 1906, SÖhngen
was able to enrich two distinct acetate utilizing bacteria, and he found that
formate and hydrogen, plus carbon dioxide, could act as precursors for methane.
The development of microbiology as a science led to research by Buswell and
others in the 1930s to identify anaerobic bacteria and the conditions that promote
methane production.

Buswell explained the fate of nitrogen in anaerobic digestion, the

stoichiometry of reaction, the production of energy from farm wastes and the use
of the process for industrial wastes (Buswell and Hatfield, 1930; Buswell and
Hatfield, 1936). Barker's studies contributed significantly to our knowledge of
methane bacteria, and his enriched cultures enabled him to perform basic
biochemical studies (Barker, 1956). Schnellen (1947) isolate two methane
bacteria: Methanosarcina barker and Methanobacterium formicicum. Numerous
additional studies led to a better understanding of the importance of seeding and
pH control in the operation of anaerobic digestion systems.

During World War II, crude oil shortages led to the rediscovery of biogas as
an alternative fuel. However, the efforts were short lived with the end of the war
and availability of cheap and plentiful oil. From the 1940‘s until the 1970‘s,
biogas technology was largely ignored in North America and Europe. The 1950s-
70s saw the spread of small scale biogas plants in India and China. While most
of the world wasted biogas during the period, China and India began using it for
heat, light and cooking. The energy crisis of 1973 increased the interest in biogas.
India and China responded rapidly with massive installation of small digesters
in millions. The energy crisis of 1979 triggered another round of digester
building aimed at energy production. China and India expanded the number of
family size biogas plants and started experimenting with large size community
biogas plants catering to the energy need of village as a whole.

With passes of time anaerobic digestion was increasingly recognized as an

inexpensive technology to stabilize organic waste. Waste treatment engineers
concentrated on developing high-rate anaerobic digestion processes. Systems
such as Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket reactor, anaerobic filters and other
systems that immobilized bacteria were developed. In recent years, Municipal
solid waste processing facilities have made significant progress towards
commercial use. A number of digestion systems have been developed for high
solids content waste.

1.4 History of Biomethanation in India

In India the possibilities of generating methane from the anaerobic digestion

of organic waste have been explored since 1897 when a methane digester was
installed at Matinga Leper Asylum in Bombay. Methane gas was collected
during the period of 1895-1920 from the septic-tank-type digesters and was used
in a gas engine for pumping the sewage, as well as for lighting and cooking
purpose (Fowler, 1934). By early 1920s investigation on the feasibility of
generating methane from plant biomass were started in Indian Institute of
Science, Bangalore (UN, 1984). They concluded that biogas plants might be a
good option for the Western Coast of India, which has no coal (Fowler and Joshi,
1920). At the same time research on potential uses of water hyacinth, was carried
out in University College of Science and Technology, Calcutta (Sen et al., 1929).

Inspired by the visit at Sewage gas plant at Dadar, Bombay, in 1938, S. V.

Desai and S. C. Biswas, started research on small-scale biogas plant from cattle
dung in 1939 at Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi (MNES,
1993). Starting with some ‗bottle‘ experiments, S. V. Desai built the first
successful plant working on cowdung in 1941 at IARI. The performance data
and other results of laboratory work on anaerobic digestion were published in
two papers in 1945 (Desai and Biswas, 1945; Desai, 1945). The distinctive feature
of the plant was a well type digester and a mild steel gasholder, which was
balanced by counter weight connected through ropes and supporting poles.

N. V. Joshi, former scientist of IARI, and Professor at the Poona Agricultural

College delivered the Presidential Address before the Agricultural Section of the
Indian Science Congress in 1945. This address contained some paragraphs on the
potential of biogas plants in using cow dung as a source of both fertilizer and
fuel. Joshi patented a biogas design in 1946. However, the early plants
developed in the country were very expensive and were not cost effective in
terms of the gas output (KVIC, 1993). Some of the early models were also prone
to burst, so overall, the technology was not viable for dissemination.

Based on several works done earlier by scientists like N. V. Joshi, S. V. Desai,

S. C. Biswas, Y. N. Kotwal and C. N. Acharya. Jashbhai J. Patel developed the
Gramlakshmi plant in 1951. With further changes made by S. C. Das Gupta,
Swami Vishwakarmanda and C. N. Acharya a much modified version of Gram
Lakshmi emerged in 1954. This improved design had two chambered digester,
the gas holder was design in such a way to maintain uniformity of pressure of 3
to 4 inch of water column. The counter weight used in the gasholder was
replaced by a central coaxial pole, possibility of rotary and vertical movement.
This design was adopted by the KVIC for its countywide popularization during
sixties and seventies. In 1965-66, the sole responsibility for handling the
government funds for spreading biogas plants in the country was given to the
KVIC.

During 1952 and 1954, S. C. Das Gupta of the Khadi Pratisthan at Sodepur
near Kolkota made efforts to evolve low cost plants based on materials such as
bamboo-thatch plastered with earth and indigenous material. Similar efforts
were carried out by S. Vishwakarmanand at the Ramakrishna Mission at Belur
Math near Bombay. Infestation of rats on the plants was a major problem with
such plants. The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute
(NEERI), Nagpur, worked on night-soil based plants (Rajagopalan and Pathak,
1962; Pathak et al., 1965; Idnani et al., 1969). The effect of volatile acid
accumulation and of gas recirculation in cow dung digestion was observed
(Pathak et al., 1965). In 1962 a pilot plant was established to study the anaerobic
digestion of bagasse at the National Sugar Research Institute, Kanpur, U.P.
(Bartha, 1965; Gupta, 1965). Central Fuel Research Institute at Bihar
experimented on digestion of rice straw and designed a pilot plant in 1964
(Goswami and Choudhary, 1967).

The problem of rusting, corrosion, high cost of gasholder and unavailability

of construction materials locally in installation of KVIC, IARI and other floating
drum model plants, compelled intensified efforts in elimination of the mild steel
gasholder. Based on the drum less, pig dung based biogas plants in China the
Gobar Gas Research Station at Ajitmal, Etawah, Uttar Pradesh (U.P.)
experimented, developed and released Janata type biogas plant in 1977. The
Research Station at Ajitmal was established in 1960 under the auspices of the
Planning Research and Action Development (PRAD) of U. P. Since the Janata
plant had no moving gasholder, it was also called a Fixed Dome Type biogas
plant (Jain, 1993).
 Further development of the fixed dome plant by AFPRO, New Delhi led to
another low cost plant viz., Deenbandhu biogas plant in 1986. Subsequent
modification of the above plants leads to other array of plants. The programme
for setting up of community, institutional and night soil based biogas plants was
initiated in the year 1982-83. It caters to the need of community as a whole and
institutions. Installation of large size night soil plants attached with community
toilet complex was subsequently included in third programme from the year
1988-89 (MNES, 1999).

1.5 Dissemination of Biogas plants in India

In India, the dissemination of biogas plants has began about half a century
back and the process has become consolidated with the launched of the National
Project on Biogas Development (NPBD) in 1981 and Department of Non-
Conventional Energy Sources (DNES) in 1982. The Indian Renewable Energy
Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA), set up in March 1987, is a nodal agency for
development and utilization of renewable sources of energy including the biogas
programme. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Sources (MNRE)
formerly known as Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES) was
created in 1992, replacing the erstwhile DNES as a separate entity in the
Government of India to help in the development and utilization of new and
renewable sources of energy including biogas. The Ministry is the only such
Ministry in the world and act as the nodal Ministry in the Government of India
for the development of non-conventional energy. The ministry‘s programme are
implemented through the State Renewable Energy Agencies, state nodal
departments and KVIC, Mumbai, which in turn involve a large number of
nongovernmental organizations and entrepreneurs as well as Zila Parishads,
Gram Panchayats, Mahila Mandals, etc.

Table 1.4 Central subsidy for different categories and areas for setting up biogas
plants

Category/Area Central subsidy per

plant (in Rs.)
1 m3 2-6 m3
North Eastern States and Sikkim (except plain areas of Assam). 11 700 11 700
Plain areas of Assam. 9 000 9 000
Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal (excluding 3 500 4 500
Terai region), Nilgiris of Tamil Nadu; Sadar Kursoong and
Kalimpong sub-divisions of the Darjeeling district, Sunderbans,
(W.B.), Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, desert districts, small and 2 800 3 500
marginal farmers, landless labourers, terai region of
Uttaranchal, Western Ghats and other notified hilly areas.
Others 2 100 2 700
Source: MNES, Government of India (2005)

The NPBD was launched for mass diffusion of biogas plants with a multi-
agency, multi-model strategy. The programme is centrally administered by the
DNES that coordinates the implementation and research and development of
biogas digesters. DNES approves designs and allocates budgets for training,
provides financial assistance to purchaser's subsidy, service charge to State
Governments and the KVIC, turnkey construction fee, incentives to promoters
and repair of plants with structural problems. The NPBD was renamed as
National Biogas and Manure Management Programme (NBMMP) in 2002-03.
The objectives of the NBMMP was to provide fuel for cooking purpose and
organic manure to rural households through family type biogas plants, to
mitigate drudgery of rural women, reduce pressure on forests and accentuate
social benefits; and to improve sanitation in villages by linking sanitary toilets
with biogas plants.

Table 1.5 State-wise estimated potential and cumulative achievement of family

size plant from 1981- 82 to 2005-06

State/ Union Territory Number of plants % age of

Estimated Cumulative achievement
potential achievement over potential
Andhra Pradesh 1 065 000 400 857 38
Arunachal Pradesh 7 500 2 210 29
Assam 307 000 58 667 19
Bihar 733 000 124 935 17
Chattisgarh 400 000 16 952 4
Delhi 12 900 677 5
Goa 8 000 3 732 46
Gujarat 554 000 378 846 68
Haryana 300 000 49 190 16
Himachal Pradesh 125 000 44 866 36
Jammu & Kashmir 128 000 2 122 2
Jharkhand 100 000 2 083 1
Karnataka 680 000 392 382 58
Kerala 150 000 108 313 72
Madhya Pradesh 1 491 000 247 536 17
Maharashtra 897 000 719 084 80
Manipur 38 000 2 128 5
Meghalaya 24 000 4 226 17
Mizoram 5 000 3 470 69
Nagaland 6 700 2 617 39
Orissa 605 000 224 373 37
Punjab 411 000 80 682 19
Rajasthan 915 000 66 944 7
Sikkim 7 300 5 574 75
Tamilnadu 615 000 210 040 34
Tripura 28 000 2 442 9
Uttar Pradesh 1 938 000 407 966 21
Uttaranchal 83 000 6 603 7
West Bengal 695 000 263 587 38
Andaman & Nicobar Islands 2 200 137 6
Chandigarh 1 400 97 7
Dadra & Nagar Haveli 2 000 169 8
Pondicherry 4 000 573 13
TOTAL 1 2 339 000 3 834 080 31
Source: MNES, Government of India (2005)

The NBMMP provides various kinds of financial incentives, including

Central subsidy on capital cost of plants. Subsidies are granted on plants up to
10 m3 capacities and usually for the models recognized by the government. The
extent of subsidy is dependent on the size of plant, socio-economic status of the
user, and geographical region as shown in Table 1.4. The amount of turn-key job
fee per plant is Rs.800 and 700 for hilly region and other region respectively. An
additional Central subsidy of Rs. 500 is given for linking the cattle dung based
plant with a sanitary toilet. Up to a maximum of 50 % of the Central subsidy,
applicable for a given category of beneficiary and area is given for repair of
plants, which have been used for a period of at least five years and have
developed structural defects. Financial assistance is given for organizing
different kinds of training courses viz. users, staff, construction cum maintenance
and turn-key workers. State level Biogas Development and Training Centres are
functioning at ten locations that are providing technical, training and publicity
support to State nodal departments and programme implementing agencies.
Assistance is given for communication and publicity work linked with target
ranges to State nodal departments and agencies.

By the year 1955 about 500 plants of IARI model were installed with
Government support. The KVIC and Planning Research and Action Division
(PRAD), Lucknow, tried to promote IARI design. However it does not get
popularity due to alignment problems, tilting of the gasholder sideways which
results in uneven and interrupted gas supply. In 1961-62, the KVIC included in
its programme, the ‗Gobar Gas Scheme‘ and adopted Gram Lakshmi-III biogas
plant for propagation. KVIC served as an undaunted promoter of biogas in
India. KVIC gave high incentives for installation of this plant by providing
grants and loans. Progress has been slow but steady. In 1962-63, 315 plants were
installed and by 1970 in total, about 3000 plants have been installed, mostly in
Gujarat. In 1975, about 17, 000 plants had been installed in India. By the
early1980's, there were thought to be about 80,000 biogas systems built by KVIC.

Up to 1986, a total of 642,900 digesters had been built: in 1985-86 alone, the
total was 185,800. Total governmental expenditure in 1985-86 was Rs. 6.7 million
(75 % subsidies, 25 % training) though less was budgeted for the following year.
The Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India had
spent Rs. 56 lakhs on its three year, ‗All India Coordinated Project on Biogas‘
which had been considered briefly by the energy Research Committee under the
chairmanship of the then Union Ministry of Energy. This programme sponsors
research on the microbiology of digestion, ferrocement gasholder construction,
dual fuel engines, etc., and has established several regional biogas testing centers.
Researches on biogas are also carried out at various cooperating Centres of the
Indian Council of Agricultural Research-sponsored ‗All India Coordinated
Project on Renewable Sources of Energy for Agriculture and Agro-based
Industries‘.

Prior to 1980s family size plants was the only main-stay of biogas
programme in the country. Need for large size biogas plants for communities
and institutions was felt in the late 1970s for two reasons – one to bring benefits
of biogas to those families having cattle wastes not enough to set up individual
plant or having no cattle, two – to provide sanitation at the community and
institutional level. The programme for setting up of community, institutional
and night-soil based biogas plants was initiated in the year 1982-83. It caters to
the need of community as a whole and institutions. Installation of large size
night soil plants attached with community toilet complex was subsequently
included in third programme from the year 1988-89 (MNES, 1999). The
Department of Science and Technology in collaboration with KVIC, PRAD,
NCAER and IIM has planned the installation of 21 community type biogas plants
during the Sixth plan. These demonstration-cum-experimental units were
planned to be set up under varying agro-climatic conditions in the country.

At present, over 3.8 million biogas plants in the capacity of 1–6 m3 had been
installed and more than 4000 community and institutional plants have been set
up in the country. State-wise estimated potential and cumulative installation
achievement of family size biogas plant is presented in Table 1.5.

1.6 Factors hindering Biogas Dissemination

Although it is convincingly realized that biogas technology has a great

potential to provide two basic rural requirements – energy and manure, its
dissemination is not without problem. Biogas dissemination in India
experienced a number of set backs mainly due to the non-operational of large
proportion of the plants installed. Though a remarkable feature of biogas plant
technology is its operational simplicity, a host of chemical, microbiological,
engineering and socio-economic problems have to be tackled to ensure large
scale adaptation of these plants. Serious limitations include the unavailability of
sufficient feedstock followed by defects in construction, and microbiological
failure in plants. Besides, the initial cost of biogas installation is prohibitively
high and needs sound economic status of the potential users. They need to have
the requisite number of animals, land resources for plant installation and the
ability to mortgage for easy credit are legitimate cause for concern.

The number of cattle dung owned by the household also determines the size
of the plant to be installed. Cattle dung shortages may arise from decreased in
number of cattle, division of cattle among brothers, installing large plant either
by accident or design. Earlier, in the enthusiasm to promote biogas technology,
many 'marginal' farmers were provided with plants, as full subsidies were given.
Installations were carried out keeping little importance on the technical aspects,
and very little knowledge of the macro and micro economics, as well as socio-
cultural aspects of introducing anaerobic digesters in rural areas. Even the
smallest sized plant needs three to four cattle to support it. Short supply of dung
eventually led to under feeding and consequent failure of the plants. Many a
time delays of one year in obtaining the subsidy are common. Lack of competent
bank staff and loan officers who have fair knowledge on biogas plant led to
discouragement. In some areas of the country water scarcity impose further
constraints on the viability of biogas technology, particularly in the arid and
semi-arid regions. Water supply is needed near by to supply enough water to
dilute the fresh dung.

Immature technical properties of plants themselves until the beginning of the

eighties and on the other hand, a dissemination strategy which was only
minimally developed and which did not recognize the importance of user
training and follow-up services until much later. Lack of servicing facilities,
spare parts availability, repair and maintenance facilities, inadequate access to
technical information, etc., also posed problems. Sometimes the plants are
faulty in their construction, or develop problems that lead to the non-functioning
of the plant. The travel budgets for the technical personnel are so meager that
plant operators are rarely informed about solutions to technical problems. At
higher elevation in mountains, low temperature decreases the efficiency of
biogas. The plant may not be technically feasible all year round due to low
winter temperatures that inhibit methanogenesis (Singh, 1985; Sudhakar and
Gusain, 1991).
 Certain communities have taboos against handling of animal dung, so the
biogas technology is not welcomed, creating social acceptability problem.
Cultural practices may also hinder as in the case of using of latrines in biogas
systems (Singh, 1988). Even though joining household toilets to biogas plants is
technically feasible, people in general have disliked it and resist the idea on the
grounds of the considered impurity of night-soil. The wider use of biogas has
also been up to some extend hampered indirectly by the low cost of fossil-based
energy, limited regulations on waste disposal and greater knowledge and
popularity of aerobic processes. Remoteness of installation site from road heads
may also discourage potential user because of the need to transport materials to
the site.

Some of the problems discussed above may be overcome, through effective

selection processes for the technology, and proper extension and support
services. Monitoring and evaluation is another basic requirement for successful
promotion of the technology. There is a need to move from open grazing to stall
feeding of cattle. Co-ordination between the various agencies and benefits
monitoring are required to promote and sustain the technology. In addition, an
extensive promotional campaign using advertisement in mass media,
exhibitions, films, and posters should be used to generate interest and educate
people on the benefits of biogas plants.

1.7 Conclusions

Energy is an essential need for human existence. There is shortage of energy

due to fast depletion of fossil fuels and the increase in demand for energy due to
the increase in population coupled with industrial growth. The available sources
of energy can be classified into two main categories viz., renewable and non–
renewable. The renewable sources of energy are being regenerated continuously
in nature. To reduce the environmental problems associated with non-renewable
energy sources, various renewable energy sources including biogas are
proposed. Realization of this potential and the fact that India supports the
largest cattle wealth in the world led to the promotion of National Biogas
Programme in a major way in the late 1970s. India is on the forefront in the
efforts to improve this technology to perfection so as to solve the different
problems arising from the present day energy crisis to some extent.

While the present state of development of biogas does not offer a complete
solution to the ‗energy-nutrient-environmental pollution‘ crisis in rural areas, it
already provides a partial answer. Anaerobic digestion in biogas plants is not a
new technology. Most countries became aware of it by the middle of the
Twentieth Century. However, real interest in biogas was aroused from 1973 and
thereafter, with the onset of series intermittent energy crisis. In India biogas
systems have been implemented since the 1960's, but it was in 1981 with the
formation of the NPBD, when the drive to step-up dissemination was initiated.
Efforts to disseminate biogas plants in India shows mixed results. While the
country has achieved an installation capacity of over 3.8 million biogas plants so
far, high rates of non-functioning plants still remains a major constraint that may
endanger further propagation. As such the status of biogas as a fuel remains
marginal despite the vast potential it has in its store. Policy, technical,
institutional and financial barriers continue to hamper biogas dissemination. It
is essential to ensure that biogas plants installed are not only working to the
satisfaction of the users, but also continuously utilized to their optimum
capacities. The need of the hour is a pragmatic coordinated effort from the side
of scientists, engineers and various agencies working in the field to overcome
these limitations in order to translate this ‗high potential‘ and ‗high promising‘
technology into a ‗high performing‘ technology. This certainly appears to be
within the realm of possibility.
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