By Ken Hickson
Besides solar, wind and ocean energy, India must invest in managing its massive waste problem and turn it into a source of energy.
According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), there exists a potential of about 1,700 MW from urban waste – that 1,500 MW from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and 225 MW from sewage – plus another 1,300 MW from industrial waste. And that doesn’t include agricultural waste such as risk husk.
While the ministry is also actively promoting the generation of energy from waste, by providing subsidies and incentives for the projects, it’s not happening with the same gusto that is attached to solar and wind.
The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) estimates indicate that India has so far realized only about two per cent of its waste-to-energy potential.
A 2011 Frost and Sullivan market study had predicted that the Indian municipal solid waste to energy market could be growing at a compound annual growth rate of 9.7 per cent by 2013.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi described India’s thrust towards renewable energy production as an effort to ensure universal energy access for India’s poor. Speaking at the inauguration of RE-INVEST 2015 on 15 February, Mr Modi insisted that India’s stress on renewable energy is not aimed at impressing the world, but to meet the country’s own people’s energy requirements.
The Prime Minister spoke of the “seven horses of energy”. India has focused on thermal, gas, hydro and nuclear power so far. But now “we need to add Solar Energy, Wind Energy and Biomass Energy.”
Biomass and waste is definitely there, but because it is not as “sexy” or seen as “clean” as wind and solar, it needs to be recognized for what it is. Observers believe much more needs to be done to deal with the mounting problems of waste, which is weighing down on cities and villages throughout India, and acknowledging that waste can be turned into a very acceptable and viable energy resource.
Waste to Energy was identified as a key area in 2011 where Swedish expertise and technology could be gainfully utilised to deliver solutions for sustainable waste management in India, as well as create profitable business opportunities for Swedish companies.
Perhaps the best example of where India has made a promising start is turning rice husks into energy.
The MNRE is promoting generation of electricity from various agro-residues including paddy husk. The Ministry has fixed targets of 400 megawatt biomass power projects for the 12th Plan period and 100 megawatt during the current financial year 2014-15.
Two entreprenuers in Bihar state have a company producing electricity from rice husk and supplying power to some 400 million people in India who don’t have access to reliable electricity. Gyanesh Pandey and Ratnesh Yadav started a company, Husk Power Systems (HPS), in 2008 in Patna, the state capital. It is a model project, generating electricity from rice husk, a waste product of rice milling, for the Eastern Indian state, one of the worst areas facing power shortage.
In the areas where HPS has put up its power plants, not only are the villagers assured of reliable electricity, they also pay less than what they were previously spending for light from kerosene lamps. There are side benefits too; electricity from HPS does not have the environmental and health hazards posed by kerosene.
In just four years HPS has installed 84 mini-power plants, providing electricity to over 200,000 people spread across 300 villages, and employing 350 people operating across Bihar. Each plant serves around 400 households, saving approximately 42,000 litres of kerosene and 18,000 litres of diesel per year, significantly reducing indoor air pollution and improving health conditions in rural areas.
Husk Power has set an example which other states and companies are starting to draw on. Greater investment from overseas and locally is now going into rice husk power. But it needs to be multiplied many times to capitalise on an available resource and to produce the amount of energy needed in rural areas and villages.
There are also some neglected side effects of India’s development process like, generation of waste. A population of 1.2 billion is generating 0.5 kg per person every day. This, sums up to a huge pile of waste, which is mostly landfilled in the most unhygienic manner possible.
As part of the Smart City project, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) plans to become energy-neutral — generating as much power as it consumes — by March 2016. After setting up small-scale waste-to-energy plants in its jurisdiction, the civic agency is planning to set up a big plant that will generate about 100 MW power in a day.
“We plan to set up a waste-to-energy project which will generate 96 MW in a day (4 MW per hour) from 170 metric tonnes of waste. This will help us achieve our target of 200 MW-plus power per day. We plan to set up two such plants,” said Jalaj Shrivastava, chairman, NDMC.
Waste management market in India is expected to be worth US$13.62 billion by 2025, according to a research report by NOVONOUS in September 2014. http://www.marketresearchreports.com
This report finds that due to the large amounts of wastes generated, this industry is experiencing a steep growth trend with the mandate from governments side for appropriate waste treatment, support for generating of energy from these wastes, increasing public-private partnerships, increasing investments from various fund sourcing agencies, world organizations like UNESCO, WHO etc. and various subsidies and incentives from both central and state government.
The message is loud. There’s money to be made from waste. There’s energy in those rubbish dumps and in the rice fields. Nothing should go to waste. The technology is available to make it work. And with Government encouragement and incentives, there are investors with millions of dollars ready to turn waste to energy in India.
Ken Hickson is a sustainability leader, climate change action advocate and champion for a clean energy, zero waste, resource efficient and low carbon future.
