Greenfuel

India has more than 200 million Tons of Biomass to replace fossil fuel in steam boilers and other thermal applications. Biomass is generated in different parts of country as we have varied agro climatic conditions. So far, biomass used was byproduct of Agro Processing Industries like Saw Dust, Pine Needles, Rice Husk, Groundnut Shell, Cotton Stalk, Mustard Husk, Wood Chips and Baggasse etc. To utilize the loose unused biomass, it can be briquetted to a bulk density of more than 650 kg/m3 that can be easily transported and used for small and big thermal installations. These briquettes have a calorific value of around 3500-4000 Kcal/Kg (as compared to 5000-5500 Kcal/kg of coal). 2.5 kg of briquettes can replace 1 kg of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and 1.2kg of biomass can replace 1 kg of coal. Approximately 33 million households and institutional kitchens use LPG for cooking purposes in India. Agro-waste, forest residue and highly inflammable pine needles that cause forest fires can be used for making biomass briquettes. These briquettes can then be supplied with a smokeless biomass chulha to institutional kitchens such as cafeterias and restaurants to replace LPG. The low cost, less than half the equivalent amount of LPG, will be the main motivator for the end-users to switch to the clean energy alternative. Moreover, the replaced LPG will generate carbon credits. The process of briquetting biomass is a mature technology and is currently operational in different parts of India. The smokeless biomass for the large scale cooking uses gasification technology and can be adapted and optimized to increase the efficiency to cater to the local requirements.  Additionally, the densified biomass can be used to replace coal in local small scale industries such as brick kilns and boilers.