Can Farms Export More than Just Food to Cities?

Cities are energy guzzlers and consume large amount of energy on a daily basis. A large part of this energy continues to come from fossil fuel based polluting sources, thereby increasing the carbon footprint of cities considerably. In the climate constrained world of today, there has long been a need to shift from fossil fuels to renewable forms of energy.

One form of renewable energy that does not receive the attention it deserves is biogas. A key ingredient of biogas is cow dung and farm waste. Developing and improving biogas plants in rural areas can help augment the livelihood of farmers while also transforming farm waste into usable energy. The key challenge here are the standardization of technology and innovating the refining and bottling of biogas so it can be transported over long distance, from rural to urban areas.

With this as the backdrop, the uERA Lab reviewed existing policies for developing biogas in India and developing innovative models for the successful implementation of biogas in rural India, including in North-east India.

Articles:


External Resources:

Energy Factsheet – India
Introduction to Biogas Technology for Rural India
Brief Video on Implementation of Biogas Plant
Brief Video Showing Enrichment of Biogas at IIT-Delhi

Image source: Khalil, M., Berawi, M.A., Heryanto, R. and Rizalie, A., 2019. Waste to energy technology: The potential of sustainable biogas production from animal waste in Indonesia. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 105, pp.323-331.

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