Synopsis
India can convert 7.3 million tonnes of burnt paddy straw into renewable gas worth Rs 270 crore annually. This agricultural residue can also produce bioethanol, leading to import substitutions worth Rs 1,600 crore. Innovative technologies will transform straw into valuable resources. This initiative will attract investments and create jobs, building energy security from domestic resources.
Reuters Workers collect paddy straw bales from a rice field, at Mansa in Punjab. The use of 7.3 million tonnes of paddy straw currently burnt by farmers in the biogas plants can produce renewable gas worth about Rs 270 crore per year, said the Indian Biogas Association (IBA) on Sunday.
The latest anaerobic digestion processes can efficiently convert this agricultural residue into Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG), which can directly replace imported natural gas, an IBA statement said.
Beyond energy, paddy straw is excellent for bioethanol production because of its 40 per cent cellulose content, it added.
It has the potential to achieve import substitutions worth Rs 1,600 crore, the IBA claimed.
Even the remaining 20 per cent lignin fraction can yield high-value products, such as polymers, activated carbon, Graphene and resins, it added.
According to the statement, diverting only the 7.3 million tonnes of paddy straw currently burnt to biogas plants can produce renewable gas worth about Rs 270 crore per year.
“This policy is likely to attract investments of Rs 37,500 crore and facilitate the setting up of 750 CBG projects in the country by 2028-29. More significantly, this represents an import-substituting move towar
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