Overview of Biogas Plant Business

Today, India needs sustainable energy production from renewable sources. Our dependence on conventional sources like fossil fuels has affected our foreign reserves and our pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2070.Therefore the need of the hour is a substitute for conventional energy sources. Biogas production through small-scale biogas plants is not a new concept in India. In fact,the development of uncomplicated biogas plants started in 1982 with the beginning of the 6th 5-year plan. Biogas is produced from bio-degradable organic wastes such as cow dung, biomass from agricultural farms, kitchens, industry, poultry droppings, night soil and municipal wastesfrom the biomass obtained from agricultural residues and food and beverage industry waste agro-food waste. Initially, biogas plants were developed for digesting cattle dung. However, over some time, companies have developed cost-effective methods of bio-methanation of organic wastes and biomass materials. Biogas plant designs ranging from 0.5 m³ to 1000 m³ unit size or more are available. Multiples of such units can be installed for achieving larger Biogas Plant sizes, depending upon the availability of the raw material such as for family/ household, small farmers, dairy farmers and for the community, institutional and industrial/ commercial applications. The unit size of industrial and municipal waste-based biogas plants may go up to 15000 m³ to 20000 m³ biogas production per day.The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNES) has officially recognised seven biogas plants. These are

• floating-drum plant made with a cylindrical digester (KVIC model)
• fixed-dome plant made with a brick reinforced, moulded dome (Janata model)
• fixed-dome plant made with a hemisphere digester (Deenbandhu model)
• floating-drum plant made from angular steel and plastic foil (Ganesh model)
• floating-drum plant made with a hemisphere digester (Pragati model)
• floating-drum plant made of pre-fabricated reinforced concrete compound units
• floating-drum plant made of fibre-glass reinforced polyester.

Benefits of setting Bio Gas Recycling Business

Biogas Plant Business depend upon several factors, and the feedstock to be processed is of paramount importance Wet-segregated biodegradable solid wastes from municipal, industrial, and agricultural sources have traditionally been treated to produce biogas. Still, more recently, it has been used as a renewable energy source (Paddy straw and other Agri-waste to biogas). The benefits that have led to the popularity of Biogas businesses are

• Electricity Generation: While generating electricity was initially the primary end use of biogas, upgrading to renewable gas (Compressed biogas/BioCNG), which can be injected into the existing gas grid or used as a transportation fuel, has become popular in recent times in India. 
• Value Substitute of Natural gas: Biogas has a calorific value of about 5000 kcal per m³. 1m³of biogas is the equivalent of energy in 0.93 m³ of natural gas or 1.25 kg of coal.
• Environment-Friendly Energy Source: As this fuel is a mixture of gases, primarily methane (CH₄), the by-products after combustion are water and CO2. Biogas is carbon-neutral and does not add to greenhouse gas emissions. The digested slurry produced from Biogas Plants as a by-product is a better source of nutrient-enriched organic manure for use in Agriculture. It not only helps improve the crop yield but also maintains soil health apart from this, fermented organic manure produced from these CBG plants as a by-product will be used for organic farming, which helps local allied industries to flourish.
• Assistance from Government: Central Financial Assistance for setting up Biogas plants (CFA) are subsidies provided by the Central government for setting up biogas based Power generation and thermal application projects under the Biogas Power Generation (Off-Grid) and Thermal energy application Programme (BPGTP). CFA support is also provided for establishing trained manpower, skilled biogas plant operators and post-commissioning operations and maintenance. Power generation Projects based on Incineration/Gasification/Pyrolysis or any new technology approved by MNRE are eligible for CFA.

Popular Biogas plant Businesses

Biogas is produced by the decomposition/breakdown of a variety of bio-degradable organic matter, the procedure is relatively easy, and the product is easy to store. The raw material can be a specific waste or a mixture of agricultural waste, cattle dung, poultry droppings, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste, or food/kitchen waste are abundant and cheap to procure. Biomass-based biogas plant business is one of the easiest businesses to set up near cattle farms and agricultural fields with comparatively less hassle. The popular biogas-related business models in India are

• Biogas Plant business based on agricultural waste: Waste from rural based Agro-industries such as residue from agro-processing units and food processing parks, agricultural farms, waste from sago, tapioca and starch industry and forests biodegradable residue can be used to manufacture biogas.
• Biogas Plant based on Cattle litter: the cattle dung, animal waste, or manure is picked from farms and immediately transferred to the biogas plants and subjected to the fermentation process under controlled conditions to produce biogas.
• Biogas Plant based on Poultry Litter: These setups are generally found near poultry farms, using poultry litter to produce compressed biogas (CBG) and organic manure as a by-product. Based on some estimates of India's poultry population of 28.6 million, the availability of poultry waste is around 1,575.5 million kg per year. This is enough to generate 116.6 million m³ of biogas or 648 GWh of thermal energy per year.

Documents Required for Biogas plant Authorisation

Generation of Biogas from biomethanation of urban waste, including segregated MSW/ Agricultural Waste/ Industrial wastes/ Effluents or a mix of these wastes. The documents required for authorisation of Biogas Plant Business under Solid Waste Management Authorisation are as follows.

• Copy of Land Allotment documents/ letter from Local Authority/ MCD.
• Copy of Environmental Clearance in case of Common Municipal Solid Waste
• Copy of Consent for Establishment
• Copy of Agreement between Municipal Authority and operating agency.
• Details of Investment on the project and expected return.
• Project Report of Solid Waste Management.
• Land Ownership Documents for the site.
• Permission of District Level Site Selection Committee
• MSW Annual Report of the preceding year.
• Approval is issued to the operator of the solid waste processing facility (in case a private operator is operating the site).
• Technical details of waste-to-energy plant or recycling plant (as the case may be).

Process of Authorisation under Solid Waste Management

The table below explains the authorisation process as an example for Biogas plant Business under Solid Waste Management Rules.

Market Overview of Biogas production Businesses

India is the second largest consumer of biogas in the world. India’s biogas market is expected to grow from $1.47 billion in 2022 to $2.25 Billion in 2029 at a CAGR of 6.3% in the forecast period, 2022-2029. The Ministry of Renewable Energy predicted that India will develop 5000 biogas plants by 2023-24. A study sponsored by MNRE showed that the current biomass availability in India is estimated at 750 million metric tonnes per year. Biogas is renewable, widely available, carbon-neutral and has the potential to provide significant employment in rural areas. The opportunities in this business are immense and guarantee steady profit.

Additional Licences Required to set up Biogas Plant Business.

The table below summarises the different approvals and licences required by a biogas plant business to set up, along with the departments and the time at which they are needed.

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