Bagasse... The Alternative Energy In India

Power shortage has been an ongoing problem in India. Facing the international oil price increase, and suffering from shortage of energy, India began to turn their attention to alternative energy – using bagasse to generate electricity.

India, as one of the top 3 sugar-producing countries in the world, has up to 4 million hectares of sugarcane plantation each year, and bagasse generated by sugar mills amounted up to 40 million tons each year.

India’s current central power system is still not complete as almost 70% of rural households still do not have access to electricity.  As such, there are huge potential for using sugar cane bagasse to generate power in India, because bagasse power generation can be easily transmitted to nearby rural households where a unit of heat generated is equivalent to the central power system with 2 units of fossil fuel power generation and transmission.

Unlike fossil fuel which contains sulfur matter, the bagasse can be burnt completely, therefore greatly reduce pollution. The Indian government realized the advantages of having local power plant by bagasse and began to change the power generation policy.  At the end of 20th century, the State Electricity Commission of India abolished the decades of discrimination policy to the local power plant, and had carried out a de-centralized power generation management rules.  They began to aggressively promote the use of bagasse power generation in rural areas, as well as encourage private sectors to investment in their factories.

Since India’s State Electricity Commission changed the power generation policy, the effect is very significant. Currently, India’s sugar manufacturing industry has about 87 sugar cane bagasse power plants, with a total power generating capacity of 710 MW. These bagasse power plants have changed hundreds of thousands of families’ life in rural India. In Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh, bagasse power plants are becoming the main power supply source.

Let’s see what benefits brought to Indian society by bagasse power generation.
From the aspect of electricity bill: by using local bagasse power plant to generate and transmit power, the farmers in rural areas can achieve a saving of approximately 31% of the electricity cost as compared to power generated by using coal or oil.  In another word, for every 100 USD a farmer used to spent, he now can save 30 USD!

From the aspect of emissions: the emission of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are significantly lower than conventional fossil fuels, coal or oil.  This is due to the characteristically low levels of sulfur and nitrogen associated with bagasse.  It is expected that the bagasse power plants in India, including those still under construction, will be able to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in India by 5.5 million tons each year.

Therefore, if the sugar manufacturing industry in India can tap into the full potential of bagasse power generation, more and more Indian farmers will be able to benefit from this new power energy, giving more people staying in the rural area with a better living condition in the near future.