Purpose

The purpose of the project activity is to develop a 10MW (gross) rice-husk based power plant at Gram Kunkuni, Dist. Raigarh in the State of Chhattisgarh, India, based on the rice husk from rice mills within a 5 km radius. Depending on price and other factors, the plant may possibly also use other agro-residues available locally, as the detailed biomass survey shows an abundance of other agro-residues also available in Kharsia District. Rukmani Power and Steel Ltd. is promoted by Mr. S. Agrawal and Mr. B. Agrawal. The family is in the business of rice milling, tobacco, and industrial development. The power generated will be sold to Chhattisgarh Electricity Board, but the price will not allow the promoters to break-even in their operations. For this reason, the project is conceived as a CDM project with the income from CERs ensuring the viability of the plant.

Since the project uses only biomass materials (rice husk) for power generation, which otherwise would have been coal, the project does not lead to GHG emissions. Combustion of rice husk in the project results in GHG emission of CO2, CH4 and NOx. The major constituent of GHG emissions is CO2 which accounts for about 98%, whereas CH4 and NOx constitute the remaining 2%. This can well be evidenced from the typical ultimate analysis of biomass materials, which indicates the Nitrogen content is within 1 to 2%, therefore CH4 emission is negligible. Hence, the CO2 is considered as the only GHG emissions from the rice husk combustion. Since the rice husk is formed by fixing the atmospheric CO2 by the action of photosynthesis in the presence of sunlight, the CO2 released due to combustion of rice husk is assumed to be equal to the CO2 fixed by the photosynthesis. Again the CO2 released during the combustion will be consumed by the paddy for its growth. In view of the above, rice husk combustion and release can be treated as cyclic process resulting in no net increase of CO2 in the atmosphere, Hence, the project will not lead to GHG emissions.

Provision of co-firing option will take care of possible short fall of rice husk fuel supply. In this case the GHG emissions from the coal burning will be a source of GHG emissions which will be taken into account in the monitoring and the emission reduction quantification.

Contribution to sustainable development

Reduction of GHGs

Biomass power plants contribute to sustainable development because they offer a decentralised power supply using locally available fuel sources. Decentralised power generation reduces transmission and distribution losses. Decentralised power generation provides jobs in rural areas without the kind of extensive local environmental damage associated with coal mines. Biomass power plants encourage farmers to think of biomass as a fuel source.

Biomass fuel is a new kind of rural agro-product which farmers can be encouraged to grow or supply in a manner suited to the needs of the biomass power industry. Reasonable fuel prices can be paid by the plant promoters to the farmers for their agro-residues, or to the mill owners who supply the rice-husk, and this transaction will ensure that farming is a viable economic activity in the face of constant and unremitting down-ward pressure on agricultural product prices of all types. The project will also help reduce the ever increasing gap of supply and demand of electricity in the State of Chhattisgarh.

To the extent that the power plant will use agro-residues, the project also helps landless labourers in the area by giving them employment. Agro-residues are available between the months of February to May during which season agricultural labourers do not have enough employment. The project thus reduces stress migration by providing employment in the summer months. The labourers load the tractors which collect the fuel and deliver it to the plant. To the extent that the project will use agro-residues, the plant will also provide additional revenue for the farmers who use their tractors to transport the fuel. In other words, the plant is generating commercial value for agro-residues locally by enabling the farmers to sell their agro- residues to a local buyer and thus augment their income. The total net biomass available for power production in the District is 1 million tonnes. This is enough for around 170 MW of biomass-based power generation.

The main conclusion in the planning phase was thus that the plant will contribute to sustainable development in a social, environmental, economic and technological sense. The project thus meets the guidelines for CDM projects stipulated by the Government of India, and the Government of India has issued its Letter of Approval for this project confirming that the project contributes to sustainable development.