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Power has down the ages been the backbone of industry and continues to play a significant role in industrial development. In the context of Bangalore, power has two dimensions.

One is the efficient supply, and an even bigger dimension is clean and sustainable power generation technology. While hydel and thermal power generation techniques have been used here, a renewable source needs to be promoted extensively.

Bio-energy is one potential source that needs to be tapped, says Ramakumar Purushotham, Associate Vice President-Energy Upstream, Enzen Global, an energy consulting firm.

Bio-energy is stored energy from the sun that is contained in materials such as plant matter and animal waste, known as biomass. Biomass is considered renewable because it is replenished more quickly when compared to the millions of years required to replenish fossil fuels.

The wide variety of biomass fuel sources include agricultural residue, pulp/paper mill residue, urban wood waste, forest residue, energy crops, landfill methane, and animal waste.

“Energy in the form of electricity, heat, steam, and fuels can be derived from these sources through conversion methods such as direct combustion, anaerobic digestion and gasification. The best near-term economic opportunity for biomass in the Indian context, particularly in heat and power applications, is biomass gasification or methanation process,” apprises Ramakumar.