Sustainable Energy Solutions for Rural India

Rural electrification still remains an area for much-needed development in India. While today many urban areas are focusing on sustainable living, several rural areas in India have for long used sustainable energy, such as bio fuel. In their article, “Sustainable biomass power for rural India,” authors N.H. Ravindranath, H.I. Somashekar, S. Dasappa and C. N. Jayasheela Reddy discuss the case of biomass gasifiers to meet rural electrification needs. The abstract to their paper is presented below.

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The performance and impact of a decentralized biomass gasifier-based power generation system in an unelectrified village are presented. In Hosahalli village, Karnataka, India, lighting, drinking water, irrigation water and flour-milling services are provided using power derived from the biomass gasifier-based power generation system. The system consists of a 20 kW gasifier-engine generator system with all the accessories for fuel processing and electricity distribution. The biomass power system has functioned for over 14 years (1988–2004) in Hosahalli village (population of 218 during 2003), meeting all the electricity needs of the village. Lighting and piped drinking water supply using biomass electricity was provided for over 85% of the days during the past six years. The fuel, operation and maintenance cost ranged from Rs 5.85/kWh at a load of 5 kW to Rs 3.34/kWh at a load of 20 kW. Technical, social, economic and management-related lessons learnt are presented here.

Read the entire paper here.