What are the pros and cons of using biogas to address India’s transportation needs? Suggest some ways to promote its adoption.

There has been an increased focus on biogas production all over the world owing to greater push for greener alternatives of fossil fuels. It is a renewable fuel that is produced by anaerobic digestion of organic waste, primarily consisting of methane (about 60%).

Biogas:

• It consists of methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide. After purification the biogas consist of around 95% of methane.
• The purified biogas compressed at 250 bar pressure is called compressed biogas (CBG).

Benefits in transportation sector:

• The CBG has properties similar to CNG and hence can be used directly to power CNG vehicles.
• It can further be converted into many other sustainable transportation fuels such as hydrogen and methanol.
• Hydrogen produced after processing can be used to power hydrogen fuel cells in vehicles.
• Methanol produced after processing can be used in transportation either by blending it with petrol or entirely replacing petrol.
• Greener alternative to petrol and diesel. It produces significantly less air pollution.

Limitations:

• The gaseous form of CBG needs bigger volumes for transportation and hence is suitable for small distance driving only.
• Need for refueling after comparatively smaller distances.
• The liquefied form of biogas (LBG) derived methane has higher energy density and lower space requirements, but it needs to be cold at -162° celsius for liquification.
• Unavailability of biogas in bulk.
• Lack of infrastructure to produce biogas and other derivatives.

Way forward:

The government of India is encouraging CBG production under the Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) scheme with a goal to produce 15 million tonnes of CBG from 5000 plants by 2023-24. India needs to put more focus on tapping its potential for a greener future.