By February 2024, India‘s biomass power capacity had surged to 10,845 MW as per the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). This surge in biomass power is crucial for India as it aims to meet 50% of its energy requirements from renewables. In this context, the efficient management of the biomass supply chain, especially the agricultural biomass supply chain as India is an agrarian economy, becomes imperative not only for energy generation but also for livelihoods and sustainable development.

Potential of Biomass in India

With an annual availability of 750 million metric tonne (MMT) and a surplus of 230 MMT as of 2021, biomass can provide huge environmental and economic benefits for India. Realising this potential, the country is operating 11,581, 21,279, and 33,196 small biogas plants in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra as per MNRE (as of March 2023).

Cleaner energy derived from India’s abundant agricultural biomass can be used for cooking and heating, which will in turn promote rural development by improving indoor air quality and reducing health risks. It will also provide economic benefits via enhanced job creation, reduced dependency on fossil-fuel imports, etc.

Further, India can benefit by converting agricultural biomass from stubble into energy to combat the issue of stubble burning. By utilising crop residues for bioenergy generation through processes such as composting, biochar production, and power generation in biogas plants, environmental and health impacts associated with stubble burning can be mitigated. This will also preserve soil fertility, mitigate climate change, and foster community development. Farmers mainly resort to stubble burning due to the short time span between harvesting and sowing the next crop. Thus, a more efficient biomass supply chain becomes crucial for the faster clearing of stubble from farmers’ fields.