Can Bioenergy Adoption End Stubble Burning Practise?

Rice is one of the primary agricultural produces in India and a major source of sustenance.

- DR G SRIDHAR

Rice cultivation leads to the production of a significant amount of residual biomass in the form of paddy straw (PS) and husk, grossly amounting to ~134 MMT annually. The energy content of PS is 10-14 MJ/kg. The surplus PS production in the country is estimated to be over 40 MMT. There is a need for developing cost-effective technologies to utilise the PS for the production of bioenergy and bioproducts. The article talks about some of the research advances that are being made for enhanced offtake of PS.

Rice is one of the primary agricultural produces in India and a major source of sustenance. India is the secondJargest producer of rice in the world accounting for almost one-fifth of the world's supply, with an annual production of ~122 MMT (Olafisoye et al., 2022). Rice cultivation also leads to the production of a significant amount of residual biomass in the form of paddy straw (PS) and husk, grossly amounting to ~134 MMT annually. (Singh et al., 2016). The energy content of PS is 10-14 MJ/kg. The surplus paddy straw production in the country is estimated to be more than 40 MMT. Paddy cultivation, its residue decomposition naturally, or the stubble burning of paddy straw causes environmental degradation and loss of energy-rich products. The surplus PS can be an excellent feedstock for the production of bioenergy (bioethanol, biogas, biochar, pellets, briquettes, green hydrogen, etc.), and other bioproducts (Dash et al., 2021; Singh et al., 2016). Thus, there is a need for developing cost-effective technologies to utilise the PS for the production of bioenergy and bioproducts. Following are the existing pathways in which research advances are being made for enhanced offtake of paddy straw.

2G-Ethanol