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�VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2OCTOBER 2009

from the editor’s desk

Chief PatronDr Farooq AbdullahMinister for New and Renewable Energy,New Delhi

PatronDeepak GuptaSecretary, MNRE, New Delhi

EditorArun K TripathiMNRE, New Delhi

Editorial BoardN P Singh, Chairman Bibek BandyopadhyayPraveen SaxenaB BhargavaD K KhareParveen DhamijaB S NegiP C PantD MajumdarR K Vimal

Production teamMadhu Singh Sirohi, Suparna Mukherji, R Ajith Kumar, R K Joshi, and T Radhakrishnan, TERI, New Delhi;N Ghatak, MNRE, New Delhi

Editorial officeArun K TripathiEditor, Akshay UrjaMinistry of New and Renewable EnergyBlock No. 14, CGO Complex, Lodhi RoadNew Delhi – 110 003Tel. +91 11 2436 3035, 2436 0707Fax +91 11 2436 3035, 2436 2288E-mail [email protected] Web www.mnre.gov.in

Produced byTERI PressTERI, Darbari Seth Block, IHC ComplexLodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003Tel. +91 11 2468 2100, 4150 4900Fax +91 11 2468 2144, 2468 2145E-mail [email protected] www.teriin.org

Printed atBrijbasi Art Press LtdE46/11, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase IINew Delhi – 110 020, India

Publisher and PrinterMinistry of New and Renewable Energy,New Delhi

DisclaimerThe views expressed by authors including those of the editor in this newsletter are not necessarily the views of the MNRE.

Volume 3 • Issue 2 P October 2009

Published, printed, and edited for and on behalf of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, from B-14, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, by Dr Arun Kumar Tripathi. Printed at M/s Brijbasi Art Press Ltd, E46/11, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase II, New Delhi – 110 020, India

Dear Reader,

We all know that today, climate change is a major challenge that calls for an immediate global attention. All countries are now striving to come out with viable solutions to tackle this issue and thus, it has come to the forefront of thought across the world. This has generated a renewed interest in renewable sources of energy globally. Renewable energy is being viewed as one of the tools to tackle the issue of climate change besides other measures. The relevance of renewable energy is more in the Indian context from the view point of providing an alternative solution to mitigate the gap between demand and supply of energy, besides helping to tackle the climate change issue.

The promotion of renewable energy and its adoption by all of us in our daily life is not to be left to the governmental efforts only. Equal participation of all stakeholders, including users, is necessary. We should not wait for the new power plants to come up for electricity supply on a 24x7 basis in our villages, towns, and cities. Alternatively, we should adopt at least solar lighting systems and solar water heating systems in our homes, even if the supply of electricity is regular. This will not only reduce our monthly electricity bills but will also make us proud contributors in mitigating greenhouse gases emissions by saving electricity and thereby, tackling the challenge of climate change to some extent.

It has always been our endeavor to provide you with information on latest developments in the renewable energy sector taking place across the world. In this effort, the Akshay Urja is again in your hand with articles on design of solar dryer, biogas production from de-oiled seed cakes of Jatropha and Pongamia, solar drying in Uttarakhand, and so on. I am sure that you will find the material presented in this issue informative and useful as well.

We are encouraged by the overwhelming response and valuable suggestions from our readers.

With best wishes

ARUN K TRIPATHI<[email protected]>

A bi-monthly newsletter of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy,Government of India(Published in English and Hindi)

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2� OCTOBER 2009

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

I have been reading Akshay Urja since the last one year. I am impressed with its subject coverage and style of presentation of scientific matter in a popular fashion. It will be my pleasure to provide, from time to time, our research contributions pertaining to renewable energy as well as energy optimization in chemical process systems.

K V RaghavanDistinguished Professor

Reaction Engineering LaboratoryIndian Institute of Chemical

Technology, Hyderabad

The cover story, articles, and the different news regarding renewable energy are very informative and knowledgeable in Akshay Urja. I always get very excited to know about the same issues.

Nagendra Kumar SwarnkarReader, Department of Electrical

Engineering, JNU, Jaipur

I read your magazine, Akshay Urja’s June 2009 issue and found it quite informative. I am related to agriculture activities. Your magazine has lot of useful information.

L K JAINL-52, Indira Nagar Vistar,

Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh

I am a student of M Tech (I-Semester, 2009) in Electrical Engineering in NERIST (North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology). I am interested in doing research and project work on non-conventional and renewable energy. I hope Akshay Urja will be an immense asset for my upcoming works for which I would like to read regularly the topics covered for

Dear Reader,

Thank you very much for your encouragement. The editorial team of Akshay Urja will make every effort to make this newsletter highly informative and useful to all our readers. We welcome your suggestions and valuable comments to make further improvement in terms of content and presentation.

EditorAkshay Urja

updating my skills and knowledge on energy issues of the country.

Rishabh Singh KhwairakpamM Tech (I-Semester, 2009)

NERIST Hostel, Block-H, Room No. 35, Nirjuli, Itanagar,

Arunachal Pradesh – 791109

I read the Akshay Urja newsletter received from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and find it very informative, providing knowledge about the use of renewable energy in the modern life. I hope to receive the newsletter in the future as well.

Dr Sarbjit Singh SoochResearch Engineer, School of Energy

Studies for AgriculturePunjab Agricultural University,

Ludhiana – 141004

I am working with an engineering institute since the last 16 years and teaching subjects like Energy Engineering, Power Plant Engineering, and so on to the final year level. As far as these subjects are concerned, they consist of all the forms of solar energy. I have seen several issues of Akshay Urja and find this magazine useful for me in giving the latest scenario of renewable energy to my students.

Prof. Patil A DDepartment of Mechanical Engineering

Textile and Engineering Institute,Rajwada, Zenda Chowk,

Ichalkaranji, District KolhapurMaharashtra – 416 115

I express my sincere thanks for appreciating my article and giving me an opportunity for its publication in Akshay Urja—a prestigious magazine

of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. In fact, this is my second article which has been published in Akshay Urja. It has given me a further impetus as well as the encouragement to contribute such articles in future to the magazine. I have given a copy of Akshay Urja to the Regional Training Centre, Meerut, for placing the same in the library. RTC Meerut is imparting training to the staff and officers of this department posted in northern India. I personally believe that Akshay Urja will provide first-hand information as well as developments in regard to renewable energy sources and its utility in the present day when everyone is concerned about global warming.

Rajbir Singh RanaIDAS, Controller of Defence Accounts,

Meerut Cantt.

I read the last issue of your magazine on green buildings. The issue is extremely interesting and provides all the required information about the topic.

Pashupathi NathKangra Valley, Himachal Pradesh

[email protected]

Volume 3 • Issue 2 P October 2009contents

I n t e r n a t i o n a l Solar panel tariff may further strain

US–China trade . . . 9

R E N E W S

N a t i o n a l

Carb effic

FEATUR Desi

turb

Biogcake

Ener cook cont

Deveprov

Pros Utta

Effec of po

Renewable energy plan for Ladakh . . . 4

SPECIAL FEATURE Biogas plants: an essential part

of modern dairy farms ... 38

RE EVENTS Workshop cum training

programme on Solar Drying of Food Products ... 40

Solar power to illuminate villages of Jammu and Kashmir ... 41

IREDA pays double digit dividend ... 42

ORGANIZATION FOCUS Vidya Prasarak Mandal’s

Polytechnic, Thane, Maharashtra . . . 43

CHILDREN’S CORNER . . . 44

BOOK REVIEW . . . 45

BOOK / WEB ALERT . . . 46

FORTHCOMING EVENTS . . . 47

RE STATISTICS . . . 48

Web portal makes finding ways to drive green even easier . . . 9

Suntech and AEDB to develop solar in Pakistan . . . 10

Complete Solar Decathlon Results: Germany repeats as champion ... 10

Obama putting $3.4 billion toward a ‘smart’ power grid . . . 11

UP extends sops to RRBs for solar power promotion . . . 4India can generate 48 000 MW through wind energy . . . 5Vihaan Networks unveils solar-powered mobile system . . . 5Gujarat aims to be the top player in renewable energy . . . 6

on nanotubes could make ient solar cells ... 13

E ARTICLE gn of solar dryer with oventilator and fireplace ... 14

as production from de-oiled seed s of jatropha and pongamia ...17

gy optimization of hybrid solar ing with heat mass transfer rol ... 23

lopment of new biogas technology ides insights into agriculture ... 27

pects of solar drying in rakhand ... 30

t of particle size on auto-gasification ultry litter ... 35

13

20

26

27

1438

RE News

Renewable energy plan for Ladakh

The MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy) is preparing

a development plan for harnessing renewable energy in Ladakh, keeping in mind the expected load and hydro power potential of the region. The state also has good potential for generating wind power. Dr Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, said that Jammu and Kashmir has a huge potential for setting up small and micro hydro power projects after Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Interacting with journalists at a recently held conference, Dr Abdullah said that the entire region has been divided into 11 clusters for setting up of power projects. For the same, 246 small hydro power project sites of 25 MW capacity each, aggregating to 1411 MW, have been identified. He also said that the Gurez valley has already been fully covered by solar lights.

WWW.ZEENEWS.COM

UP extends sops to RRBs for solar power promotion

In what could be a boon for rural Uttar Pradesh, which is reeling under a

serious power shortage, remote villages in the state will soon be illuminated, thanks to the MNRE’s (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s) solar home lightning scheme. The RRBs (regional rural banks) can take the initiative to

promote the scheme and provide micro finance for the installation of the solar panels in the villages.

‘The scheme will not only electrify the remotest of villages but also will minimize the use of kerosene for a nominal monthly installment of Rs 250 that the bank will charge villagers. This is almost same as the amount that any villager spends on kerosene,’ said Arvind

Kumar, senior project officer of UPNEDA (Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency).

The MNRE had earlier floated a direct subsidy to banks to promote the use of solar power; now it has been made incentive-based. Under the scheme, three branches of a rural bank with a good track record in loan disbursement will get a cash reward of Rs 3–10 lakh, and the Gram Sabha that successfully illuminates all the homes through solar lightning will also get a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh. ‘Village committees can use the reward money in installing solar street lights at public places or buy additional equipment,’ said Mr Kumar. Of the national target of solar power to 2.5 lakh homes, UP alone shares 1 lakh homes. ‘Already, 30 000 homes in the state are using solar power. The two rural banks that have shown


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good results in disbursing loans in the state are the Aryavrat Bank, Allahabad, and the Prathima Bank, Moradabad,’ he added.

WWW.CONNECT.IN.COM

India can generate 48 000 MW through wind energy

India has a potential of generating over 48 000 MW through wind

energy farms, and for that it would require just 1% of its land, says an estimate by the C-WET (Centre for Wind Energy Technology), Chennai.

C-WET is an autonomous research and development institution under the MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy). C-WET, in its initial study at the coastal district of Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, has showed that it is possible to generate power through offshore wind farms. So far, these farms have been developed onshore. To examine the feasibility of offshore wind farms, C-WET conducted the first phase of its study at Dhanushkodi in Rameswaram. For the next level, it is awaiting the approval from various government agencies. The MNRE has given Rs 1 crore for this project.

The data measurement include wind speeds, wind direction, sea temperature, sea current characteristics, and wave data for environmental research, design, and development of offshore wind farm and potential impacts of these measured parameters on wind farms.

‘Our initial finding showed that it could be possible to generate power by setting up offshore wind farms,’ said the Executive Director of C-WET, S Gomathinayagam, on the sidelines of the CII-organized Power 2009 summit.

‘So far, Rameswaram has shown good potential, where wind power density of about 350–500 Watt per sq m (square metre) has been recorded. This was measured with velocity along with the height and measuring through sound deduction technology,’ he added.

The C-WET has also installed 620 stations across the country to measure data, and 261 places have been identified as potential locations, which can go beyond 200 Watt.

WWW.BUSINESS-STANDARD.COM

Vihaan Networks unveils solar-powered mobile system

WorldGSM is an environment-friendly and cost-effective solar-

powered mobile system developed by Indian telecom equipment manufacturer VNL (Vihaan Networks Ltd). And it might prove to be the perfect way to ‘connect the disconnected’ across the world. WorldGSM, comprising of a base station and two small-sized solar panels,

was unveiled at the United Nations’ ITU (International Telecommunication Union) annual conference by VNL’s founder and Chairman Rajiv Mehrotra. The system is now ready for commercial deployment.

‘It is not only green, but is also extremely cost-effective and easy to deploy and use. It draws power from solar panels, costs almost one-fourth the price of a traditional GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) tower, is near-zero maintenance, can be deployed and maintained by any person, and comes with a 20-year guarantee. It is the perfect GSM system for telecom companies who want to spread into rural and remote areas, particularly when an estimated three billion people are waiting to get their first mobile phone,’ said Mr Mehrotra.

‘The solar-powered network is designed to help mobile operators


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build sustainable and profitable networks in remote areas where ARPU (average revenue per user) is less than $2 a month,’ he added. VNL’s WorldGSM was recently recognized as the ‘best wireless innovation’ by Wall Street Journal and awarded overall bronze medal in its prestigious ‘Technology Innovation Awards 2009’.

Mr Mehrotra said that WorldGSM had successfully completed all trials and tests, besides receiving around 200 patents for the product. ‘For the past one year, WorldGSM has been successfully deployed in some north Indian villages,’ he added.

‘Mobile telephony can provide significant advantages to villages, both economically and in improving overall quality of life. Around three billion people, that is, half of world’s population, live in rural areas not covered by a mobile network. An estimated 1.6 billion people live without electricity, while an additional one billion people live in areas with unreliable access to power. WorldGSM has answers to all these anomalies,’ he asserted.

Telecom ministers from various African and Asian nations thronged the VNL pavilion at the ITU to have a glimpse of WorldGSM. ‘Some African nations have shown their keenness in setting up our system in their countries. Even developed nations find the concept interesting as the environment-friendly towers are totally emission-free compared to the traditional GSM towers,’ added Mr Mehrotra.

WWW.THEHINDU.COM

Gujarat aims to be the top player in renewable energy

The country’s power capacity will be doubled by 2012, said

S Jagadeesan, Principal Secretary

of Energy and Petrochemicals Department, Government of Gujarat, at the India Energy Conclave 2009 that was organized by the CII (Confederation of Indian Industry). The growth would be driven by wind energy, where only 5% of the proposed 10 000 MW of projects have been achieved. Gujarat would play a significant role in (developing) renewable energy resources. The capacity of power production in the state is 11 011 MW.

The projected peak demand is estimated to be 14 374 MW. The planned capacity confirmed is 8248 MW. ‘By 2012, the state aims to achieve 19 259 MW, as there are many proposals in the pipeline for the 12th Plan,’ he said. ‘In the coming five years, the country is to witness large energy investments in private and public sectors, which will enable augmentation of 15%–26% of PSU (public sector units) investments,’ said Sudhir Trehan, Chairman and Managing Director, Crompton Greaves Ltd. He emphasized on the need for sustainable growth while taking care of the environment. Nitin Shukla, Group Chief Executive Officer of Shell Hazira Gas, spoke of the need of intra-

state grids for equal power distribution across the country.

WWW.THEHINDUBUSINESSLINE.COM

Harnessing solar power for industrial use

With global warming taking centre stage globally, the use

of renewable sources of energy for meeting power requirements of Indian companies has taken off. Besides the usage for domestic purpose, the companies are seeing increasing opportunities in using solar energy for industrial use.

In a first of its kind initiative, Maharishi Solar Technology, a venture of Maharishi group, has tied up with the US-based ASI (Abengoa Solar Inc) for production of solar energy, which would be used for industrial applications of steam generation and other needs. The company is launching the project within the next three months.

The company would be in a position to supply equipment to industries for tapping solar energy, which would be used for air-conditioning, hot water needs, and other thermal applications. Till date, most of the initiatives related


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to tapping of solar energy have been only for domestic lighting and water heating purpose.

The solar thermal technology would be integrated into an industrial unit system for supplementing energy needs. ‘The technology would reduce industrial units’ dependence on fossil fuels for heating purpose,’ said Pradeep Khanna, Vice-president, business development, Maharishi Solar Technology. The company is investing Rs 300 crore over a period of three years for transfer of technology from ASI and setting up the plant.

Khanna said ASI would supply manufacturing and assembly drawings, component specification, and quality control procedures for manufacturing and procuring items in the country. Talking about the interest shown by corporates, he said, ‘There is a lot of interest in solar energy and a company can recover the investment cost within three years.’ Maharishi Solar Technology is the latest venture of Maharishi Group, a 54-year-old group set up by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi that has operations in 192 countries. The company would be using its facility at Shri Kalahasti in Andhra Pradesh for manufacturing equipment for thermal technology. Besides, the company also has set up a solar thermal unit in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, which manufactures flat plate solar collectors for domestic and industrial hot water. It chose to collaborate with ASI because the company is a leading player in solar energy, and is setting up the world’s largest solar thermal power plant in Arizona, United States, using parabolic trough solar technology with a capacity of 280 MW.

WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

Solar energy to light up Taj

The Taj Mahal would soon be lighted up with the clean and eco-friendly

solar energy. A proposal to this effect will soon be prepared by the authorities and sent to the Union Ministry of Power, according to a top ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) official in Agra.

ASI superintending engineer in charge of Taj Mahal, Dr A R Siddiqui, said that a team of the union power ministry had recently visited Taj Mahal and mooted the idea of energizing the place with solar energy. ‘The ministry team has sought the details about the requirement of the power load and other things’, Siddiqui said. Energizing the monument with solar energy would ensure round-the-clock, clean, and eco-friendly energy for the building, he added.

Siddique said the officials are also considering introducing solar-powered vehicles to carry the visitors. ‘These solar-powered vehicles will be for the physically challenged people and will bring them closer to the Taj Mahal, so that they do not have to walk all the Sway up to the Taj gate’, he said. The vehicle would carry four passengers in one go. At present, battery-operated

vehicles are allowed to ferry visitors near to the Taj gates.

Keeping in view the dangers posed to the Taj Mahal building by increasing pollution, the officials always encourage steps which could make the environment around the Taj cleaner and pollution-free. Keeping this in mind, plying of petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles has been completely prohibited around the Taj.

WWW.DECCANHERALD.COM

Biofuel extracted from algae using sunlight

Imagine extracting oil from genetically engineered algae and by

using a solar panel. That is precisely what scientist T V Ramachandra and researchers Durga Mahapatra and Karthik Balasubramaniam of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and Prof. Richard Gordon of the University of Manitoba, Canada, have done.

They propose extraction from genetically engineered diatoms or


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single-celled algae. The solar panels, instead of photovoltaic cells, will contain the algae and float in a water solution. The panel will be exposed to sunlight, following which the algae will secrete oil, which could be used as biofuel. Algae, which are basically plants, are present as coatings in rivers and lakes, and have oil droplets in their cells. These droplets are being squeezed out of the algae using sunlight.

The quantity of oil that can be extracted could be up to 25% of the mass of a diatom cell. Ramachandra has said that if a novel way could be found to efficiently wrest it from diatoms, a hectare of diatom cultivation could produce up to 200 times the oil produced by soybean cultivation!

The algae have many advantages as a source of oil. They multiply rapidly and some species double their biomass in merely five hours. Diatoms are also numerous, with the estimated number of species exceeding 1 million. According to Balasubramaniam, there are 2500 species of diatoms in India alone. He has discovered three new species in India, while hunting for those with the most oil content. The challenge for the researchers

will be to devise a method that will permit extraction of oil in large quantities and to genetically engineer algae so as to produce them in millions.

WWW.TIMESOFINDIA.INDIATIMES.COM

Local body seeks carbon credit for green power from sewage Buoyed by the success of generating power from sewage, an urban local body in Surat, India, has sought carbon credit for its green gas project. ‘We have not only been able to reduce the greenhouse gas emission but also minimize the grid power consumption through our sewage-based power plants. Now, we are gearing to earn about 50 000 units of carbon credit per year for the successful generation of the green gas,’ says S Aparna, Commissioner, SMC (Surat Municipal Corporation). Currently, SMC is producing 3.5 MW power from sewage at four places in the city.

The project to generate ‘green energy’ from sewage gas by using state-of-the-art Spanish machinery is first of its kind in India. There are four biogas-based power units operational in the

sewage treatment plants at Anjana, Singanpur, Karanj, and Bhattar. ‘Two more plants are coming up at Dindoli and Kasar under the JNNURM (Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission) scheme,’ says Aparna. ‘The power generated here is being used to operate these plants only and thereby, reducing the grid power consumption…we have approached the concerned authorities for the carbon credit scheme’, she added. Sewage gas is one of the end products of sewage treatment plants. It contains methane and carbon dioxide, which are greenhouse gases and are usually released into the atmosphere. Reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases protects the environment.

SMC has harnessed sewage gas for power generation. Currently, about 600 MLD (million litre per day) sewage is being treated in the city. We have increased our capacity from 562.5 MLD to 642.5 MLD under the JNNURM to meet the needs of the growing population in the city,’ said Aparna. The city municipal has saved about Rs 7 crore as energy saving cost from these sewage treatment plants. The two plants under construction at Dindoli and Kosad are each of 0.75 MW and 0.6 MW, respectively.

When the two projects will be completed, SMC will have an installed capacity of 4.65 MW of power from sewage gas. Under the JNNURM, SMC has entered into PPP (public-private partnership) with Hanjer Bio-tec Energies for converting 400 tonne of municipal solid waste per day into compost and fuel pellets. The daily collection of the solid waste is about 1100 tonne. While the compost is being used in agriculture and horticulture, the fuel pellets (green fuel) are being used as supplementary fuel in industrial boilers, mainly in textile units in and around the city.

WWW.DECCANHERALD.COM


international news

Solar panel tariff may further strain US–China trade

Companies that import solar panels to the US (United States) are facing

up to $70 million in unexpected tariffs. The bill comes at a time when the industry is already struggling and could hurt both foreign solar panel makers and foreign and American distributors. It could further strain trade relations between the US and China.

glutted with panels; prices have fallen by a fifth since early this year.

The decision is legally binding on most solar panels imported into the US. But virtually no one in the industry became aware of it until the last few weeks. Meanwhile, unpaid duties piled up, along with penalties that are likely to double the cost.

The US exported almost as much solar panel equipment as it imported in the first seven months of this year—$605 million in imports and $555 million in exports, according to the Commerce Department data.

The Solar Energy Industries Association, a coalition of domestic and foreign companies, argues that American tariffs on solar panels could lead other countries to impose tariffs on American exports.

The customs decision is dividing the industry between importers and companies that produce solar equipment in the US. And with China accounting for a rising share of American imports, the tariff could become a sticking point in bilateral trade relations already troubled by the dispute over tires, autos and chicken parts.

The duty generally applies to solar panels that provide power to a

residential, commercial, or industrial electrical system; small solar panels imported with built-in light bulbs are already counted as electric lights and are subject to a tariff of 3.9%.

Duties will be doubled if customs officials determine that companies have been negligent in not paying them earlier. Importers might also be liable for duties on all solar panels brought into the US in the five years before the ruling if customs officials decide that the companies were guilty of “material misstatement or omission” for failing to notice sooner that solar panels had evolved to the point that they no longer met duty-free rules.

The association plans to challenge the classification of the panels as generators in court.

WWW.NYTIMES.COM

Web portal makes finding ways to drive green even easier

The NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) of US DOE

(United States Department of Energy) has released a convenient online directory of web-based tools, database searches, cost calculators, and interactive maps—all related to alternative fuels and advanced vehicles.

The issue began with a short letter to US customs officials last December from the small American subsidiary of a Spanish energy company. The subsidiary, GES USA, wanted to know what the tariff would be to import certain solar panels from China. On January 9, the customs agency wrote back that the panels had become too sophisticated to qualify for duty-free import. Instead – because the panels contain a basic electronic device for safety and energy efficiency – they would be treated as electric generators, subject to a duty of 2.5%.

The duties come at a particularly difficult time for the global solar power industry. Many panel manufacturers are losing money because of fierce competition from ever-expanding production in China and a worldwide downturn that has driven down prices. Raising prices now to cover past tariffs will be hard because the market is

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2�0 OCTOBER 2009

international news

This comprehensive web page helps users to quickly navigate to the 23 tools, maps, and searches available on the AFDC (Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center) website for transportation technologies. Users can find the tools page on the AFDC under Information Resources at www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/applications.html.

The web-based tools on the AFDC benefit everyone from legislators to fleet owners to consumers. Users can generate a map of the nearest alternative fueling stations, research vehicle specifications for hybrid and alternative fuel, light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles, compare mileage estimates, calculate cost savings for natural gas or flexible fuel vehicles, search for incentives and rebates, and much more.

‘We are always striving to make the vast amount of information on the AFDC as accessible as possible,’ says Johanna Levene, NREL technology supervisor for the AFDC. ‘By putting links to all of our tools and searches on one web page, we are helping users find what they need fast and introducing them to some useful tools and searches they might not even know existed.’

The AFDC is managed by the NREL and is sponsored by the Clean Cities Initiative (www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities), a government–industry partnership sponsored by DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Programme.

WWW.NREL.GOV

Suntech and AEDB to develop solar in Pakistan

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd has entered into a MOU (memorandum

of understanding) with Pakistan’s AEDB (Alternative Energy Development Board) to work towards the development of solar energy technologies to meet the energy shortage in Pakistan.

The objective of the MOU is to facilitate cooperation between Suntech and the public and private sectors in Pakistan to help implement solar programmes, including the AEDB’s Rural Electrification Programme, the development of Solar Power Pumping Systems with the AEDB and the World Bank, as well as Solar Power Telecom Projects in collaboration with Pakistani telecommunication companies.

‘This is a clear example of the promise of solar energy in meeting growing demands for electricity in the developing world in an environmentally friendly way. With rapid improvements in solar energy technology and operational efficiency, solar energy is establishing itself as a crucial, cost-

competitive part of the global energy mix,’ said Dr Zhengrong Shi, Suntech’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The final agreement between the parties, however, is subject to the negotiation and execution of definitive agreements among the parties.

WWW.RENEWABLEENERGYWORLD.COM

Complete Solar Decathlon Results: Germany repeats as champion

USDOE (United States Department of Energy) Deputy Secretary Daniel

Poneman announced the winners of the 2009 DOE Solar Competition on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Team Germany from Darmstadt won

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top honours for the second time. Team Germany’s winning ‘surPLUShouse’ design produced a surplus of power even during three days of rain. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, US, took the second place, followed by Team California in the third place.

New to this year’s competition, the Net Metering Contest was worth 150 points towards the final results and was the most heavily weighted contest.

The 2009 Solar Decathlon challenged 20 university-led teams from the US, Spain, Germany, and Canada to compete in 10 contests, including architecture, market viability, communications, lighting design, engineering, heating and cooling, hot water, home entertainment, appliances, and net metering.

New to this year’s competition, the Net Metering Contest was worth 150 points towards the final results and was the most heavily weighted contest. It challenged teams to generate surplus energy, above and beyond the power needed to run a house, which they fed into a power grid.

Team Germany earned 908.29 points out of a possible 1,000 to win the competition, followed by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with 897.30 points, and Team California with 863.08 points.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign earned the most points in the Appliances Contest based on keeping a refrigerators and freezer cold, washing and drying 10 loads of laundry during the contest week and washing dishes in a dishwasher five times during the competition. This team also won in the Home Entertainment and Hot Water contests.

Team California took first place in the Architecture contest, earning 98 points out of a possible 100. The team also took first for its communications

efforts, including communications plans, student-led tours, and team Web site.

Team Germany topped the contestants in the Comfort Zone contest, with 92 out of 100 points for maintaining indoor temperatures between 72 and 76 degrees Fahrenheit and relative humidity between 40 percent and 55 percent.

The University of Minnesota won the Engineering contest, which was evaluated by a group of prominent engineers, who determined which solar home best exemplified excellence in energy systems design, energy-efficiency savings, creative innovations in design, and reliability of energy systems. The school also won the Lighting contest where jurors toured each house to evaluate the aesthetics, innovations, energy efficiency, user-friendliness, flexibility, and performance of the teams’ lighting designs.

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette won the Market Viability contest, which evaluated whether the cost-effective construction and solar technology in a team’s design would create a viable product on the open market.

WWW.RENEWABLEENERGYWORLD.COM

Obama putting $3.4 billion toward a ‘smart’ power grid

Barack Obama, the President of United

States, made a pitch for renewable energy, announcing $3.4 billion in government support for 100 projects aimed at modernizing the nation’s power grid.

The president has urged greater use of several technologies to make America’s power

transmission system more efficient and better suited to the digital age. The projects include installing ‘smart’ electric meters in homes, automating utility substations, and installing thousands of new digital transformers and grid sensors.

‘There is something big happening in America in terms of creating a clean-energy economy,’ said Obama, adding that there is much more to be done. He likened the effort to the ambitious development of the national highway system 50 years ago. He said that modernization would lead to a ‘smarter, stronger, and more secure electric grid.’ A modern grid could give consumers better control over their electricity usage and costs, and spur development of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.

The $3.4 billion in grants from the government’s January economic stimulus programme will be matched by $4.7 billion in private investments. The smallest grant will be $400 000 and the largest $200 million.

‘We have a very antiquated (electric grid) system in our country,’ said Carol Browner, assistant to the president for energy and climate change. ‘The current system is outdated, it is dilapidated.’

Matt Rogers, the Energy Department official involved in the programme, said that the 100 projects were selected from 400 proposed. The money will be

��VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2OCTOBER 2009

distributed over the next two months and the work is expected to be done over the next one to three years.

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DOE and the power of wind

In the world of wind energy, there is constant research taking place,

much of which is leading to improved means of creating renewable energy. When many think of wind energy, thoughts turn to the Netherlands and old fashioned windmills. Some other may recollect large ‘wind farms’ full of white propeller looking windmills that tower above the ground and turn at great speeds. These large, white power-creating devices are not windmills though, but wind turbines and the US DOE (United States Department of Energy) is out trying to make the technology behind them better.

In collaboration with Siemens, the DOE has undertaken a research and development project that will study the performance and effectiveness of land-based turbines. The project will utilize a 2.3 megawatt fan with a 331-foot diameter rotor near Boulder, Colorado, US. The tests for this large turbine will hopefully user in a future of increased turbine use to the US, decreasing the use of brown energy (oil, coal, and other non-renewable sources) to create electricity. The idea behind engaging in

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such research is to increase the amount of renewable energy that is fed into the grids of the US. In addition to other forms of green energy, the DOE looks to decrease dependence on brown energy from domestic and foreign suppliers.

The research being conducted is vitally important, though there are a few difficulties with turbines of such a large design. While the turbines may look light, they usually weigh 400–800 tonnes. Due to this, they can only be installed on certain types of land, limiting their potential effectiveness. The NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) has devoted $5 million to the process, while Siemens have contributed $9 million to the initial stages of research. The research conducted will test the recent improvements of wind technology, the ability of turbines to sustain potentially destructive weather as well as the amount of noise the spinning blades of the turbine can potentially produce.

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Renewables ‘could save manufacturing’

Renewable energy and low-emission cars could help save

Australia’s dwindling manufacturing industry, say key trade unions.

The AWU (Australian Workers’ Union) and the AMWU (Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union), in a play on a quote from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, have launched a report called A country that makes things [In his

pitch to voters in late 2007, Mr Rudd told the Labor faithful, ‘I do not want to be the prime minister of a country which does not make things anymore.’]. They suggest Australian manufacturing jobs could be created to capitalize on new laws requiring 20% of Australia’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020.

‘The growth in this industry is going to be so large that there is a potential for a new generation of large manufacturing firms based in Australia and going global,’ says the report. The unions are also calling on a ‘viable’ sector to make low or emission-free cars.

More than 77 000 Australian manufacturing jobs have been lost during the past year. Bridgestone recently announced its plan to axe 600 tyre-making jobs in Adelaide, Australia.

AWU national secretary Paul Howes and his AMWU counterpart, Dave Oliver, said in a statement that they had ‘growing concerns’ about jobs moving offshore. But they argue that productivity improvements could see manufacturing output growth rise to 3.25% a year, up from a long-term average of 1.5%.

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VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2�� OCTOBER 2009

�3VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2OCTOBER 2009

Using a carbon nanotube, instead of traditional silicon, researchers of Cornell University, United

States, have created the basic elements of a solar cell that would lead to much more efficient ways of converting light to electricity than that used now in calculators and on rooftops.

The team of researchers – led by Paul McEuen, the Goldwin Smith Professor of Physics, and Jiwoong Park, assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology – has fabricated, tested, and measured a simple solar cell, called a photodiode, formed from an individual carbon nanotube. The researchers have described in the journal Science how their device converts light to electricity in an extremely efficient process that multiplies the amount of electrical current that flows. This process could prove important for the next-generation high-efficiency solar cells, say the researchers.

‘We are not only looking at a new material, but we actually put it into an application—a true solar cell device,’ said first author

CARBON NANOTUBES COULD MAKE EFFICIENT SOLAR CELLS

RE tech update

one. The electrons moving through the nanotube became excited and created new electrons that continued to flow. The nanotube, they discovered, may be a nearly ideal photovoltaic cell because it allowed electrons to create more electrons by utilizing the spare energy from the light. This is unlike today’s solar cells, in which extra energy is lost in the form of heat, and the cells require constant external cooling.

However, Gabor feels that though they have made a device, scaling it up to be inexpensive and reliable would be a serious challenge for engineers. ‘What we have observed is that the physics is there,’ he said.

The research was supported by Cornell University’s Center for Nanoscale Systems and the Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility, both National Science Foundation facilities, as well as the Microelectronics Advanced Research Corporation Focused Research Center on Materials, Structures, and Devices. Research collaborators also included Zhaohui Zhong from the University of Michigan, United States, and Ken Bosnick from the National Institute for Nanotechnology at the University of Alberta, Canada.

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UNIVERSITY, US.

Nathan Gabor, a graduate student in McEuen’s laboratory.

The researchers used a single-walled carbon nanotube, which is essentially a rolled-up sheet of graphene, to create their solar cell. About the size of a DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) molecule, the nanotube was wired between two electrical contacts and close to two electrical gates, one negatively and another positively charged. Their work was in part inspired by previous research in which scientists created a diode, which is a simple transistor that allows current to flow in only one direction, using a single-walled nanotube. The Cornell team wanted to see what would happen if they built something similar, but this time shined light on it.

Shining lasers of different colours onto different areas of the nanotube, they found that higher levels of photon energy had a multiplying effect on how much electrical current was produced.

Further, the study revealed that the narrow, cylindrical structure of the carbon nanotube caused the electrons to be neatly squeezed through one by

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Abstract

The author has been using solar dryers for food processing, especially for making amla candy, for the last five years. Solar dryer is an innovative

design with combined draught, natural, and induced with fan. It works well when fan induces draught. However, when there is no power, the dryer works with natural draught, although the system underperforms because of the drastically reduced airflow. In the rural areas of Maharashtra, power cuts increased to almost 14 hours a day and no power is practically available to run the fan during daytime. So, the author came up with a new design of solar dryer, which uses turboventilator for creating draught. It runs on ‘external’ wind to create necessary draught and

WITH TURBOVENTILATOR AND FIREPLACES OLAR DRyER

DESIGN OF

Prof. AjAy ChAndAk, dr Sunil k SomAni, And Prof. ShAm PAtil PrinCESuman Foundation, Shamgiri, Agra Road, Deopur, Dhule — 424 005

maintains good airflow through the solar dryer, giving excellent performance. As it works on wind, no power is required. So, the unit is truly a renewable energy gadget. The unit is also provided with a fireplace and bypass chimney. This allows the use of the dryer at night and during cloudy days. It also helps to accelerate the drying process when the Sun is available by using some fuel-like waste biomass. Turboventilator was preferred over Solar PV (photovoltaic) operated fan for the reasons of cost and possibility of operation at night or in cloudy period. The results of the new solar dryers are very encouraging.

IntroductionDrying is an excellent way to preserve food, and solar dryers are an appropriate food preservation technology for a

sustainable world. Drying preserves foods by removing extra moisture from the food to prevent decay and spoilage. Water content of properly dried food varies from 5%–25% depending on the type of food. Successful drying depends on the following.1. Enough heat to draw out moisture,

without cooking the food;2. Dry air to absorb the released

moisture; and 3. Adequate air circulation to carry off

the moisture

Agricultural and other products have been dried by the Sun and wind in the open for thousands of years. The purpose is either to preserve them for later use, as is the case with food; or as an integral part of the production process, as with timber, tobacco, and laundering. When drying foods, the key is to remove moisture as quickly as possible at a temperature that does not seriously affect the flavour, texture, and colour of the food item. If the temperature is too low in the beginning, microorganisms may grow before the food is adequately dried. If the temperature is too high and the humidity too low, the food may harden on the surface. This makes it more difficult for moisture to escape and the food does not dry properly.


<< BAnanotubesCK

feature article

Abstract

The author has been using solar dryers for food processing, especially for making amla candy, for the last five years. Solar dryer is an innovative

design with combined draught, natural, and induced with fan. It works well when fan induces draught. However, when there is no power, the dryer works with natural draught, although the system underperforms because of the drastically reduced airflow. In the rural areas of Maharashtra, power cuts increased to almost 14 hours a day and no power is practically available to run the fan during daytime. So, the author came up with a new design of solar dryer, which uses turboventilator for creating draught. It runs on ‘external’ wind to create necessary draught and

WITH TURBOVENTILATOR AND FIREPLACES OLAR DRyER

DESIGN OF

Prof. AjAy ChAndAk, dr Sunil k SomAni, And Prof. ShAm PAtil PrinCESuman Foundation, Shamgiri, Agra Road, Deopur, Dhule — 424 005

maintains good airflow through the solar dryer, giving excellent performance. As it works on wind, no power is required. So, the unit is truly a renewable energy gadget. The unit is also provided with a fireplace and bypass chimney. This allows the use of the dryer at night and during cloudy days. It also helps to accelerate the drying process when the Sun is available by using some fuel-like waste biomass. Turboventilator was preferred over Solar PV (photovoltaic) operated fan for the reasons of cost and possibility of operation at night or in cloudy period. The results of the new solar dryers are very encouraging.

IntroductionDrying is an excellent way to preserve food, and solar dryers are an appropriate food preservation technology for a

sustainable world. Drying preserves foods by removing extra moisture from the food to prevent decay and spoilage. Water content of properly dried food varies from 5%–25% depending on the type of food. Successful drying depends on the following.1. Enough heat to draw out moisture,

without cooking the food;2. Dry air to absorb the released

moisture; and 3. Adequate air circulation to carry off

the moisture

Agricultural and other products have been dried by the Sun and wind in the open for thousands of years. The purpose is either to preserve them for later use, as is the case with food; or as an integral part of the production process, as with timber, tobacco, and laundering. When drying foods, the key is to remove moisture as quickly as possible at a temperature that does not seriously affect the flavour, texture, and colour of the food item. If the temperature is too low in the beginning, microorganisms may grow before the food is adequately dried. If the temperature is too high and the humidity too low, the food may harden on the surface. This makes it more difficult for moisture to escape and the food does not dry properly.



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which resulted in good savings on fabrication and painting.

P Improving utilization: It is observed that farm produce is available for a short duration and needs to be processed within that short time. The author has been manufacturing ‘Amla Candy’ using solar dryers since last four years. Amla is harvested only for a period of one month or so, and all the produce needs to be processed or sold in that short duration of time. Other crops will also face the same problems. The authors added a fireplace and heat exchanger in the design, so that the biomass from the farm can be burnt in this place. Burning biomass in day time will accelerate drying process, and at night, the dryers can run only on biomass, improving the net output from the dryer.

P Maintaining adequate draught: The first system was designed to work on combined natural or induced draught. Induced draught was created with the help of a fan consuming auxiliary power. Whenever there is a power cut, the system will work under natural draught. Dryers under-perform when they run only on natural draught. In rural areas, power cuts are often and hence, no power is practically available in the day time. Running induced draught fan on solar PV array was one of the options, but the authors decided against it because of the high cost and limitations for night operations. The authors made use of turboventilators for generating the induced draught. Turboventilators work on the outside wind and exhaust air from drying cabinet inducing draught.

A fireplace was designed and placed at the bottom of the cabinet in

such a way that it did not obstruct air flow from the solar collectors. Finned surface was provided for the interface to increase heat transfer from the fireplace to the cabinet side. Indirect heating is adopted as flue cannot be allowed to pass through the food stuff. Separate opening was provided on the sides for chimney to allow the flue to directly escape into the air.

System operationThree solar collectors of 2 sq m each are connected in series to give effectively 6 sq m collector area in one row. Two such rows are connected to one cabinet. The air heated by the Sun flows upward in the solar collectors, either by natural draught or by the draught created by the turboventilator, and passes through the food stuff arranged in wooden trays with stainless steel mesh, taking out the moisture. The fuel can be burned in fireplace, enabling the flue to escape through the chimney on the sides. The heat is exchanged through a finned partition to the cabinet side in the drying zone when Sun is not available.

ConclusionThe new design of solar dryer, incorporating turboventilator and fireplace, has following advantages.P Unit does not require external

power because of the use of turboventilators. It is possible to use

the unit during night time as well, which is not possible with solar PV drive to fan.

P Typical design, which uses solar collector panels as roofing and provides large covered utilisable, are for store and processing units. This feature saves huge cost on the structure of the solar dryer as well as roofing cost of the building under the solar collectors.

P Fireplace adds value to the product as night operations are possible. This permits high product output over small duration, during which vegetables and fruits are harvested and processed. Large amount of biomass is available for free in the farms, which can be effectively utilized in this unit.

P Interest burden of the capital investment is distributed over large production, improving financial viability to a great extent. With large volume of production, subsidies may not be required.

Compared to conventional solar dryer, the new design delivers almost three times more output if used round the clock. A lot of waste biomass is available in the farm, which can be burned in the fireplace. As the unit uses energy from Sun, wind, and biomass, this new design has come out as a genuine renewable energy gadget.

Figure 2 Photographs of a fireplace with chimney outlet on side


feature article

India has a very huge potential of tree-born non-edible oil seeds. The country is endowed with more than 100 species of these oil seeds, occurring in the wild

or cultivated sporadically to yield oil in considerable quantities. Attempts are being made to utilize non-edible and under-exploited oils for biodiesel production. The non-traditional seed oils, such as Jatropha curcas, Pongamia pinnata, Pongamia glabra, Madhuca indica, Shorea robusta, Mesua ferra, Mallotus philippines, and Garcinia indica, can be utilized for the purpose of biodiesel production. But, there are critical issues that must be addressed to make biodiesel a techno-economically viable renewable substitute or additive to diesel. The present method of utilization of non-edible oil seeds consumes only extracted vegetable oil for biodiesel production and renders huge amount of unutilized biomass. In general, 50% of the collected fruits of

BIOGAS PRODUCTION FROM DE-OILED SEED CAKES OFJATROPHA AND PONGAMIA

rAm ChAndrA1, V k VijAy2, And P m V SubbArAo3

1Department of Farm Power and Machinery, College of Agricultural Engineering and Post Harvest Technology (Central Agricultural University), Ranipool, Gangtok, Sikkim–737 1352Centre for Rural Development and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi–110 0163Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi–110 016

biodiesel resource are seeds (kernels). Out of these seeds, at the most 35% is converted into vegetable oil and the remaining 65% is rejected as toxic de-oiled seed cake. In short, more than 85% of cultivated bio-resource remains unutilized. This toxic seed cake can neither be used as cattle feed nor as a fertilizer. In 2007, the annual production of toxic jatropha (Jatropha curcas) de-oiled seed cake alone was estimated at 60 000 tonnes. However, this could be a big source of bio-energy production from the generated waste. Furthermore, the future scenario of non-edible de-oiled seeds production (such as Jatropha curcas, Pongamia pinnata, and so on) and their utilization for biodiesel production in India is going to increase tremendously with time.

The experimental studies had shown that the direct use of Jatropha curcas press seed cake as animal feed is not advisable due to the presence

of toxic compounds such as curcin, a toxalbumin, and other equally harmful substances like phorbolic esters. Hence, the only suggested use of non-edible de-oiled seed cakes is generation of biogas through biomethanation process. Furthermore, the biogas production yield and methane content of biogas are greatly affected by the composition of feed materials in relation to carbohydrate, fat, and protein contents. The oil seed cakes of jatropha and pongamia (Pongamia pinnata) are rich in fat and proteins, and therefore, are considered good feed materials suitable for biomethanation.

Proximate and ultimate analysis of jatropha and pongamia de-oiled seed cakesTable 1 shows the results obtained from the proximate analysis of de-oiled seed cakes and cattle dung in terms of its moisture, oil, total solids, volatile solids, and non-volatile solid contents.


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Table 1 Physiochemical properties of basic feed materials

Physiochemical properties

Feed material Moisture content % Oil content % Total solids % Volatile solids % Non-volatile solids %

Cattle dung 81.6 (442.5 db) Nil 18.4 14.4 (78.8 db) 21.2

Jatropha de-oiled seed cake 7.5 (8.1 db) 8.3 92.5 86.4 (93.0 db) 7.0

Pongamia de-oiled seed cake 10.5 (11.7 db) 7.2 89.5 85.3 (94.8 db) 5.2

The proximate analysis of feed materials reveals that the fresh cattle dung has around 81.6% moisture on wet basis (442.5% db [dry basis]) and total solids content of around 18.4% on wet basis. The volatile solids content in fresh cattle dung is found to be about 14.4% on wet basis (78.8% db) and remaining 21.2% as non-volatile solid (ash). The moisture content of jatropha and pongamia de-oiled seed cakes is only 8.1% (db) and 11.7% (db), respectively. The oil content in mechanically expelled de-oiled seed cakes of jatropha and pongamia is found 8.3% and 7.2%, respectively. Total solids content of jatropha and pongamia de-oiled seed cakes is found to be around 92.5% and 89.5% based on wet weight basis. The volatile solid contents of dried jatropha and pongamia de-oiled seed cakes are 93.0% and 94.8%, respectively. It is also evident from Table 1 that the non-volatile solid contents of jatropha (7.0%) and pongamia de-oiled seed cakes (5.2%) is significantly lower than cattle dung (21.2%). The lower value of non-volatile solid in de-oiled seed

cakes is due to the absence of lignin in it. However, the cattle dung has high content of lingo-cellulosic material.

The elemental analysis (ultimate analysis) shows that the carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen contents in jatropha and pongamia de-oiled seed cakes are higher than that of cattle dung (Table 2). The carbon content of the jatropha and the pongamia de-oiled seed cakes are found to be 38.6% and 35.8% higher than that of cattle dung. Similarly, the hydrogen content of the jatropha and the pongamia de-oiled seed cakes are found to be 34.8% and 41.3% higher than that of cattle dung. The nitrogen content of the jatropha and the pongamia de-oiled seed cakes are found to be 148.4% and 254.8% higher than that of cattle dung. However, the C/N (carbon to nitrogen) ratio of the jatropha (12.7) and the pongamia de-oiled seed cakes (8.7) are quite lower than that of cattle dung (22.7).

Figure 1 and 2 present views of jatropha and pongamia de-oiled seed cakes at a soaking time of 24 hours.

Table 2 Carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen contents and C/N ratio of the feed materials

Feed material C (%) H (%) N (%) P (%) K (%) C/N ratio

Cattle dung 35.20 4.60 1.55 0.69 1.66 22.7

Jatropha de-oiled 48.80 6.20 3.85 2.09 1.68 12.7 seed cake

Pongamia de-oiled 47.80 6.50 5.50 1.00 1.00 8.7 seed cake

It is clearly evident from the figures that the jatropha de-oiled seed cake has remained intact after being soaked in water for 24 hours. However, the observation on pongamia de-oiled seed cake has showed that it became like a paste just after 4–5 hours of soaking in water. Thus, it is expected that the degradation of pongamia de-oiled seed cake will be faster than that of jatropha de-oiled seed cake.

Figure 1 24 hour soaked jatropha de-oiled seed cake

Figure 2 24 hour soaked pongamia de-oiled seed cake


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Preparation of efficient inoculumA running 20 m3/day biogas capacity cattle dung digester was selected as an environment. Feeding of cattle dung was stopped continuously for three months to make sure that there is no unprocessed cattle dung present in the digester. Thereafter, feeding of pongamia oil cake with a dilution ratio of 3:1 was carried as per following schedule.

Schedule 1: 8 kg of oil cake substrate (2 kg pongamia oil cake with 6 kg water) with a dilution of 3:1 for five days No change in drum position was observed for first two days. However, addition of cake substrate was continued. On the third day, there was a small rise (approximately 10 cm), which is equal to a gas volume of 0.90 m3. The same was continued for two more days and a rapid rise in drum was observed. This showed encouraging results.

Schedule 2: 20 kg of oil cake substrate (5 kg pongamia oil cake with 15 kg water) with a dilution of 3:1 for next 10 daysFor the first two days of increased loading, a drop in gas production was observed, as the drum was moving up much slower when compared to the fourth or fifth day. Feeding was continued for few more days and positive results were observed on the third day, with a rapid upward movement of the drum. It reached its highest position (30 cm) on the fifth day and remained almost at the same level for 10 days.

This pattern of biogas production suggested the adaptation of bacteria to the environment offered by new substrates, possibly by developing into a suitable strain. This acclimatization is due to fact that when the concentrations of inhibitory or toxic materials are slowly

increased within the environment, many microorganisms can rearrange their metabolic resources, overcoming the metabolic block produced by the normally inhibitory or toxic material. However, sufficient time should be available for this rearrangement to take place under sudden change in environment.

Experimental biogas plant and parameters of biomethanationBiomethanation study was carried in 20 m3/day capacity biogas plant by continuous feeding of jatropha and pongamia de-oiled seed cake substrates for 30 days. A schematic diagram of the experimental biogas plant is shown in Figure 3. Figure 4a shows the status of biogas plant before feeding of de-oiled seed cake substrate; the position of floating gas holder is at the lowest. Figure 4b shows the status of the same biogas plant after three days of feeding

Figure 3 Schematic diagram of 20 m3/day capacity floating drum biogas plant

of de-oiled seed cake substrate; the position of floating gas holder is at the maximum height of reach.

Table 3 shows the daily feeding level of jatropha and pongamia oil cake substrates. Measurements of ambient temperature (°C), substrate temperature (°C), daily biogas production at sewage treatment plant (m3), methane content (%), carbon dioxide content (%), total volatile solid removal efficiency (%), and specific methane production (m3/kg TS [total solids] and m3/kg VS [volatile solids]) were carried out with the use of appropriate instrument and with application of standard procedures and formulae.

Results and DiscussionDaily biogas productionFigure 5 shows the daily biogas yield at STP (sewage treatment plant) and substrate temperature for jatropha de-oiled seed cake substrate

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2�0 OCTOBER 2009

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Figure 4a A pictorial view of 20 m3/day capacity floating drum biogas plant before start of feeding of de-oiled seed cake

Figure 4b A pictorial view of same biogas plant after three day of feeding of de-oiled seed cake

Table 3 Feeding rate, total solids, and volatile solids concentration in the substrates

Substrate concentration of daily feed

Total solids Volatile solids

Treatment kg/d % kg/d %

Jatropha de-oiled seed cake substratesJC (4.0 DR, 0% CD) 9.25 18.5 8.64 17.3

Pongamia de-oiled seed cake substratesPC (3.5 DR, 0% CD) 8.95 19.9 8.53 19.0

Figure 5 Daily biogas production rate for jatropha de-oiled seed cake substrate

at feeding rate of 9.25 kg TS/day (17.3% VS concentration), daily variation of biogas yield is found to range from 1.5 to 7.3 m3/day over a period of 30 days. Similarly, daily biogas yield at STP at feeding rate of 8.95 kg TS/day and substrate temperature during the period of 30 days for pongamia de-oiled seed cake substrate has been shown in Figure 6. Daily variation of biogas yield was found to range from 1.5 to 8.9 m3/day on pongamia de-oiled seed cake substrate. The average daily biogas production (at STP) during the 30-day period is observed as 6.541 m3/day for jatropha de-oiled seed cake substrate and 7.791 m3/day for pongamia de-oiled seed cake substrate. It is observed that biogas production became almost stable after the eighth day of digestion process.

Methane and carbon dioxide content of produced biogasThe maximum and minimum values of methane and carbon dioxide in jatropha oil cake were found to vary from 68.0% to 60.7% and 32.7% to 29.0%, respectively. The average values of methane and carbon dioxide contents over 30 days of HRT (hydraulic retention time) were found as 66.6% and 31.3%, respectively.


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Figure 6 Daily biogas production rate for pongamia de-oiled seed cake substrate

Similarly, the maximum and minimum values of methane and carbon dioxide on pongamia oil cake were found to vary from 65.3% to 56.0% and 38.3% to 31.7%, respectively. The average values of methane and carbon dioxide contents over 30 days of HRT were found as 62.5% and 33.5%, respectively. The observed values of methane concentration in generated biogas showed higher methane percentage than cattle dung generated biogas. This is due to fact that degradation of fat and protein gives more methane content (70%–84%) than 50% on carbohydrate.

Cumulative biogas, methane, and carbon dioxide production yieldsCumulative biogas, methane, and carbon dioxide yields over a 30-day retention period for jatropha oil cake substrate were found as 196.224, 131.258, and 61.271 m3, respectively. Similarly, the cumulative biogas, methane, and carbon dioxide yields over a 30-day retention period for pongamia oil cake substrate were found to be 233.725, 147.605, and 77.625 m3, respectively.

Specific biogas production rateThe variation in daily specific biogas yield per unit TS and per unit VS in case

kg VS. Similarly, average value of daily specific methane yield over a 30-day retention time observed with pongamia oil cake substrate was found to be 0.427 m3/day/kg TS and 0.448 m3/day/kg VS.

Total volatile solids mass removal efficiencyThe average value of total volatile solid mass removal efficiency for jatropha oil cake substrate during the entire 30-day HRT period was found to be 59.58%. Similarly, the average value of total volatile solid mass removal efficiency for pongamia oil cake substrate over a period of 30 days was found to be 74.94%. The study also revealed that the biogas yield per unit of TS and VS was found higher in the case of pongamia oil seed cake substrate than in the case of jatropha oil seed cake substrate. This is in fact due to lower content of non-volatile solids in pongamia oil seed cake (5.2%) than in jatropha oil seed cake (7.0%). The observed results show that the pongamia oil seed cake has higher biodegradability than jatropha oil seed cake, possibly due to higher concentrations of long-chain fatty acid oleates and stearates in the later.

Figure 7 Variation of specific biogas yield for jatropha de-oiled seed cake substrate

of jatropha and pongamia oil seed cake substrates has been shown in Figure 7 and 8. The observed average of specific biogas yields jatropha oil cake substrate over the 30-day HRT period was recorded as 0.598 m3/day/kg TS and 0.640 m3/day/kg VS. Similarly, the average value of daily specific

biogas yield over a 30-day retention time observed on pongamia oil cake substrate was 0.703 m3/day/kg TS and 0.738 m3/day/kg VS.

Specific methane production rateFigure 9 and 10 show the average production yield of methane from jatropha and pongamia oil cake substrate, respectively. The observed average of specific methane yield with jatropha oil cake substrate over the 30-day HRT period was recorded as 0.394 m3/day/kg TS and 0.422 m3/day/

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VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2��

Figure 8 Variation of specific biogas yield for pongamia de-oiled seed cake substrate

Figure 9 Variation of specific methane yield for jatropha de-oiled seed cake substrate

Figure 10 Variation of specific methane yield for pongamia de-oiled seed cake substrate

ConclusionsThe outcomes of the proximate and ultimate analysis of feed materials for biomethanation process confirm that jatropha and pongamia de-oiled seed cakes have rich proportionate of volatile solids content. These de-oiled seed cakes have low non-volatile solids content, high hydrogen, and high carbon content as compared to cattle dung. Total solids content of the jatropha and the pongamia de-oiled seed cakes are found to be 92.5% and 89.5% (wet weight basis), respectively. The volatile solids contents of the jatropha and the pongamia de-oiled seed cakes are found to be 93.0% and

94.8% (dry weight basis), respectively. Result shows that the jatropha and pongamia de-oiled seed cakes contain around six times higher volatile solids content than cattle dung. Furthermore, non-volatile solids contents in jatropha de-oiled seed cake (7.0%) and pongamia (5.2%) de-oiled seed cake are significantly lower than cattle dung (21.2%). The carbon content of jatropha and pongamia de-oiled seed cakes are 38.6% and 35.8% higher than that of cattle dung. Similarly, hydrogen content of jatropha and pongamia de-oiled seed cakes are 34.8% and 41.3% higher than that of cattle dung.

Biomethanation study of pongamia

and jatropha de-oiled seed cakes shows a dilution ratio of 3:1 and 3.5:1 is appropriate for efficient digestion. Biomethanation of jatropha de-oiled seed cake in 20 m3/day capacity floating drum biogas plant results in an average specific biogas and specific methane production potential of 0.640 m3/kg VS and 0.422 m3/kg VS, respectively. The average total volatile solid mass removal efficiency is found to be 59.6%. Whereas, the biomethanation of pongamia de-oiled seed cake yielded an average specific biogas and specific methane production of 0.738 m3/kg VS and 0.448 m3/kg VS, respectively.

Average total volatile solid mass removal efficiency is found to be 74.9% over a period of 30 days. Thus, the biogas produced from jatropha and pongamia de-oiled seed cakes is much higher than biogas produced from cattle dung and it contains about 15%–20% more methane content.

AcknowledgementsAuthors are highly thankful to Centre for Rural Development and Technology and Mechanical Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India, for providing necessary facilities, support, and financial funding to conduct this research work.

OCTOBER 2009


feature article

India is currently the world’s fifth largest consumer of energy, accounting for 3.7% of worldwide energy consumption. The energy for cooking accounts for 36% of

the total primary energy consumption. The wood cut for cooking purpose contributes to the 16 million hectares of forest destroyed annually. The cooking energy demand in the rural areas of developing countries is largely met with biofuels such as fuel wood, charcoal, agricultural residues, and dung cakes, whereas LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) and electricity are predominantly used in urban areas. Different energy sources for cooking have been evaluated and LPG stoves were found to be the most preferred cooking device in India.

ENERGY OPTIMIZATION OF

HYBRID SOLAR COOKING WITH HEAT

MASS TRANSFER CONTROL

PrASAnnA u r And dr l umAnAnd Centre for Electronic Design and Technology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore – 560012

According to an Indian government survey, in 2001, 52.5% of people use firewood for cooking, while LPG is used by 17.5% of the population. Half of the world’s population is exposed to indoor air pollution, mainly the result of burning solid fuels for cooking and heating.

In this regard, solar cookers are expected to contribute considerably towards meeting the domestic cooking energy requirement in a country like India, which is blessed with abundant sunshine. On an average, India receives 5 kWh/day/m2 of sunlight for more than 300 days of a year. Solar cooker is an environment-friendly and cost-effective device for harnessing solar energy.

The conventional box type cooker design has been studied and modified since the 1980s and various designs and their characteristics have been extensively investigated. Box type cooker with multiple reflectors are easy to build but difficult to use for cooking, as it has to be done outdoor.

Hot box ovens and concentrating solar cookers are cheap and effective. However, they are limited to cooking during clear sky periods and require the cook to work outdoors in rural areas and on roof tops in urban areas. Though parabolic cookers are used for fast cooking, the cooking rate cannot be controlled, and it is potentially hazardous due to the focusing of sun beam. These types of solar cookers do

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not provide for interactive cooking, which is prevalent in the regular cooking procedures of the Indian kitchen. Solar cooker has not been readily accepted by the Indians due to the reason that cooking has to be done outdoor and it is completely dependent on the availability of solar insolaton.

For a solar cooking system to be accepted and adopted in most of the households, the following objectives have to be satisfied.1. The cooking should be done without

moving out of the kitchens.2. It should reduce the use of

conventional energy.3. Cooking can be carried out at any

time of day/night.4. Time taken for cooking must be

comparable with conventional cooking.

In order to satisfy the above-mentioned objectives, a hybrid solar cooking technique has been proposed and designed, wherein the solar energy is transferred to the kitchen and supplements the conventional LPG source.

System description and operationThe block diagram of the proposed cooking system is shown in Figure 1. The solar thermal collector is in general placed at a high location, preferably on the roof top. A cylindrical (linear) parabolic collector, a paraboloid, or a concentrating collector is used to collect solar energy and increase the temperature of the fluid. The heat exchanger is placed in the kitchen where the cooking is done. It transfers heat from the circulating fluid to the cooking load. All other components are placed at intermediate levels according to the building requirements. Pump-I is used to vary the flow rate of the fluid through the solar thermal collector.

The energy extracted from the Sun is stored in the buffer tank. The size of this tank is decided by the amount of energy that needs to be stored for late night or early morning cooking and the amount of energy that needs to be saved from other energy sources of the hybrid system. Whenever food has to be cooked, the stored energy is transferred to the load through the heat exchanger using pump-II, which varies the flow rate of the fluid through the heat exchanger. The auxiliary source of energy like LPG or electrical energy is used for supplementing the stored solar energy. This also reduces the time required for cooking, as compared to the previously proposed cooking systems like box-type cookers. Energy required from the auxiliary source is to be optimized for the given system based on the availability of solar insolation at the location and the load profile.

The central goal of the proposed system is to transfer heat from the solar collector to the load. There are two levels of heat transfer with intermediate energy storage in a buffer tank. The heat is first transferred from the solar collector to the storage tank. Pump-I controls the fluid flow rate q1 to control the heat transfer from the collector to tank. At lower flow rates, the temperature of the collector and outlet fluid is higher resulting in higher

Figure 1 Block schematic of the hybrid solar cooking system

heat loss to ambient. Hence, this causes lower collector heat transfer. Increasing the flow rate will not only disturb the density stratification of the fluid in the storage tank, but also necessitate more energy for pumping the fluid against the hydraulic resistance of the pipes, even though the heat removal factor improves. There exists an optimal flow rate for which it is possible to extract maximum energy from the collector. By dynamically varying the flow rate, maximum energy can be drawn as insolation varies. This optimal flow rate depends on many factors like solar insolation, and sizing of pipe, storage tank, and collector. The flow rate at which maximum power can be extracted for a given input solar insolation also depends on the characteristic of the centrifugal pump. The MPPT (maximum power point tracking) controller should sense the collected power and accordingly vary the flow rate q1 to the optimal value.

If very small diameter pipes are used, then it increases the hydraulic resistance, resulting in pressure drop and hence, very poor performance. On the other hand, if we go for higher diameter pipes, surface area of the pipe increases, which decreases the conductive and convective thermal resistance. As a consequence, the efficiency of the system comes down

OCTOBER 2009


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due to increase in conductive and convective heat transfer coefficient between the pipe and the atmosphere. Thus, for a given location and cooking load profile, there exists an optimal pipe diameter for which energy extracted is maximal.

Power from the auxiliary source, like LPG or electrical heater, is controlled according to the load requirement and availability of the stored energy and solar energy. Energy taken from this source has to be minimized so as to optimize the savings of LPG.

Figure 2 shows the energy flow in the described cooking system. Solar thermal collector absorbs solar energy, which is used to heat up the fluid. During this process, part of the energy is lost to ambient and the remaining energy is stored in the heat storage tank as buffer. The heat transferred from solar energy to the storage tank is dependent on the flow rate of the circulating fluid. This heat transfer rate is controlled by using a hydraulic pump. Energy is transferred from the storage tank to the load through the heat exchanger. This flow of energy is controlled by the flow rate of fluid through the heat exchanger. Energy requirement for the load, in addition to solar energy, is provided by the auxiliary source of energy like LPG or electrical energy. The load temperature requirements of typical Indian households is as follows.

Figure 2 Energy flow diagram of the system

The proposed system is a complex multi-energy domain system comprising of energy flow across several domains such as thermal, electrical, and hydraulic. The entire system is modelled using the bond graph approach with seamless integration of the power flow in these domains. It is simulated and the results are validated experimentally.

DesignHybrid solar cooking system is being setup to supply the energy requirement of a canteen near CEDT (Centre for Electronic Design and Technology) at IISc (Indian Institute of Science), Bangalore. Paraboloid solar concentrator is used to raise the temperature of servotherm oil, which is used as heat transferring fluid. Anodized aluminium sheets are used to reflect sunlight on to the receiver,

Table 1 Temperature set points for cooking

Temperature in ºC Application

65 Keeping liquids hot85 Simmering of food95 Boiling of food116 Steam pressure cooker175 Deep frying

which is fixed at the focus of the paraboloid, as shown in Figure 4. Linear actuator controls the angle of tilt made by the paraboloid in order to track the Sun continuously.

A stainless steel pipe with thermal insulation is used to carry hot fluid from heat storage tank to the receiver and back to the buffer tank. The buffer tank is made up of stainless steel and thermally insulated using mineral wool. Servotherm oil is circulated through the concentrator using a rotary gear pump. On the load side circulation, hot oil is circulated from the heat buffer through the heat exchanger using another pump. Temperature sensors are placed at different points to measure the temperature. Flow rate of the collector side and the load side circulation is measured using two flow meters. Figure 3, 4, and 5 show the experimental setup of the cooking system.

Figure 3 Experimental setup of the cooking system

(a) buffer tank, (b) buffer-collector pump, (c) buffer-load pump, (d) heat exchanger, (e) flow meter


lasts approximately a month. One LPG cylinder containing 14 kg of LPG contains 170 kWh of energy. Thus, in a month 170 kWh of energy is utilized for cooking purposes by a typical Indian household. A 1m radius paraboloid has a cross section area of around 3.14 m2 presented to the Sun. At an average irradiance of 5kWh/m2/day, the amount of energy incident on the surface for a month of 30 days is 471kWh. Considering the collection efficiency as 20% (typical), about 90kWh is available every month. Thus, the LPG should last twice as long if used with the proposed system.

ConclusionThe hybrid solar cooking device has been designed to bring solar energy directly to the kitchen. Using heat storage buffer, cooking can be carried out at any time of the day or night. The user need not have to completely depend on solar insolation, as the remaining energy is supplied by conventional source of energy like LPG or electrical.

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Figure 4 Solar parabolic collector

Figure 6 Lab prototype of the solar cooking system

Figure 5 Experimental setup

Results and discussionsExperiments have been carried out on a small-scale laboratory prototype as shown in figure 6. The temperature at different parts of the system is measured. Experimental results are compared with the simulation results within 5% error. Effective collector efficiency and overall system efficiency is calculated for different flow rates and different pipe diameters from the bond graph model as shown in figure 7 and 8.

Estimated energy savingsIn a typical Indian household of five members, one LPG cylinder

Figure 7 Variation in effective collector efficiency

Figure 8 Variation in overall efficiency


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ARTI (Appropriate Rural Technology Institute) developed a compact biogas system, which uses feedstock in the

form of sugar, starch, protein, fat, or cellulose. It produces 1 kg biogas per kg (dry weight) of feedstock, taking only about 24 hours to complete the reaction. In the traditional dung-based biogas plant, one requires about 40 kg dung and a reaction period of almost 40 days to produce the same amount of biogas. The reason behind the high efficiency of the compact biogas plant is that the methanogenic bacteria work more efficiently if they are provided with feedstock with a high nutritional calorific value. This insight helped the author in understanding the logic behind a new agricultural practice

DEVELOPMENT OF NEW BIOGASTECHNOLOGY PROVIDES INSIGHT INTO AGRICULTURE

dr A d kArVE Appropriate Rural Technology Institute, Maninee Apartments, Survey no. 13, Dhayarigaon, Pune

being followed by some farmers in Peninsular India.

Thousands of farmers in India’s Peninsular region apply 25 kg of jaggery (non-centrifuged sugar) along with 25 kg of cattle dung and 25 litres of cattle urine per hectare of their fields once every three months. Some farmers even add butter fat to this mixture. These ingredients are mixed with 500 litres of water. After storing this mixture for a few days, it is poured, tumbler by tumbler, on the soil surface or into the irrigation water. This procedure is locally known as Amritpani (elixir water).

The practitioners of Amritpani apply neither chemical fertilizers nor organic compost to their fields, and yet, they get very high yield year after year. This fact was verified by the members of ARTI after interviewing

the farmers who followed the practice. This exercise revealed that the farmers not only obtained high yield but also that their use of pesticides had come down drastically.

One of the interviewees, Mr Bhaskar Save of Village Umbargaon in Valsad District, Gujarat, does not use Amritpani but applies only 125 kg of green leaves per ha (about 25 kg dry matter) to his field. On dry weight basis, green leaves have the same calorific value as sugar, if the concerned organisms are able to digest cellulose. Mr Save used to apply chemical fertilizers to his field, but gave them up when he noticed that year by year his crop yield and profitability were declining. He first experimented with organic farming in the traditional way—applying 20 to 30 tonne of composted biomass per


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ha of his field. But, he soon realised that it was a costly method. Eventually, he evolved the method of applying a relatively small quantity of green leaves to his field, which represented a high calorie, non-composted biomass. According to Mr Save, the profits from his farm soared as soon as he switched over from chemicals to green leaves. The advantage of this method is that green leaves cost nothing. They are either plucked from plants growing in and around the farm, or one just buries the weeds into the field after weeding.

There is universal agreement among agricultural scientists that soil micro-organisms play an important role in maintaining soil fertility, but the nature of the activity is not yet clearly understood. The mineral components of the soil exhibit an extremely low solubility in water. There is no mention in technical literature of soil micro-organisms enhancing the solubility of minerals through chemical degradation or extra-cellular digestion of the minerals. Textbooks mention oxidation of reduced compounds of nitrogen and sulphur into nitrates and sulphates, and chelation of certain divalent cations to make them more readily available to plants.

It is also mentioned that some micro-organisms produce organic acids, which dissolve carbonates and phosphates in the soil. But the silicate minerals, which constitute the major part of the soil minerals, are not affected by any of these reactions. It is generally assumed that micro-organisms contribute to the soil fertility mainly through decomposition of organic matter to release mineral elements sequestered in it. There is no doubt at all that the micro-organisms decompose the organic matter in the soil, but it must be mentioned that not only the carbon but also the mineral elements in the organic matter are consumed by the micro-organisms.

The organic matter in the soil has its origin mainly in plant residues, which are very poor in mineral elements, because almost 95% of the plant biomass is made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. In fact, the plant organs like leaves, petals, and bark, which are naturally discarded by plants, have even less than 1% mineral elements in them. Therefore, these residues serve the soil microbes mainly as sources of carbon, with only a relatively small quantity of mineral nutrients, becoming available to the micro-organisms through decomposition of naturally occurring organic matter in the soil. Also, the availability of macronutrients from organic manure is not as fast as from chemical fertilizers because it depends upon the rate of their decomposition, which is controlled by the C:N (carbon–

nitrogen) ratio, soil temperature, and soil moisture content.

It is postulated by the author that the minerals dissolved in the soil water serve as the source of mineral elements for the plants and the soil micro-organisms. Being held by capillary forces between soil particles, this water is called capillary water. The soil minerals have very low solubility in water, but the concentration of the dissolved minerals is in a state of dynamic equilibrium. The molecules and ions removed from the solution by the micro-organisms or plants are replaced by new ones entering the solution from the pool of minerals in the soil. It is due to this process, that a crop of wheat or rice can remove about 250kg of silica per ha annually. However, the minerals containing silica, namely quartz, opal,


or silicate minerals, dissolve in water to the extent of only 5 to 150 mg per kg.

The fact that green plants can grow anywhere on the surface of the Earth shows that soils at all locations have all the minerals needed by plants. The terrestrial plants have to hold a large part of their body in the air for catching light for photosynthesis. The only organs they have for absorbing water and minerals from the soil are the root hairs located at the tips of their roots. This fact, combined with the low solubility of soil minerals in water, reduces the efficiency of the terrestrial plants in absorbing minerals present in the soil naturally. Micro-organisms, on the other hand, absorb minerals through their entire surface, and being very small in size, they have a relatively large absorptive surface

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in proportion to their volume. They, therefore, absorb minerals from the soil solution with much greater efficiency than the terrestrial plants. The minerals absorbed by the micro-organisms get incorporated in the biologically useful organic chemicals inside their cells. After the micro-organisms die, the chemicals are released from the cells. Being water soluble, they are readily absorbed by the plants. This shows that micro-organisms in the soil are the primary absorbers of minerals and that they are the ones who make the minerals available to plants.

As it is an accepted fact that soil micro-organisms contribute to soil fertility, agronomists recommend application of organic matter to agricultural fields in order to increase the population density of micro-

organisms in the soil. However, the organic matter is generally provided in the form of compost. The quantity of compost recommended for application ranges from 20 to 30 tonnes per ha, representing biomass grown in about 10 ha. As compost represents decomposed organic matter, it has relatively low nutritional value. Logic and common sense tell us that if the organic matter is to serve as food for the micro-organisms, it should have a high nutritive value.

In an experiment conducted by scientists of this laboratory, merely 500 mg (milligram) of pure sugar added to a kg of soil caused the bacterial population of the soil to increase by 500 times within a period of just 24 hours. Similar results were reported by other authors with pyroligneous acid (wood smoke condensate containing several organic acids) applied to the soil. No chemical fertilizers were provided to the soil in any of these experiments, showing that the micro-organisms were capable of taking the minerals directly from the soil solution and also, that extremely small quantities of high calorie organic matter could replace relatively large quantities of compost.

The fact that one can practise agriculture without chemical fertilizers by providing soil micro-organisms with food with a high nutritive value has a great significance for the global energy economy. The chemical fertilizer industry consumes annually 1.2% of all the energy in the world, which is greater than the energy consumed even by the steel industry. In addition to the energy consumed during the manufacture of the chemical fertilizers, energy is also consumed in transporting it from a central factory to millions of farms. All this energy and the expenses are saved by following the logic provided in this paper.

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 230 OCTOBER 2009

1Department of Physics, DAV PG College, Dehradun 2Energy Environment Technology Department, The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi

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Prospects of solar drying in Uttarakhand

GunjAn Purohit1 And iShAn Purohit2

Energy is a vital input for the progress of any country and for its economic and social development. It is one of the basic needs

and a means to increase productivity, enhance employment opportunities, and improve the quality of life of the people. Conservation of energy has become the watchwords of countries worldwide. The extraction, conversion, and utilization of fossils fuels, coupled with increasing population, have led to serious environmental degradation. Fossil fuels, mainly coal and petroleum, lead to large-scale environmental degradation, loss of forests, water and air pollution, generation of wastes like fly ash, and emission of GHGs (greenhouse gases) that contribute to climate change. As the entire world is suffering from energy crisis and the traditional methodology of energy production is one of the major causes behind serious environmental degradation, attempts are being made worldwide towards environmental conservation through energy conservation. The same philosophy is finding place in the food industry. For instance, solar food dryers play an important role in the drying of agro-produce, which is an excellent way to preserve food. They are an appropriate food preservation technology for a sustainable world.

Drying is an important step of food and agro-produce processing, which include cultivation, storage, and so on. Drying of products that contain a high amount of moisture need a typical methodology, and the food and agro industries follow the electric-based control drying technology. This consumes a huge amount of energy.

However, solar thermal energy used in the drying process is fully suited to the need for sustainable development. The research work and practical experiences obtained in the last 30 years

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show that solar drying technologies help to achieve controlled process of drying, reduce fuel consumption and drying costs, maintain high quality of products, and obtain high dries output under controlled industrial conditions. However, study on a localized basis is essential for estimating the drying potential for different products that

are abundantly produced in these regions.

Research and developmentThere has been a constant interest in the country in respect to solar drying of products. This includes research activities in a number of R&D (research and development) institutions, designing and fabrication of prototypes, and field applications involving large solar dryers. Efforts are being made for the development, designing, and dissemination of solar dryers, both direct and indirect types, by various researchers.

It has been reported that a solar dryer with natural convection is usually slower than the forced convection dryers as far as drying rates are concerned. However, higher drying temperature can be reached in the former. Small portable batch dryers have also been developed in India using forced convection. A trolley-type batch dryer has been designed at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. A 1-tonne-per-day-capacity solar

dryer has been designed, fabricated, and installed at the Modern Rice Mill at Manlur in Chidambaram, Tamilnadu, to dry parboiled paddy. A 5-tonne-per-day capacity drier based on the above design was installed at the Central Farm Corporation in Ludhiana, Punjab, to dry paddy harvested during the rainy season.

Two industries that have attracted attention from solar drying point of view in the country are the tea and tobacco industries. TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) has successfully demonstrated biomass-based drying technology for cardamom in the northeastern region of India. Solar air heating technology has also been used effectively under various programmes of the MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy) for drying/curing of agricultural products, regeneration of dehumidifying agents, seasoning of timber, tanning of leather, and many more industrial and agro processing activities. Various kinds of solar dryers (such as cabinet dryer, roof-integrated solar air heating systems, tunnel dryer, and solar-powered solar air dryer) have been developed and used in different field conditions in the country. Presently,

Table 1 List of agro-products with moisture content and allowed temperature for drying

Agro-Product Moisture Content Max. (% w. b.) Allowed Temp. Initial Final (°C)

Paddy 22-24 11 50Maize 35 15 60Wheat 20 16 45Corn 24 14 50Rice 24 11 50Green peas 80 5 65Carrots 70 5 75Onion 80 4 55Garlic 80 4 55Potato 75 7 75Graphs 80 15-20 70Bananas 80 15 70 Mulberries 80 10 65Coffee 55 12 —Cotton 50 9 75Groundnuts 40 9 50Soaked trees 60 12 50 Mahogany 35 11 —Lather 50 18 35Fabrics 50 8 75Pulses 20-22 9-10 40-60Oil Seed 20-25 7-9 40-60Cauliflower 80 6 65Chillies 80 5 65Apples 80 24 70Apricot 85 18 65Guavas 80 7 65Okra 80 20 65Pineapples 80 10 65Tomatoes 96 10 60Brinjal 95 6 60Figs 80 24 —Yams 80 10 65Copra 30 5 —Peaches 85 10 65Cabbage 80 4 55Cocoa beans 50 7 —Fish, raw 75 15 30Fish, water 75 15 50Nutmeg 80 20 65

Figure 1 Solar drying vs open sun drying

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there is a sizable solar industry and market in the country, which includes solar drying for industrial applications.

The potential of uttarakhandThe Himalayan regions of India are major sources of medicinal plants and fruits, aromatic plants, herbs, flowers, and a number of cash crops. In the hilly regions of Uttarakhand, a number of verities of agro-crops, fruits, vegetables, herbs, and typical cash crops are produced. The traditional method of drying these produce is open-air sun drying, which is subjected to high stage deterioration and losses. Furthermore, open-air drying does not protect the raw produce from contamination, dirt, debris, insects, and germs. Though electrical/fuel-fired drying systems help the farmers in drying their products at a relatively faster rate, they are not popular among the poor farmers of the hilly regions due to the higher initial cost of the dryers. Moreover, electricity is expensive and often, it is not available in the rural areas uninterrupted. Use of solar energy-based drying systems is the solution because of their low cost, sustainability factor, and environment-friendliness.

In addition, large areas are being brought under herbal cultivation. Local farmers are being encouraged to take up the cultivation of herbs and medicinal plants. The herbs are used in all forms—roots, steam, leaves, flowers, and fruits. Many of these are used in the form of dried products and others are used by solvent extraction. Due to the open drying methods, there is a large deterioration of the quality of the products due to dust, fungus, humidity, unfriendly climatic conditions, and so on. For the quality maintenance of some herbs, low drying temperature (~25–50 °C) is required, while for some other herbs rapid drying at high temperature is required. In the ongoing research project, some locally grown products

with very high moisture content, which can have multiple applications as well as medicinal values, have been dried under moderate temperature range. These include lemon, orange, gooseberry (amla), mint (pudeena), and onion. However, it may be noticed that the solar drying technology has not effectively penetrated the hilly regions of Uttarakhand so far. In addition, tea production is on the higher priority of the state. This is in spite of the belief that these regions are bestowed with favourable conditions for applying solar drying technologies. It is in this context that a proper resource assessment and potential estimation of solar drying and design and development of various types of solar dryers in the hilly regions of Uttarakhand is much required.

Solar radiation over uttarakhandUttarakhand has multiple micro-climatic zones. The hilly areas are close to ‘cold and sunny’ and ‘cold and cloudy’ climatic zones, while some locations like Dehradun lie under semi-moderate climate. In addition, the plains of the

state like Haridwar and Kashipur lie in the composite climatic zone. The entire state receives good amount of solar radiation, about 4–6 kWh/m2/day. Using satellite data, a solar radiation map has been plotted, which shows the potential areas of solar radiation. It has been observed that the potential areas of solar drying receive good amount of solar radiation over the year. The solar radiation mapping of the state has also been done for every month and correlated with the season of the harnessing of the agro produces, medicinal plants, and other produce. A good synchronization between these indicators has been observed in the hilly parts of the state.

Experimental investigationsIn order to check the viability of the solar drying technology in the hilly areas of Uttarakhand, two prototypes of solar drying systems (one cabinet type and the second convective cabinet type) have been designed, fabricated, and installed at Srinagar, Uttarakhand (Latitude=30.13 °N, Longitude=78.47 °E, and Altitude=532 m). A number of

Figure 2 Solar radiation map of Uttarakhand

33VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2OCTOBER 2009

experiments have been carried out on the systems throughout the years using various agro and medicinal produces at various load and weather conditions. The stagnation test was conducted on both the dryers and it has been found that these can achieve the temperature of more than 70 °C. Some products (like potato, chilli, turmeric, and ginger) have been selected for the experimental study on the basis of their production data. The experimental studies have been undertaken for a variety of pre-specified testing conditions (load) as well as operating conditions. The thermal performance parameters have been identified from the detailed literature survey. On the basis of these

parameters, the moisture content, drying rate, and the efficiency of solar drying system were decided.

The experimental investigations have been carried out for various products as mentioned in Table 3. It has been observed that solar drying

can effectively reduce drying time and provide indirect benefits. The suitability of the convective drying technology is observed for high moisture containing produces like mint, plash, lemon slices, and so on. Table 4 presents the results of few of the experiments.

Name of the district

Pauri

Chamoli

Rudraprayag

Tehri

Uttarkashi

Almora

Bageshwer

Nainital

Champawat

Pithoragarh

Local name of the medicinal/herbal plants

Awala, BharmiI, Banashpa, Bahara, Bheeal, Bharami, Cahnar, Chirata, Choru, Coranda, GhantiI, Giloie, Hearda, Hishar, Jawan, Kachnar. Kali-ghass, Karonda, Kingod, Kunja, Mint, Morada, Timaru

Ashawa ghanda , Atish, Awala, Baal chari, Baharmi, Baheara, Bajukijad, Bal charri, Ban haldi, Bandarmul, Basila, Bazardantti, Beal, Bhang, Bharami, Bhutakesh, Chippi, Chiraie, Chirata, Chitarak, Chouru, Dollu, Eshawa goal, Faran, Gadrain, Gamhar, Giloie, Hathjari, Heara, Jamboofaran, Jatamashi, Jiruna, Jiyapota, Kalazeera, Kalihari, Kapporhaldi, Katuki, Kirmadkijad, Kukrodha, Kunju, Kuut, Ladumfarin, Lasora, Makku, Malkagani, Mandtharai, Mashi, Mint, Mitha, Moria, Muskdana, Padal, Pashanbhad, Pipli, Prisnparani, Puranwa, Reahtta, Sahajan, Sajiwa, Salaparai, Samawa, Sanya, Sapiwa, Sarpgandha, Satawari, Silajeet, Silpahara, Sitaashok, Warmau, Waarun, Wigala, Wirhati

Archu, Atish, Awala, Ayar, Banashpa, Beahra, Beal, Brahami, Chandan, Chooru, Faran, Ghula-ghass, Gilaoie, Mishwa, Neem, Retha

Atish, Awala, Beal, Bahara, Bhang, Burans, Chirata, Chouru, Coranda, Faran, Giloie, Heara, Hing, Hishar, Kadwi, Kingod, Kunja, Giloie, Makku, Mint, Moria, Silphara, Timaru

Atish, Awala, Beeal, Baheara, Bhang, Burans, Chiratya, Chorru, Coranda, Faran, Giloie, Heara, Hing, Hishar, Kadwi, Kingod, Kunja, Giloie, Makku, Silphara, Timaru

Awala, Ritha, Tejpat, Ashwa –Ghantha, Pashan –Bhead, Samawa, Kapor-Kachari, Zerinem, Lamon –Grass, Bhang

Herde, Bahera, Kirmod, Simor, Guraza, Basil

Awala, Harada, Ram-tulsi, Tajpat, Bharda, Ritha, Tamur, Padam, Harsingar

Awala, Ganya, Ghudwaj, Jhula, Coliyas, Lapor Chari, Maas, Manijitha, Ritha, Satawar, Tajpat, Timur

Amla, Aniya, Atish, Badi elachi, Bahera, Ban andawa, Ban Haldi, Ban Kakadi, Ban Tulasi, Banashpa, Basil, Bazara Danti, Bhi Kafal, Dandas, Dhup Jad, Dhup Lakad, Dolu, Dolu beej, Dy Skoria, Dyas Koria, Eshb Gol, Gandasha, Gadari, Gadryani, Ghucchi, Ghud Wach, Gi Gada, Gin Jadi, Gin Zaru, Gola Tharia, Guraza, Hath Jadi, Herde, Indra Yani, Indra Yani beej, Jambu, Jata Mashi, Jhula, Kuut beej, Ka KoliCir, Kakda Sringi, Kala Chirita, Kala Zira, Kapal Ki chal, Kapoor-achrr, Kirmod, Kuppor Kachari, Kutakibeej, Ktaki, Lah Su Nia, Maha Meada, Manari, Mar Pati, Mi Rak, Mitha, Mor, Mos-Grass, Near Pati, Pashan Bhad, Pathar Loong, , Prunia, Ratan Joot, Ridhhi Wardhi, Ritha beej, Roots and ofchestnut, Ritha phal, Salammesri, Samawa, Samawa , Gaath, Samawa Panchang, Simor, Som Tala, Stu Wa, Teaj pat beej, Teaj Pat, Talish Patra, Tatari, Thoyia, Timur chaal, Timur beej, Wach

Table 2 Availability of medicinal plants/produces in the hilly areas of Uttarakhand by districts

Figure 3 Prototypes of simple cabinet and convective cabinet solar dryers

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Table 3 Critical moisture content in drying rate curves at specific drying times

Product Critical moisture Time (hour) Time (hour) content [Cabinet type [Open sun (Dry weight basis) solar dryer] drying]

Amla (Phyllanthus emplica L.) 11.98% 13 25Bahera (Terminalia chebula Retg.) 11.00% 3 8Harde (Terminalia belerics Roxb.) 13.06% 17 51Ginger 30.76% 7 10Potato 25.0% 7 9Chilli 23.4% 7 34Turmeric 11.0% 9 12

companies involved in the field of medicinal plants or produce import the raw material from the typical areas and process them in-house for production of various end-products. Once the local farmers get the facility of solar drying at their locations, the transportation of these products in bulk will be easier and a large amount of energy used for drying will be saved. Local manufacturing of the systems would also enhance the employment opportunities. And the technology would improve the income level of local farmers who can sell dried products at high cost, instead of the raw materials at a much lower cost.

Table 4 Critical moisture content in drying rate curves at specific drying times

Time Plash Mint Lemon slices* (h) Charge size (500 gm) Charge size (500 gm) Charge size (1000 gm) Butea Monosperma Mentha Piperita

Moisture Moisture Moisture Content Drying Content Drying Content Drying (dry basis) rate (dry basis) rate (dry basis) rate

0 6.23 — 5.00 — 7.00 — 1 5.74 0.483 3.42 1.57 5.41 1.592 5.33 0.446 2.65 1.17 4.63 1.193 4.85 0.458 2.00 1.00 3.03 1.324 4.27 0.488 0.06 1.097 2.04 1.245 3.60 0.524 0.04 0.951 1.81 1.046 3.09 0.524 0.02 0.825 1.20 0.977 2.35 0.553 0.01 0.712 0.95 0.868 1.72 0.563 — — 0.80 0.789 1.18 0.561 — — 0.73 0.7010 0.57 0.565 — — 0.33 0.6711 0.34 0.536 — — 0.14 0.6212 0.007 0.513 — — 0.04 0.5813 0.006 0.478 — — 0.01 0.54

Solar dryingSolar drying is a traditional practice for the preservation of food and agriculture crops; which was done particularly by sun drying under the open sky. The open sun drying method has several disadvantages like spoilage of product due to adverse climatic conditions like rain, wind, moisture, and dust; loss of material due to birds and animals; deterioration of the material by decomposition; growth of insects and fungi; and so on. In addition, the process is highly labour-intensive, time-consuming, and requires a large area. This process is also highly energy-intensive and expensive, which ultimately increases the product cost. Solar drying is the best alternative—a solution to all the drawbacks of open sun/natural drying and artificial mechanical drying. Solar dryers, used in agro-produce food and crop drying and for industrial drying process, can prove to be the most useful device from the energy conservation point of view. Solar dryer is a very useful device for drying of agro produces, dehydration of fruits, potatoes, and so on in food processing industries, production of milk powder, casein, and other such products in dairy industries, seasoning of wood and timber, and so on.

Figure 4 Colour patter of lemon slices dried under open sun (left) and solar dryer (right)

ConclusionThe solar radiation pattern, climatic study, and the study of agro and medicinal plant production in the hilly regions of Uttarakhand show a large

potential for solar drying in the state. The Government of Uttarakhand has announced the state to be a ‘herbal state’ and thus, a number of efforts have been made in this direction. The

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Abstract

An efficient measure to dispose of the growing volumes of poultry litter is the need of the hour. Traditionally, poultry

litter was spread over agricultural land as a means to enrich soil quality, since litter on decomposition releases soil nutrients. However, poultry litter

EFFECT OF PARTICLE SIZE ON AUTO-GASIFICATION OF POULTRY LITTER

dr V kirubAkArAn1 And dr P SubrAmAniAn2

1 Assistant Professor, Rural Energy Centre, Gandhigram Rural Institute (Deemed University), Gandhigram, Tamilnadu—624 3022 Professor and Head (Retired), CEESAT (Centre for Energy and Environmental Science And Technology), National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli–620 015

releases huge amounts of methane, which is 7.5 more potent than carbon monoxide and CO2 (carbon dioxide) for creating global warming. Also, over-application of litter results in the dissolving of these water-soluble soil nutrients in rainwater and finding their way into water bodies like lakes and rivers. Nutrient-rich water spawns the growth of algae and leads to the

removal of dissolved oxygen from lakes and rivers. This adversely affects marine life and water quality.

The proximate and ultimate analysis of poultry litter shows that it is a feasible fuel for combustion. Its calorific value is also close to that of average Indian coal. However, Indian poultry farms are scattered and the transportation and collection of the



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litter to a common place for power generation through combustion mode is not economically viable. Gasification is economically viable at all capacities. TGA (thermogravimetric analysis) throws light on the dark side of gasification. TGA analysis of poultry litter proves that the auto gasification* of poultry litter is a feasible option. This paper deals with the effect of particle size on auto gasification of poultry litter.

IntroductionThe safe and economical disposal of poultry litter is becoming a major problem for the poultry industry. Current disposal methods, such as land application and cattle feeding, are now under pressure because of pollution of water resources due to leaching and runoff, and concerns regarding mad cow disease contaminating the human food chain. Poultry litter contains volatile matter, fixed carbon, ash, and water with a calorific value of 2276 kcal/kg (kilo calorie per kilogram). Except ash and water, other constituents could be used for power generation directly.

Schemes providing energy and easy-to-handle fertilizer as a by-product would be the best alternative. Poultry litter can and should be a source of energy and nutrients. Future decisions on the disposal of litter should be based on fuel cost, efficiency, capital cost, and environmental and regulatory policies. It is the responsibility of the policy-makers to prosecute persistent polluters, thus compelling them to consider alternative and cleaner disposal options.

Direct combustion of poultry litter seems to be the best option, providing both energy and easy-to-handle fertilizer. Annamalai et al., (1985)[1]

have established that a fluidized bed

combustor would be suitable for thermal applications. Fibrowatt, a United Kingdom-based company, has already established poultry litter power plants.

Since combustion route appears to be feasible, large quantities of litter is required for a reasonable unit size. Therefore, the transportation, storage, and handling become more and more cumbersome for small users. The poultry farms in India exist as clusters and the quantity of litter available cannot be so high as to encourage the investors to go for power generation using combustion route. Therefore, gasification – thermal degradation – appears to be the economically viable solution for the effective disposal of waste with revenue generation.

Auto-gasification—a myth or reality?Recently, Jarvinen, et. al., (2002)[2] have reported the studies on auto-gasification of biofuels such as black liquor and have proved that char up to 40% can be converted by auto-gasification. The reactivity of char is very important for complete gasification. A large reaction surface area with the catalytically inorganic constituents in the form of ash influences the reactivity of char. The residence time available for CO2 and H2O (water) to react with char is also very important. Higher residence time can be provided by having larger

particles. In fact, Jarvinen, et. al., (2002) reported that the percentage conversion of char increased with particle size. Further, they have observed that char conversion by H2O dominates during devolatilization process.

It is quite evident from their studies that auto-gasification of biomass is feasible. The extent of char conversion depends upon the water formation during devolatilization. The availability of fuel oxygen and hydrogen controls the formation of water. Therefore, the composition of biomass should be the key factor for the auto-gasification process. The pseudo-chemical formula for combustible matter in poultry litter is arrived as C2.07H1.9O2.11 and for volatile matter as C1.22H1.9O2.11 on moisture- and ash-free basis. The oxygen available in poultry litter should be able to sustain gasification process without any external oxygen supply, leading to auto-gasification.

Factors influencing the auto-gasificationThe variables (Table 1) affecting the rate of gasification are to be identified and quantified.

Since gasification of biomass is a thermo-chemical process, the temperature and rates of heating have pronounced effects on the weight loss of biomass. TGA measures and records the weight loss of sample biomass as

Table 1 Factors influencing the auto-gasification

S.No Variable Characteristics

1 Environment Inert Reactive2 Size Small Big3 Shape Powdery Lump4 Structure Porous Non-porous5 Flow of medium Static Continuous6 Heating rate Slow Fast7 Temperature <500 ºC >500 ºC8 Ash Catalytic Non-catalytic

* Auto gasification may be defined as thermo chemical conversion of solid combustible matter in the biomass into gaseous fuel by the bio oxygen and catalytic ash. Bio oxygen is the oxygen available in the biomass.


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the temperature is raised at desired uniform rate. In addition, the effect of environment such as inert and reacting atmosphere with and without flowing can be studied. For determining the characteristics of gasification and kinetic parameters, TGA is used extensively. Kinetic parameters are calculated using the net weight loss with simplifying assumptions, which do not necessarily correspond to the complex chemical reaction in the thermal degradation of biomass. However, TGA data provide useful comparisons of reaction parameters, such as temperature, particle size, and heating rates.

Effect of particle size of auto-gasification of poultry litterSimultaneous heat and mass transfer takes place during thermal degradation of poultry litter. While heat is conducted from outer to inner side of particle, the product gases diffuse out from inner to outer surface. These two are opposing to each other. Even though thermal degradation takes place in three different zones, there are no distinct boundaries. With the result, drying, devolatilization, and gasification take place simultaneously in the particle. Under these conditions, the role of particle size is very considerable. Maa and Bailie, (1973)[3] have observed that the chemical reaction controls the pyrolysis for sizes less than 0.2 cm, both chemical reaction and heat transfer for sizes between 0.2cm and 6.0 cm, and heat transfer for sizes above 6.0 cm.

TGA studies were carried out for three sizes of poultry litter particle (powder 100 microns, particle less than 1mm and big particle greater than 1mm) at the heating rate of 5 °C per minute in static air. Figure 1 shows the percent weight loss at various temperatures for different sizes.

Results and discussionIn addition to drying, three zones exist. The temperature ranges for each zone with corresponding percent weight losses are given in Table 2. The percent weight loss for every degree (∆W/∆T) is also given for each zone in the last four columns of the table. It is evident that particle (∆W/∆T) is greater than that for powder and big particle.

In all the three cases, complete conversion of poultry litter to ash is observed at 520 °C for 100 micron and 1mm particles and 670 °C for >1mm particle. It is noteworthy that Jarvinen et. al., (2002) have observed

that bigger the particle size, better would be the conversion.

ConclusionIt is now obvious that auto-gasification of poultry litter into gaseous fuel by bio-oxygen and catalyst ash is feasible. Further studies on particle size reveal that bigger particle size slows down auto-gasification due to non-uniform heating. This, in turn, the

core particles temperature is less than the outer surface temperature of the particle. Hence, in the outer surface, the complete conversion may be achieved, whereas pyrolysis may be occurring at the core. The ash formed in the outer surface may also act as barrier for the heat transfer as well as mass transfer from the inner core. The data obtained from this will be useful in the reactor design. The poultry litter particles are highly porous in nature. Hence, before it should be fed to the auto-gasifier the particle sizes should be ensured.

References[1] Annamalai, K, Madan, A, Sweetan,J,

Lepori,W, and Jenkins,P, (1985), ‘Combustion of feedlot manure in fluidized beds’, In. Proc.Intl. Conference on fluidized bed combustion, 2, pp 884–894.

[2] Jarvinen, M P, Zenvenhoven, R, and Vakkilainen, K, (2002), ‘Auto-gasification of biofuel’, Combustion and flame, 131, pp 357–370.

[3] Maa, P S and Bailie, R C (1973), ‘Influence of particle sizes and environmental conditions on high temperature pyrolysis of cellulose material’, Combustion Science Technology, 7, pp 257–269.

Figure 1 Temperature vs weight reduction of poultry litter for different particle size

Table 2 Percent weight loss at various zones for various heating rate of poultry litter for different particle size

Description ZonesTemperature(°C) DelW(%) DELW/DELT

Drying I II III Drying I II III Drying I II III

Powder(100micron) 26 120 200 347 347 451 451 520 100 94.5 92.01 58.81 58.81 46.27 46.27 37.57 0.058510.2259 0.1206 0.1261

Particle(lessthan1mm) 23 120 200 350 350 440 440 520 100 91.11 89.26 52.78 52.78 40.67 40.67 29.07 0.091650.2432 0.1346 0.145

BigParticle(morethan1mm) 23 120 200 320 320 450 450 670 100 91.18 88.26 59.36 59.36 47.82 47.82 31.24 0.090930.2408 0.0888 0.0754

special feature

The groundwater table of Punjab is falling day by day. So it is advisable to go for crop diversification. The area under the wheat and

rice rotation should be decreased as far as possible because these crops require huge quantities of water. Farmers have to go for submersible pumps or deep wells for the placement of pumps. But, these are expensive methods.

Under crop diversification, most of the youth have adopted dairy farming as an alternative. However, it is not easy to keep the livestock (for dairy) healthy without proper fodder, nutritional feed, and clean water. The air around the dairy farm should also be free from foul smells of the semisolid and liquid organic waste produced by the animals. These attract flies and rodents that can, in turn, cause health problems in human beings and animals. This would require proper sanitary management for handling the organic waste from the animal sheds, which should further be decomposed scientifically.

Biogas PlantsAN ESSENTIAL PART OF MODERN DAIRY FARMS

dr SArbjit SinGh SooCh Research Engineer at the School of Energy Studies for Agriculture, Punjab

Agricultural University, Ludhiana.


Setting up a biogas plant is the best way to handle the waste. This stabilizes the waste properly and makes it free from odours. Also, plenty of biogas is available for cooking and power generation for running tubewells and other appliances. Digested organic manure is also available for the crops. And biogas is not only an excellent alternative source of energy, but also a step towards stopping global warming.

In Punjab, thousands of family-size biogas plants are satisfactorily functioning for the last two decades with 5–10 cattle heads. Now, the concept is shifting towards keeping large herds of cattle and adopting it as a full-time job. There are about 1000 diary farms, each with a capacity of 20–300 cattle. Thus, a huge quantity of cattle dung is available for the production of biogas. So, more number of large capacity (20–100 m3) biogas plants based on cattle dung can be installed in Punjab within such dairy farms.

PAU (Punjab Agricultural University) has designed biogas plants of various

capacities to cover different sizes of dairies. These plants are hemispherical, dome-shaped, similar to Deenbandhu type of biogas plants, but of a larger capacity. The main features of the biogas plant are that it carries a hemispherical shaped dome for retaining biogas and a digester over a cylindrical wall for the organic matter. The entry of raw dung is through a 30cm-diameter pipe and exit of the dung after digestion is through a gallery to the displacement chamber. The whole construction is of cement brick concrete masonry, duly plastered in rich cement mortar. The sectional elevation of the new biogas plant is shown in the Figure 1. The cost involved in the construction of these biogas plants vary from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3 lakh, depending upon the size of the biogas plant and the payback period is between 2 to 4 years.

More than 30 such biogas plants have been installed by the dairy farmers in Punjab, that too, without seeking any subsidy from the government and under my guidance. The author visited

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each of these dairy farms to select the site and to collect their views about the performance of the plant. All the dairy farmers are very happy and they encourage other dairy owners as well. The owners of these plants are under my regular surveillance to seek more suggestions and observations. Some of the observations are as follows.

Gurudwara Rara Sahib, Ludhiana, modified four KVIC (Khadi and Village Industries Commission) model biogas plant, each of 60 m3 capacity, which were lying non-functional for many years. The Gurudwara Authority approached the PAU for the modifications. The PAU modified the existing biogas plants to hemispherical dome type. It proved to be a great success. Other people coming to the Gurudwara also approached the university for installing the modified design of biogas plants at their farms.

The Gurudwara Authorities are very satisfied with the performance of these new biogas plants. The gas is being used for preparing the langar for a large number of people visiting the Gurudwara. Previously, they were using diesel for running their furnaces. Now, they are saving 35 to 40 litres of diesel per day. Digested slurry from the plants is being used at the Gurudwara Farms.

Shri Sukhraj Singh in Gurey District, Ludhiana, has installed two biogas plants of 20 m3 and 60 m3 capacities. He states that to start with, he installed a smaller capacity plant and later on, after seeing its successful operation, installed another bigger plant. The new technology has proved to be a boon for his dairy farm as well as his agriculture. He is using biogas for cooking the food for 40 to 45 labourers working in the dairy farm. Earlier, he was using conventional fuels like wood or cotton sticks. Now, by only using biogas, he is saving Rs 1.5 lakh per year. He also uses biogas to run dual fuel engine for 10–12 hours per day during paddy season. He is also interested in installing

one more biogas plant of bigger capacity for the generation of electricity at his farm.

Shri Kamaljit Singh, C/o Hara Seeds, village Kanganwal in Ludhiana, has installed 45 m3 capacity biogas plant. He states that he is using biogas for the preparation of cheese, ghee, and other milk products. Previously, he was using diesel for running the furnace and now, he is saving more than Rs 1 lakh per year. The digested slurry is being used for preparing vermicompost, for which there is a great demand from the farmers.

D S Gill, President of Dairy Farmers Association, Sadarpura, Ludhiana, has installed a biogas plant of 45 m3 capacity. He is happy and very satisfied with the new biogas technology. He is using the biogas for cooking meals of 50–60 labourers working in his dairy farm. The biogas is also used for the generation of power to run chuff-cutting machine and for lighting purposes at the dairy farm in the absence of electricity supply. He is saving more than Rs 1 lakh per year and is highly thankful to the PAU. He is also popularizing the installation of such biogas plants among other dairy farm owners.

Shri Balraj Singh, Malsian District in Jalandhar, installed a biogas plant of 160m3 capacity. He is of the view that the new technology proved to be very useful to him. He is using part of the biogas in the kitchen of the labourers and the remaining for running dual fuel engine to generate electricity at the farm. He is saving Rs 2.5 to 3 lakh per year, as he was previously using only diesel for power generation and firewood or kerosene oil for cooking the meal of the labourers. The digested slurry is being used for his potato farm.

He now wants to install another plant of bigger capacity for the generation of power only.

Kang Poultry Farm, Samrala District in Ludhiana, installed two biogas plants of 45 m3 capacities each. He feels that the new technology proved to be very helpful to him. He is using this technology for the last two years and he has saved approximately Rs 2.5 lakh per year. Before this, he was using firewood, kerosene oil, and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) for cooking the meals of the labourers. This technology helped him to develop the poultry farm successfully. The digested slurry is sold to the needy people at the rate of Rs 3000 to 4000 per trolley. And this practice is in great demand.

Thus, it is concluded that all these farmers are very happy with the performance of the biogas plants, and they are making full use of biogas for cooking the food for the labourers and running fuel engine for power generation and tubewells. The digested slurry coming out of the biogas plants is either used at their own farms for raising fodder or sold to other farmers at reasonable rates. And these farmers are saving lakhs of rupees by using biogas instead of conventional fuels.

Figure 1 New Janta Model large capacity biogas plant

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2�0

RE event

‘The sharp reduction in the cost of solar energy-powered equipment and effective

propagation of the benefits of various non-conventional energy [sources] are the need of the hour. Such measures would ramp up the number of users and scale down the use of conventional energy drastically’, said Dr R Christodas Gandhi, Chairman and Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency.

On this line, a two-day workshop cum training programme on solar drying of food products was recently organized at Theni, Tamil Nadu. It was arranged under the MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy)-sanctioned project entitled ‘Dissemination of solar drying technology for industrial sector, including agro-industries in the country’. Nearly 60 participants attended the programme.

Inaugurating the programme, Dr Gandhi said that humans have crushed the nature for their greedy comforts. Now, the nature has started to retaliate sharply through calamities like global warming. And with the growing shortage of conventional energy, unlimited solar energy would be a viable alternative.

Maximum electric power is being utilized to generate heat for various purposes. Solar energy alone could generate 50% of the required heat. So, it should be popularized among the people. Moreover, this energy should be used to satisfy even small household needs. Mass production of solar energy equipment would scale down production costs.

Dr Gandhi also briefed about the different renewable energy technologies and informed about

WORKSHOP CUM TRAINING PROGRAMME ON SOLAR DRYING OF FOOD PRODUCTS

the government support for solar air heating and solar drying. ‘Wind energy has been meeting 30% of Tamil Nadu’s total power demand. Power generation from wastes and non-conventional methods should also be popularized among people and industrialists’, he added.

Former Madurai Kamaraj University Vice-chancellor M Lakshmanan said that solar energy scales down input costs and could minimize global warming. Dr Saroja Prabhakaran, Vice-chancellor of Avinashilingam University for Women, Coimbatore, said ‘food processing has been gaining momentum for longer shelf life, quick transportation, and better price to agro-products. More energy was needed for food processing. Solar drying, an eco-friendly and pollution-free method, should be taken to rural mass for economic upliftment’.

S V Subramaniam, President of Cardamom Planters’ Association, said that solar energy equipment costs must

be scaled down for wide consumer base. PEN’s (Planters Energy Network’s) Secretary-General, Dr C Palaniappan, said that solar energy could be applied for drying of spices, fish, leather, salt, ceramic, latex rubber, and paddy; dehydration of fruits and vegetables; preheating for tea processing; and processing of pulses.

Industrialist T Kathiresan said ‘cut in power expenses, high quality, less pollution, and dust-free atmosphere’ were some of the major benefits of adopting solar energy in pulse processing. He presented several success stories on solar dal (pulse) drying.

A training programme was arranged using four solar driers installed at the PEN factory. Participants from Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states were taken to a pulse processing unit and solar heating panel manufacturing unit. A demonstration was organized at a solar fish drying unit in a fishermen village near Trivandrum, Kerala.

OCTOBER 2009


Each and every village of Jammu and Kashmir will soon be illuminated with solar power. The

Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Dr Farooq Abdullah, has said that the government intends to use renewable energy to bring electricity to every village in Jammu and Kashmir. Speaking at the All India Editors’ Conference on Social and Infrastructure Issues at Srinagar, Dr Abdullah mentioned the progress made at Gurez in the state, and said that it is an example where the use of renewable energy sources like solar power has brought about a positive change in many dimensions of people’s lives.

Replying to a question on the use of solar power, the minister informed the gathering that the proposed solar energy mission will have provisions for entrepreneurs that will incentivize investment and reduce the cost for the use of solar panels on a large scale. Dr Abdullah exhorted the states to put up viable projects for renewable energy and assured full governmental support.

Earlier, Secretary for the MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable

re event

SOLAR POWER TO ILLUMINATE VILLAGES OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR

Energy), Shri Deepak Gupta, detailed various initiatives taken by the ministry and informed the editors that India is fifth in the world in development of renewable power capacities and third in annual capacity addition for wind energy for the year 2008. With regard

to Jammu and Kashmir, the MNRE has electrified/illuminated 50 unelectrified census villages in the districts of Doda and Kupwara through 8297 solar home lighting systems. Further, 27 unelectrified census villages in Gurez Tehsil with 3900 solar home light systems are under completion. The MNRE has also sanctioned 68 villages for electrification, and 145 more villages have been identified for electrification through solar photovoltaic system.

A large number of solar thermal systems such as water heaters, dish and steam cookers, solar driers, and solar green houses have been promoted in the state. The MNRE had sanctioned the setting up of 10 Akshay Urja shops in the districts of Jammu, Kishtwar, Srinagar, Anantnag, Bandipora, Baramullah, Ganderbal, Shopian, Kupwara, and Budgam.

Dr Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Smt. Ambika Soni, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, and Shri Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, inaugurating the Editors’ Conference in Srinagar.

Dr Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, address-ing the inaugural session of the Editors’ Confer-ence in Srinagar.


re event

IREDA (Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd) , a public sector enterprise under the MNRE

(Ministry of New and Renewable Energy), has presented the dividend of Rs 11.25 crore for the financial year 2008/09. The dividend cheque was presented to Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Dr Farooq Abdullah, by Debashish Majumdar, Chairman and Managing Director of IREDA, in New Delhi.

Congratulating IREDA on its achievement, Dr Abdullah said that he was happy to note that it had registered the dividend in double digits for the first time. Shri Deepak Gupta, Secretary, MNRE, and other senior officials were also present on the occasion.

During the year 2008/09, IREDA’s performance has been rated as ‘Excellent’ in terms of the MoU (memorandum of understanding) signed with the Government of India. IREDA sanctioned 47 projects, involving

IREDA PAYS DOUBLE DIGIT DIVIDEND

loan commitment of Rs 1489.93 crore, registering an impressive growth of 80.35%. IREDA disbursed a sum of Rs 770.95 crore during the year, registering a growth of 39.25%. Cumulatively, it has sanctioned 1892 projects, involving loan commitment of Rs 10 355.58 crore and cumulative disbursement of Rs 5754.05 crore till 31 March 2009.

The loan sanctioned during the year 2008/09 will result in the establishment of additional renewable power generation capacity of about 403.75 megawatt. IREDA is poised for further growth, which reflects the need for increased power generation through renewable energy sources in line with the National Action Plan on Climate Change.

D Majumdar, CMD, IREDA, presenting the dividend cheque to Dr Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, along with Shri Deepak Gupta, Secretary, MNRE.

Inviting advertisements for Akshay Urja

Akshay Urja is widely circulated to various stakeholders of renewable energy. Akshay Urja invites advertisements (in colour) from interested organizations, manufacturers, institutions, etc. The advertisement tariffs are as follows.

Advertisement area Tariff (rupees)* Inside Front Cover 40 000

Inside Back Cover 40 000

Full Page 25 000

* Avail 25% discount on booking for six issues and 20% discount on booking for three issues

The interested organizations may write to:Editor, Akshay Urja

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Block - 14, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003Tel. +91 11 2436 3035 or 2436 0707 • Fax +91 11 2436 3035 or 2436 1298 • E-mail [email protected]


organization focus

VPM’s (Vidya Prasarak Mandal’s) Polytechnic in Thane, Maharashtra, is one of the

leading institutions in the field of technical education. It was founded in 1983 by VPM, a public education trust. It is recognized by the AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education), New Delhi, and it also has the distinction of being accredited by the NBA (National Board of Accreditation).

It has successfully and efficiently churned out skilled technicians from time to time. It offers seven diploma courses—Chemical Engineering, Electrical Power System, Industrial Electronics, Instrumentation, Information Technology, Computer Engineering, and Medical Electronics It is located on 13.5 acre of creek land named ‘Jnanadweepa’, which was donated by the Government of Maharashtra along with other institutes of Vidya Prasarak Mandal, Thane. It has four buildings, covering a sprawling area of over 9800 m2.

As part of dissemination of knowledge and manpower training, the institute has played a key role in organizing seminars, workshops, short-term courses, and national conferences. Achievement of academic excellence, sharing of scientific and technology knowledge, imparting of technical skills to the student community, and induction of social awareness among the youth are part of its main objectives.

With this aim, the institute has recently inaugurated a district-

level renewable energy park in its premises. The MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy) has granted permission and provided financial support for setting up the park in association with MEDA (Maharashtra Energy Development Agency). The institute wants to give expert guidance to the people working towards energy conservation and use of renewable sources of energy.

The energy park will have a lot of devices powered by renewable energy, for which it has sought the help of the MEDA. The park has different energy projects made by the students of the institute, as well as equipment from the MEDA. The park will be open to people interested in knowing about renewable sources of energy.

The main objective of the renewable energy park is to create awareness, publicize, and provide opportunity to students to learn and know the benefits of renewable sources of energy. One can learn how devices like solar cookers, solar streetlights, solar–wind hybrid systems, solar water heating systems, solar pumps, and solar lanterns operate. Students from both schools and colleges in Thane will also give

a demonstration on the renewable technologies through working models.

The cost of the project is Rs 9 lakh. ‘We will keep the park open to all, especially to students so that they get firsthand knowledge about renewable energy sources,’ says DK Nayak, the principal of VPM Polytechnic. Nisha Vader, the Head of the electrical power system department, said that there are various solar projects built by the students that can be used in our day-to-day life, and that the energy park will make the students aware of renewable sources of energy.

This is indeed a great initiative by the VPM’s Polytechnic to create awareness among the masses about the new technologies developed in the area of renewable energy, and their use and benefits.

VIDYA PRASARAK MANDAL’S POLYTECHNICTHANE, MAHARASHTRA

OCTOBER 2009

Sudoku is a logic-based placement puzzle consisting of a 9 × 9 grid of cells. Typically using numbers, this puzzle uses energy source symbols for biomass, coal, geothermal, hydropower, natural gas, petroleum, solar, uranium and wind. To solve the puzzle, each 3 × 3 region of the grid must contain only one source symbol. Each row and each column of the puzzle must contain only one energy source symbol. There is only one solution. Good luck!

children’s corner

Send in your answers to the following address. The first three correct entries will be published in the next issue of Akshay Urja.

The Editor, Akshay Urja Room No. 1009A, 10th Floor, Paryavaran Bhavan, CGO Complex

Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003 E-mail [email protected] or [email protected]

book review

Today, geothermal energy meets the total electricity needs of some 60 million people worldwide and

is rapidly developing. Thus, it becomes highly important to know the nuances of geothermal energy. And Geothermal power plants: principles, applications, case studies, and environmental impact is a single resource that covers all aspects of the utilization of geothermal energy for power generation from fundamental scientific and engineering principles. The book has been written by Ronald DiPippo, Professor Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and a world-renowned geothermal expert.

The book deals with the thermodynamic basis for designing geothermal power plants, and provides guidance on the process of designing and analysing the key types of geothermal energy conversion systems. It has been divided into three parts. Part one covers resource identification and development; part two covers geothermal power generating systems; and the last part presents geothermal power plant case studies. An important new chapter has been added to the Second Edition, which covers Environmental Impact and Abatement Technologies, including gaseous and solid emissions; water, noise, and thermal pollutions; land usage; disturbance of natural hydrothermal manifestations, habitats, and vegetation; minimization of carbon dioxide emissions; and environmental impact assessment.

The book aids the readers’ understanding of geothermal energy conversion through the use of case

GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANTS principles, applications, case studies, and environmental

impact (Second edition)

studies from real plants. These case studies show the practical applications of geothermal energy—how the conversion systems have been designed, applied, and exploited in practice. The book’s relevance is further enhanced by the compilation of hard-to-obtain data and experiences. It is illustrated with over 240 photographs and drawings. Its nine chapters include practice problems, with solutions, which enable the book to be used as part of course material. In addition, the

book includes a definitive compilation of every geothermal power plant that has operated across the world, unit by unit, and a concise primer on the applicable thermodynamics.

The book would be extremely relevant to not only the researchers and developers of geothermal energy, but also to academics, students, and environmental, mechanical, and power engineers.

Reviewed by Suparna Mukherji, TERI Press

Geothermal Power Plants: principles, applications, case studies, and environmental impact (Second edition)

DiPippo R. 2008Great Britain: Butterworth-Heinemann • 520 pp.

ISBN: 978-0-750-68620-4 • Price: $137


book / web alert

Selling Solar—the Diffusion of Renewable Energy in Emerging Markets

Damian Miller. 2009UK/USA: Earthscan

The world must make a shift towards renewable energy technologies to solve the climate crisis. With surging growth in emerging markets, the challenges and opportunities are immense. Selling Solar considers how such a shift might happen. Focusing on the case of solar photovoltaics, it shows how this promising technology began to diffuse rapidly in select emerging markets at the start of the 21st century. It provides answers to questions like what were the initial barriers to diffusion, how were they overcome, who did it, and how can this success be replicated. Drawing on literature on innovation diffusion and entrepreneurship, the author shows how entrepreneurs influenced profound technological change, not just through the solar systems they sold, but through the example they set to both new market entrants and policymakers. This book offers important lessons for the diffusion of a range of renewable energy technologies in emerging markets, and for the advancement of the sector as a whole. Selling Solar is essential reading for anyone who believes in a renewable energy future and wants it sooner than later.

ISBN: 978-1-844-07518-8 • Price: $97.50

Wind energy: renewable energy and the environment

Vaughn Nelson. 2009Boca Raton: CRC Press

Due to the mounting demand for energy and increasing population of the world, switching from nonrenewable fossil fuels to other energy sources is not an option—it is a necessity. Focusing on a cost-effective option for the generation of electricity, Wind Energy: renewable energy and the environment covers all facets of wind energy and wind turbines. The book outlines the history of wind energy, before providing reasons to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. After examining the characteristics of wind, such as shear, power potential, and turbulence, it discusses the measurement and siting of individual wind turbines and wind farms. Then, it presents the aerodynamics, operation, control, applications, and types of wind turbines. The author also describes the design of wind turbines and system performance for single wind turbines, water pumping, village systems, and wind farms. In addition, he explores the wind industry from its inception in the 1970s to today, along with the political and economic factors regarding the adoption of wind as an energy source. Thus, Wind Energy explores one of the most economical solutions to alleviate our energy problems.

ISBN: 978-1-420-07568-7 • Price: $95.96

Internet resources

International Energy AgencyThe IEA (International Energy Agency) is an intergovernmental organization, which acts as energy policy advisor to 28 member countries in their effort to ensure reliable, affordable, and clean energy for their citizens. Its mandate incorporates the ‘Three Es’ of balanced energy policy making—energy security, economic development, and environmental protection. It focuses on climate change policies, market reform, energy technology collaboration, and outreach. The website provides comprehensive information on all the aspects of the ‘Three Es’, along with valuable statistics, energy technology perspectives and agreements, G8/G20-related work, environment, publications, events, and so on. You can surf through the information by topic (such as climate change, emissions trading, and technology roadmaps) and by countries. The specific section on renewable energy covers publications and papers, related programmes, workshops, related committees, and working parties.

AGORES (A Global Overview of Renewable Energy Sources)The AGORES site is designed to be an extensive global international information centre and knowledge gateway for renewable energies. Originally built for the European Commission, it has now been extended to the whole world. Yet, it keeps the main basic accesses to latest European data as most extensively treated. There are more than 3000 links available on the site – easy to find in the ‘Link’ page – arranged alphabetically, or by sector, or by type of organization. There are also many links in the multiple subject pages of this site as well as databases of hundreds of publications and access to many directories. You may also submit your own links and information to this site or include the AGORES link into yours. The site is divided into four main sections—Policy, Fields, Sectors, and Who’s Who. And it also contains databases on publications and news.

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forthcoming events

2nd Enviro Tech-Energy Tech, 2009 11–14 December 2009 Hall No. 7, Pragati Maidan New Delhi Tel: 011-2337 8929/ 1688 Fax: 2337-8901 Email: [email protected] / [email protected], [email protected]

The first Annual Renewable Energy Business Conference19–20 January 2010 Intercontinental: The Grand, Mumbai 204-205, Town Centre, 2nd Floor, Andheri-Kurla Road, Sakinaka, Andheri (E) , Mumbai - 400 059 E-mail: leon.dias@informedia-india. com Website: http://informedia-india. com

DSDS (Delhi Sustainable Development Summit) 20105–7 February 2010, New Delhi Taj Palace, New Delhi Tel: +91 11 24682100/ 4150 4900; Fax: +91 11 24682144/ 24682145 E-mail: [email protected] Website: dsds.teriin.org/2010/ index.php

Methane to markets: partnership expo2–5 March 2010, New Delhi Tel: +1 (202) 343 9683 E-mail: [email protected]

World Renewable Energy Technology Congress3–5 March 2010, New Delhi Hall No. 11, Pragati Maidan New Delhi–1100 Tel: +91 9971500028/9711433164 E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] Website: www.wretc.in

National events

ICORE (International Congress on Renewable Energy) 2009 6–7 October 2009, New Delhi The Stein Auditorium Habitat World, India Habitat Centre Lodhi Road New Delhi – 110 003 Website: www.icoreindia.org

Solarcon India 9–11 November 2009, Hyderabad Hyderabad International Conference Centre, Novotel and HICC Complex (Near Hitec City) Hyderabad – 500 081 Tel: 91 80 4050 9200 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.solarconindia.org

India Nuclear Energy 200913–15 November 2009, Mumbai Bombay Exhibition Centre Nesco Compound, Goregaon (East) Mumbai, Maharashtra–400 063 Tel: +91 9825642264 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.indianuclearenergy. net

National Award for Excellence in Energy Management 200918–19 November 2009, Hyderabad Tel: +91 99890 91744/ +91 98499 65810 E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]

Third Renewable Energy Finance Forum20–21 November 2009, Mumbai Maria Ferreiro E-mail: mferreiro@euromoneyplc. com

International

ISES Solar World Congress 200911–14 October 2009, Johannesberg, South Africa Tel: +27 12 807 7171 Fax: +27 86 559 4753 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.swc2009.co.za/

Solar Power 200927–29 October 2009, Anaheim, California, USA Tel: 1 202 857 0898 Fax: 1 202 682 0559 E-mail: ebrown@solarelectricpower. org

Congress on Alternative Energy Applications2–6 November 2009, Kuwait Dr Salah Almudh’hi Website: http://www. ec2009kuwait.org/

Carbon capture and storage25 November 2009, London Le Méridien Piccadilly, London Tel: +44 (0) 20 7760 8699 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7490 2296 E-mail: conferences@marketforce. eu.com

2009 Solar Thermal Conference and Expo3–4 December 2009, United States Monona Terrace, Madison, Wisconsin, Kirsten Olson, Events Coordinator, MREA Tel: (715) 592-6595 x114 Website: www.the-mrea.org

Photovoltaics World Conference and Expo 23–25 February 2010, United States Austin Convention Center, Austin Texas, United States, Linda Fransson Tel: +44 (0) 1992 656 665 E-mail: [email protected]



renewable energy statistics

Renewable energy at a glance in India

MW – megawatt; kW – kilowatt; MWp – megawatt peak; m2 – square metre; km2 – kilometre square

Achievement as on S.No. Source/system Estimated potential 31 October 2009

I Power from renewables

A Grid-interactive renewable power (MW) (MW)

1 Wind power 45 195 10891.002 Bio power (agro residues and plantations) 16 881 816.503 Bagasse cogeneration 5 000 1241.004 Small hydro power (up to 25 MW) 15 000 2519.885 Energy recovery from waste (MW) 2 700 67.416 Solar photovoltaic power — 6.00 Sub total (A) 84 776 15541.79

B Captive/combined heat and power/distributed renewable power (MW)

7 Biomass/cogeneration (non-bagasse) — 181.378 Biomass gasifier — 108.379 Energy recovery from waste — 37.97 Sub total (B) — 327.71 Total (A+B) — 15869.50

II Remote village electrification — 5554 villages/hamlets

III Decentralized energy systems

10 Family-type biogas plants 120 lakh 41.42 lakh11 Solar photovoltaic systems 50 MW/km2 120 MWp i. Solar street lighting system — 82 384 nos ii. Home lighting system — 510 877 nos iii. Solar lantern — 767 350 nos iv. Solar power plants — 2.39 MWp

v. Solar photovoltaic pumps 7247 nos12 Solar thermal systems i. Solar water heating systems 140 million m2 3.12 million m2

collector area collector area ii. Solar cookers 6.57 lakh13 Wind pumps 1347 nos14 Aero generator/hybrid systems 0.89 MWeq

IV Awareness programmes

16 Energy parks — 511 nos17 Aditya Solar Shops — 284 nos21 Renewable energy clubs — 521 nos22 District Advisory Committees — 560 nos

For further details, contactDr. Arun K TripathiDirector, Ministry of New and Renewable EnergyBlock-14, C.G.O. Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110003, IndiaTelfax: +91-011-24363035 • Email: [email protected]

Mr. Randeep BoraAsst. Director - Renewable Energy, Federation of Indian Chambers for Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Federation House,Tansen Marg

New Delhi - 110001 (INDIA)Tel : +91-11-23765338(D) • Email: [email protected]

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RNI No. DELENG/2007/22701

october 2009 - biomasspower.gov.in urja/vol 3... · r ajith kumar, r k joshi, and t radhakrishnan,...

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