Ashden Awards case study | Abellon CleanEnergy, India | Summary

Case study summary

Abellon CleanEnergy
India

2011 Ashden Award

India statistics 2009

Abellon won a 2011 Ashden Award for its achievement in

replacing coal with pellets made from locally-sourced
biomass residues.

(World Bank, IEA)

GDP: US$1,134/year per person

CO2 emission: 1.4 tonnes/year per person
76% of people live on less than US$2/day
44% of people lack grid electricity

Gujarat is one of the richest states in India, with a growing industrial sector that is heavily
dependent on lignite as fuel. The state also has a strong agricultural base, but increased
salinity and erratic rainfall are making farm livelihoods less secure. The founders of Abellon
saw the potential to use pellets made from local farm residues as a substitute for lignite,
provided that farmers had the support to maintain and increase crop production by
adapting their practices to the changing environment.
Key information
Abellon set up an NGO, Poornakumbha, to help farmers get more value from crop residues,
also from under-utilised land and other natural resources.
Poornakumba works with groups of farmers within 50 km radius of a pellet plant. It
provides advice on using sustainable practices to increase yields, and arranges contracts
for the purchase of crop residues.
Farmers collect residues (including cotton stalks, cumin waste, castor bean husks,
mustard stalks and bagasse) and take them to a Poornakumba collection point where
they are shredded.
At the pellet plant, crop residues and sawmill waste are dried, compressed and extruded
into thin solid rods that are chopped into short pellets.
Pellets are sold to industries and directly replace lignite as a boiler fuel.
By March 2011, residues were supplied by about 8,500 farmers and one sawmill, and
pellets were sold to 14 industrial customers.
Two pellet plants in operation produced 65,000 tonnes pellets in 2010/11.
Using pellets avoids the use of high carbon fuels, thus cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Each tonne of pellets avoids about 1.7 tonnes CO2 (taking into account the small increase
in emissions due to transport and manufacture) so total saving is about 110,000 tonnes/
year CO2.
Pellets are cleaner to handle than lignite and produce less smoke and dust in use, so are
healthier for workers in industry.
Previously the woody crop residues were often burned to clear the fields: selling them to
Abellon cuts the air pollution that resulted and provides a small income to farmers.
Farmers benefit from expert agricultural advice.
Abellon employs 215 people. A further 20 full time people and 200 part time extension
workers are employed by Poornakumba.
Future plans
Within the next five years, Abellon plans to open two additional pellet plants in Gujarat
and treble its production in India.
It also plans to expand into international markets through sales and setting up production
in other countries.

Abellon CleanEnergy is a for-profit company founded in 2008 to produce pellets from

biomass residues and develop other forms of biomass energy. In 2010 it had an income of
US$3.2 million, mainly from sales.

info@ashdenawards.org
www.ashdenawards.org/winners/Abellon11
Last updated: April 2011

Location

Indian
Subcontinent

This is a green fuel. The pellets burn

cleanly and well, theyve got a high
calorific value, and theres no SO2.
Theyre better for the workers health.
Joshy Vargesse, Deputy General Manager,
Anil Products, Ahmedabad

Poornakumba agricultural advisers hold a meeting with

farmers. They provide advice on using sustainable farming
practices to increase yields.

Contact
Abellon CleanEnergy Limited
Aditya Handa
Ridhdhi.parekh@abelloncleanenergy.com
www.abelloncleanenergy.com

Ashden Awards Case Study | Abellon CleanEnergy, India

Case study
Abellon CleanEnergy
India
Background
The state of Gujarat in North West India is the richest and one of the most industrialised in
the country, producing about 16% of Indias industrial output. Major industrial products
include cement, petroleum products, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. This industry is
heavily dependent on lignite and coal, the most polluting fossil fuel.
The land is relatively flat and fertile, so the state has a strong agricultural base with over
half of its land area under crops. Major agricultural products include cotton, groundnuts,
dates, sugar cane and milk products. However the use of groundwater irrigation has
contributed to a significant fall in the water table, leading to saltwater intrusion and
increased salinity of soils. This, along with erratic rainfall patterns widely attributed to
climate change, makes production and therefore incomes less reliable for small farms.

Winnowing cumin to separate the seeds from the residue

The founders of Abellon CleanEnergy owned a thriving pharmaceutical business and were
keen to diversify into clean energy. They saw the potential of using local agricultural
residues from small farms to substitute for lignite and coal in local industries. They also
wanted to help farmers use more sustainable techniques, in order to adapt to the changing
pressures on agriculture and improve yields, thus helping to ensure a long term supply
base of crop residues.
The organisation
Abellon CleanEnergy is a for-profit company, founded in 2008 by Aditya Handa. Its
principal activity is the manufacture and sale of biomass pellets made from crop and
sawmill residues. The crop residues are sourced from local farmers, in partnership with
Poornakumbha, an NGO established by Abellon in 2008. The key role of Poornakumbha is
to help farmers create value from waste, where waste refers not just to crop residues but
also to under-utilised land and other natural resources.

We used to burn the waste in the open

fields; it was useless to us. Now we
collect it and get some money from it.
Its better than before.
Farmer from meeting

In 2010 Abellon employed 215 people, and had an income of US$3.2 million, mainly from
sales. It is financed through equity capital, as well as debt for its initial pellet plants.
Poornakumbha had 20 full-time employees and over 200 community development officers
and advisers.
The programme
Poornakumbha provides agricultural advice and training to more than 8,500 farmers in
about 100 panchayats (village committees) within a 50 km radius of the pellet plants. It
negotiates agreements for the supply of crop residues, and sets up contracts with the
panchayats.
Farmers gather the raw material (including cotton stalks, cumin waste, castor bean husks,
mustard stalks and sugar cane bagasse: the mix varies with season) and take it to a
Poornakumba collection centre. Here it is shredded and transported in trucks to the pellet
plants.
Abellon currently has two pellet plants that convert loose biomass into small, dense pellets.
The plant in Changodar started operation in 2009 and uses mainly crop waste. The plant in
Gandhidam started in 2010 and uses 80% sawmill waste from a nearby sawmill, and 20%
crop waste.
Abellon sells the pellets under the brand name Pellexo Green, principally to factories in
Ahmedabad and neighbouring industrial areas. They are used as a boiler fuel to replace
lignite and sometimes black coal, or else used in combination with them. No boiler
modification is required to burn pellets.

Agricultural residues are shredded at the local collection

point

Ashden Awards Case Study | Abellon CleanEnergy, India

The technology
How does it work?
In the pellet plant the loose biomass is sieved to remove debris, and then dried. The dry
biomass is compressed between rollers to a temperature that melts the lignin in the woody
material. The pressure extrudes the hot material through dies at a controlled rate. As the
pressure decreases, the lignin cools and re-solidifies, binding the biomass powder into
solid rods, 8mm in diameter. These rods are cut into pellets between 10 and 40mm long.
The pellets are cooled and air-dried, then put into bags and sealed.
The process yields about 500 kg pellets per tonne of raw material, mainly because of
moisture removal. About 80 kWh of grid electricity is used in the plant per tonne of pellets
produced.
The ash residue from the pellet plant is reclaimed and used for various purposes, including
in brick manufacturing and soil improvers.
How much does it cost and how do users pay?
US$1 = INR 45 (Indian Rupees) [April 2011]
Abellon pays farmers INR 500 (US$11) per tonne for the raw material. It sells pellets at
around INR 4,100 (US$90) per tonne to its industrial customers, under standard commercial
supply contracts.
Pellets cost slightly more than the fuel they replace, but for many users the price difference
is offset by their advantages in operation: they are ready-to-use, dont retain moisture and
burn more cleanly and efficiently.

We need advice on what to plant and

when, because the weather doesnt tell
us any more.
Farmer from meeting

Training and support

Abellon technical advisers talk to boiler operators; check how pellets are being used; and
advise on maintenance routines and operational details such as reducing stack
temperature to improve efficiency. They can also link users up with potential customers for
pellet ash.
Poornakumba starts work with a group of villages about one year before crop waste
collection begins. Its advisers give farmers one-to-one or communal advice on topics such
as improving soil fertility; introducing cheap and efficient natural pest control;
intercropping (e.g wheat and cotton); and some agroforestry (including planting bamboo
and drumstick tree, both of which are drought and salt-resistant). Farmers are also supplied
with seedlings. Emphasis is placed on developing a relationship of trust with farmers,
listening to their concerns and trying to meet their needs in the most appropriate way.
Poornakumbha has a contract with Anand Agricultural University to train its advisers, who
in turn advise and train farmers. Experts from the University also provide direct over-thephone advice to farmers, and receive three or four calls a day.
Benefits
100 panchayats representing about 8,500 farmers have signed long-term agreements to
supply Abellon with crop residues, and one sawmill supplies sawdust. The two pellet
plants currently in operation have a combined output capacity of 240 tonnes/day. A third
plant using crop residue is due to open in 2011, with a capacity of 200 tonnes/day, and a
fourth is at the planning stage.
Pellets are sold to 14 industrial customers. By the end of February 2011, a total of over
88,000 tonnes of pellets had been produced, including 65,000 tonnes in 2010 - 2011.
Environmental and social benefits
Pellets replace lignite and coal which are high carbon fuels. A Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) assessment of greenhouse gas emissions found a net saving of 1.70
tonnes CO2e per tonne of pellets used. Thus the 65,000 tonnes of pellets sold in 2010 cut
greenhouse gas emissions by 110,000 tonnes/year of CO2e.
There are other environmental and health benefits associated with pellet use. For industrial

Pellets burning in an industrial furnace

Details of greenhouse gas saving

The baseline for calculating savings is
the emission of greenhouse gases
from burning lignite, which is
estimated as 1.78 tonnes of CO2e per
tonne of pellets. This net saving takes
into account the greenhouse gas
emissions from electricity used in the
pelleting plant (4% of baseline) and
from transport of the residues to the
plant (0.2%). The raw residues are
regarded as zero carbon, because
they would have been burned or left to
decompose if not used for pellets.

Ashden Awards Case Study | Abellon CleanEnergy, India

customers, pellets are much easier to handle than lignite. They are stored cleanly and kept
dry in bags, and fed straight into the furnace with no crushing required. This saves time,
reduces dust and cuts electricity use. Pellets have a more uniform calorific value and they
burn more cleanly, producing less smoke and dust. This results in less nuisance to
neighbours and fewer breathing problems for workers. It also helps factories to meet their
obligations to control air pollution.
The crop residues used to make pellets are mostly woody and were often previously burned
in the field, so pelleting reduces air pollution in agricultural areas as well.
Economic and employment benefits
Selling crop waste helps clear the fields and provides farmers with a small increase in
income (around 2%). However, the more significant benefit from working with Abellon is
the agricultural advice provided by Poornakumbha. With the increasing salinity and
changing weather patterns in Gujarat, farmers cannot rely on their traditional knowledge for
what to plant and when, so expert advice is particularly valued.

Lignite gives high emissions of greenhouse gases, and is a

dirty fuel to handle and use.

Abellon has created jobs for 215 people, and Poornakumbha has 20 employees and about
200 part time extension workers.
Potential for growth and replication
The future potential for biomass pellet production in Gujarat is substantial: the raw material
is widely available and cheap; and industrial demand for pellets is strong and growing. At
present Abellon does not have sufficient capacity to meet the demand, but this will change
when the two additional pellet plants come on stream. Abellons target is to treble sales in
India over the next five years.
The company is also keen to expand into international markets, both by exporting pellets
and setting up operations overseas. It is currently in discussion with companies in Ghana,
Italy, Canada and the USA.

Abellon pellet plant at Changodar, near Ahmedabad

Abellon is in the process of applying for carbon finance via the Clean Development
Mechanism, as an additional income stream for both the company itself and its customers.
In addition to biomass from crop and timber waste, Abellon is also investigating the
potential of biofuel crops, including R&D on algae as a fuel source.

Contact details
Ridhdhi Parekh,
Senior Executive - Marketing
Abellon CleanEnergy Ltd,
Sangeeta Complex,
Near Parimal Crossing,
Ellisbridge, Ahmedabad, 380006
India
ridhdhi.parekh@abelloncleanenergy.com
www.abelloncleanenergy.com

Delivering chipped crop residue to Abellon pellet plant

Disclaimer
This report is based on information provided to the Ashden Awards judges by Abellon CleanEnergy and findings from visits
by a member of the judging team to see its work in India, in March 2011
The Ashden Awards have taken all reasonable care to ensure that the information contained in this report is full and
accurate. However, no warranty or representation is given by The Ashden Awards that the information contained in this
report is free from errors or inaccuracies. To the extent permitted by applicable laws, The Ashden Awards accept no liability
for any direct, indirect or consequential damages however caused resulting from reliance on the information contained in
this report.

Last updated: April 2011