Frontispiece:

Biogas promotion poster produced by the Khadi and Village Industry Commission

Introduction

Mahatma Gandhi, in his vision for India, envisaged a system of devolved, self-sufficient
communities, sustaining their needs from the local environment, and organising income
generating ventures around co-operative structures. Fifty years on, and Gandhi's vision of
Swadeshi (self-sufficiency) for India, despite interpreted by some as a romantic and bucolic
notion, is perhaps more urgent than ever. Diminishing forests, and a burgeoning, mainly rural
biomass-dependent population of 984 million, necessitates a co-ordinated effort of rural India
to supply itself with a dependable and sustained source of energy.

Biomass alone currently meets 57% of the national energy demand, (Tata, 1998) yet is rarely
featured in any 'official' statistics of energy use, given perhaps its scattered nature, and its low
status as fuel. Indeed, according to statistics, in 1995, 63.3% of India's energy production was
from its reserves of low-grade coal, 18.6% from petroleum, while hydroelectricity, natural gas
and nuclear accounted for 8.9%, 8.2%, and 1% respectively (EIA, 1998).

India's overall energy production in 1995 was approximately 8.8 quadrillion Btu (quads),
while consumption was 10.5 quads. India's energy demand is increasing, and its inability to
step up production to meet demand, has increased India's reliance on costly imports, the gap
between consumption and production projected to widen into the next century, as demand for
energy is projected to grow at an annual rate of 4.6% - one of the highest in the world (EIA,
1998). Energy for developing industries, transport, and a drive towards the electrification of
India over the last three decades of an expanding residential sector, so that currently, a great
percentage of villages in the subcontinent have access to the grid- as much as 90%, according
to recent figures (EIA, 1998), have contributed to the energy production deficit.

However, as mentioned earlier, the conventional statistics do not take into account the
informal and unorganised use of biomass, which is reputed to account for 57% of total
energy, therefore, effectively energy from biomass more than equals the marketable energy
production of 8.8 quads (However, given the inherent difficulty in estimating such a figure,
there must be a wide margin of error, potentially). Fuelwood is the primary source of biomass,
derived from natural forests, plantations, woodlots and trees around the homestead (Agarwal,
1998). Alarm regarding the state of India's forests, which were being lost at an estimated rate
of 1.5 million hectares (Mha) in the early 1980's has kick started an intense afforestation and
forest regeneration scheme that attempts to share management of forest resources between the
forest department and local user communities. Afforestation appears to be showing up on
satellite images on the subcontinent (Hall and Ravindranath, 1994), but whether ultimately,
more fuelwood will be available to rural communities, will be more a political question.

Currently, there are thought to be about 2.5 million household and community biogas plants
installed around India (Dutta et al, 1997), though table 1 estimates that 12 million could be
usefully employed. This essay will critically examine the drive to provide rural India with an
'appropriate' energy source, with particular reference to the rural poor. The potential benefits
of biogas in a rural economy will be outlined, followed by the biological and biochemical
foundations of methanogenesis, and the evolution of biogas technology. Case studies from
different parts of India will be considered, from construction of biogas plants, to their long
term functioning amongst the communities they are designed to serve.

Why biogas?

The enormous potential of biogas, estimated at 17,000 MW can be seen from table 1. The
capacity was derived principally from estimated agricultural residues and dung from India's
300 million cattle. Biogas technology may have the potential to short-circuit the 'energy
transition' Leach (1987) describes from biomass to 'modern' fuels. Biogas technology is a
particularly useful system in the Indian rural economy, and can fulfil several end uses. The
gas is useful as a fuel substitute for firewood, dung, agricultural residues, petrol, diesel, and
electricity, depending on the nature of the task, and local supply conditions and constraints
(Lichtman, 1983), thus supplying energy for cooking and lighting. Biogas systems also
provide a residue organic waste, after anaerobic digestion, that has superior nutrient qualities
over the usual organic fertilizer, cattle dung, as it is in the form of ammonia (Sasse et al,
1991). Anaerobic digesters also function as a waste disposal system, particularly for human
waste, and can, therefore, prevent potential sources of environmental contamination and the
spread of pathogens (Lichtman, 1983). Small-scale industries are also made possible, from the
sale of surplus gas to the provision of power for a rural-based industry, therefore, biogas may
also provide the user with income generating opportunities (KVIC, 1993). The gas can also be
used to power engines, in a dual fuel mix with petrol (Jawurek et al, 1987) and diesel (KVIC,
1993), and can aid in pumped irrigation systems.

Apart from the direct benefits gleaned from biogas systems, there are other, perhaps less
tangible benefits associated with this renewable technology. By providing an alternative
source of fuel, biogas can replace the traditional biomass based fuels, notably wood.
Introduced on a significant scale, biogas may reduce the dependence on wood from forests,
and create a vacuum in the market, at least for firewood (whether this might reduce pressure
on forests however, is contestable).
What is more certain, is the impact on rural womens' lives. Promoted by KVIC, and other
bodies as 'eliminating drudgery of women' (see frontispiece), a regular supply of energy piped
to the home reduces, if not removes, the daily task of fuelwood gathering, which can, in areas
of scarcity, be the single most time consuming task of a woman's day - taking more than three
hours in some areas (Lewanhak, 1989). Freeing up energy and time for a woman in such
circumstances often allows for other activities, some of which may be income generating.
Additional knock on benefits in this context, apart from a positive contribution to the
household economy, may be an increase in personal status, both within the family, and the
wider community, and a greater role in decision making; no small feat in the traditional
gender power imbalance, characteristic of rural India. Alternatively, the saving, in terms of
energy can perhaps contribute to a reduction in the gender difference in terms of food intake
and proportion of energy expended in labour, which, according to Revelle (1976) is higher for
a woman (over 15 years) at 44%, but lower in males at 38%. However, more likely is that a
woman's energy will be directed in other areas.

A clean and particulate-free source of energy also reduces the likelihood of chronic diseases
that are associated with the indoor combustion of biomass-based fuels, such as respiratory
infections, ailments of the lungs; bronchitis, asthma, lung cancer, and increased severity of
coronary artery disease (Banerjee, 1996). Benefits can also be scaled up, when the potential
environmental impacts are also taken into account; significant reductions in emissions
associated with the combustion of biofuels, such as sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide
(NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), total suspended particles (TSP's), and poly-aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAH's), are possible with the large-scale introduction of biogas technology.

The use of biogas systems in an agrarian community can increase agricultural productivity.
All the agricultural residue, and dung generated within the community is available for
anaerobic digestion, whereas previously, a portion would be combusted daily for fuel.
Therefore more is returned to the land. Moreover, as mentioned earlier, the slurry that is
returned after methanogenesis is superior in terms of its nutrient content; the process of
methane production serves to narrow the carbon:nitrogen ratio (C:N), while a fraction of the
organic nitrogen is mineralised to ammonium (NH4+), and nitrate (NO3-), the form which is
immediately available to plants. According to Sasse et al (1991), the resulting slurry has
double the short-term fertilizer effect of dung, while long term fertilizer effects are cut by
half. However, in the tropics, the short term effects are the most critical, as even the slow
degrading manure fraction is quickly degraded, due to rapid biological activity. An increase in
land fertility, then, can result in an increase in agricultural production. The knock on benefits
may include improved subsistence, increased local food security, or income generation from a
higher output.

Biogas systems, then, offer an integrated system that lends itself to a rural setting; the plants
can be maintained with a variety of organic residues, from humans, animals, crops and
domestic food waste. Indeed, biogas plants could also be usefully employed in an urban
environment also. Ranade et al (1987) successfully maintained a biogas plant of 25 litres
capacity, fed with market waste, in Pune, western India and suggest such a system to be a
viable option for solid waste disposal in areas of rapid urbanisation. Although this essay is
more concerned with biogas in rural areas, the example does, nonetheless, demonstrate the
potential of biogas technology and its multifunctional and flexible applications.
Integral to biogas technology also, and the philosophy it represents, namely Swadeshi, is the
requirement of devolved, and self-reliant communities to manage the systems. This may seem
a rather obvious point to make, but necessary nonetheless. For biogas systems to be truly
viable and workable in rural India, demands the technology to be preferably generated from
within the community. As will be seen later, this may not always be possible logistically,
amongst other reasons. If not actually produced from the community it is to serve, then the
technology must be amenable and possible to manage and modify by individuals within the
community, preferably the plant owner, and reliance on 'outside' assistance kept to a
minimum. Without this basic requirement being fulfilled, biogas technology will not be a
truly viable option for meeting India's rural energy demands. With this in mind, the
government agencies involved in designing biogas plants have attempted to create plants that
could be maintained locally. Although the designs have evolved over the last forty years since
their inception which will be outlined later, the microbial processes around which they are
built, methanogenesis, remains the same.

Methanogenesis

Methanogenesis is a microbial process, involving many complex, and differently interacting

species, but most notably, the methane-producing bacteria. The biogas process is shown
below in figure 1, and consists of three stages; hydrolysis, acidification and methane
formation.

TU JE BILA TABLICA METANOGENEZE KOJU SMATRAM NEPOTREBNOM

Loading rate and retention period of material are also important considerations. In the KVIC
model, retention ranges between 30-55 days, depending upon climatic conditions, and will
decrease if loaded with more than its rated capacity (which may result in imperfectly digested
slurry). KVIC state that maximum gas production occurs during the first four weeks, before
tapering off, therefore a plant should be designed for a retention that exploits this feature.
Retention period is found to reduce if temperatures are raised, or more nutrients are added to
the digester. Human excreta, due to its high nutrient content, needs no more than 30 days
retention in biogas plants (KVIC, 1983).

Other factors likely to affect methanogenesis are pH; gas production is found to decrease with
increasing acidity, and can result from over-loading the plant, which may stimulate the more
fecund acidophiles, at the expense of the more tardy methane-producing microbes. Improved
nutrient content, also, as mentioned above will increase the digestion process, and can be
manipulated by the addition of animal (and male human) urine, while toxic substances, such
as heavy metals may inhibit gas production (KVIC, 1983).

Understanding the process of methanogenesis allows manipulation, which can serve to

maximise gas production in the field. Workers over the last twenty years have experimented
with the digestion process, and have made strides in increasing gas yields, using techniques
that can be similarly employed in a rural environment. Sharma et al (1988), have shown that
biogas generation is increased when the particle size of organic material is small, in this case,
less than 1mm. The workers recommend that a physical pre-treatment, such as grinding would
improve a system's performance, and could also reduce the size of digester needed. A manual
machine for physical pre-treatment of material would be a viable piece of equipment in a rural
environment; indeed, there may be a similar piece of equipment already in use.

Other workers have found that biogas production is accelerated by the presence of metal ions
in biomass (Geeta et al, 1990). The species principally researched was water hyacinth
(Eichornia crassipes Solms.), which flourishes in eutrophic water bodies. The plant
characteristically grows at high densities, which often leads to clogging, and is therefore
considered an environmental pest. Water hyacinth, however, also concentrates nickel from
eutrophic environments, upto 0.27 kg h/day, which, when mixed with bovine excreta upto 25
parts per million (ppm) was found to enhance gas production by 40%. The use of E. crassipes
in biogas systems can both increase gas production, and contribute to environmental
management, by way of controlling a pest.

Research in other areas has focused on the composition on the substrate, and its effect on gas
production. Habig (1985), fermented a range of organic materials from marine macroalgae to
vegetables and discerned that carbohydrate and protein are the principal components utilised
during methanogenesis.

Such work is invaluable in enabling a sound management and manipulation of

methanogenesis, and can be of use to users in a rural environment.

The evolution of biogas technology

Biogas plants in India were experimentally introduced in the 1930's, and research was
principally focused around the Sewage Purification Station at Dadar in Bombay, undertaken
by S.V. Desai and N.V. Joshi of the Soil Chemistry Division, Indian Agriculture Research
Institute, New Delhi. The early plants developed were very expensive and were not cost
effective in terms of the gas output, indeed the early models were not producing enough gas
to supply a small family (KVIC, 1993). Some of the early models were also prone to burst, so
overall, the technology was not viable for dissemination.

Over the next twenty years, Jashbhai Patel designed and made several small-scale biogas
digesters, envisaging farm labourers as the user. Although other individuals and institutions
were also designing biogas plants, in 1961 the Khadi and Village Industry Commission chose
to promote Patel's design, which, although more costly than other models, was more
productive, had a longer life, and required minimal maintenance (KVIC, 1993).

The basic plant, which came to be known as the KVIC model, consists of a deep well, and a
floating drum, usually made of mild steel. The system collects the gas, which is kept at a
relatively constant pressure. As more gas is produced, the drum gas holder consequently rises.
As the gas is consumed, the drum then falls. The biomass slurry moves through the system, as
the inlet is higher than the outlet tank, creating hydrostatic pressure. Only completely digested
material can flow up a partition wall, which prevents fresh material from 'short-circuiting' the
system, before flowing into the outlet tank. Dimensions of the plants depend upon the energy
requirements of the user (Lichtman, 1983). The basic system can be seen in figure 2a. By the
early1980's, there were thought to be about 80,000 systems built by KVIC.
DIGESTOR S PLUTAJUĆIM POKLPOCOM - GOBAR