A new analysis estimates that India could save USD 29 billion on liquefied natural gas imports between fiscal years 2025 and 2030 if it increased its use of biogas and biomethane to replace natural gas use by 20%.
Waste management, less GHG emissions, and increased renewable energy generation are just a few of the environmental benefits highlighted by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis's (IEEFA) report.
"Biogas has the potential to replace natural gas and other high-emission fossil fuels," says Purva Jain, an energy expert at IEEFA and the report's author. Its calorific value is same to that of natural gas, and it can be improved by removing carbon dioxide (CO2) and contaminants such hydrogen sulfide, bringing the methane concentration up to 90%.
She emphasized that this biogas improvement, now called biomethane, can be included into gas systems in place of fossil fuels.
"By adopting appropriate production methods and addressing methane leaks during production, upgrading, and supply stages, biogas can offer India a cleaner alternative to its reliance on imported natural gas," noted Jain. The biogas industry has had difficulty gaining traction in India despite its many benefits.
A lack of a unified market ecology, high prices, convoluted regulatory processes, and inconsistent government backing are all cited as contributing factors.
According to Jain, the administration has started working on these problems. In 2021, various types of subsidies were merged under the National Bioenergy Scheme. According to Jain, the administration has started working on these problems.
In addition, the government's new overarching effort, GOBARdhan (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan), will contribute to this convergence. She explains, "It encompasses the full spectrum of programs and policies that encourage the transformation of organic waste into biogas and compressed biogas (CBG)."
The paper also covers recent regulatory developments, such as plans to force natural gas marketing corporations to acquire 5% compressed biogas in response to rising worldwide gas prices.
In response to these policies, private corporations including Reliance Industries Limited and the Adani Group have shown renewed interest in compressed biogas. The paper highlights the need for additional government action to fully realize the potential of biogas in India.
This involves supporting feedstock mapping for input availability, boosting financial access for biogas plant construction, increasing market viability for CBG and biogas slurry, and encouraging more investments and private sector involvement.
More importantly, it's important to keep biogas production from relying on energy crops like those used for ethanol and biodiesel in Brazil; doing so would have a negative effect on the climate and environment by increasing carbon emissions.
To speed up decarbonization efforts, it will be crucial to ensure that natural gas-using enterprises will buy CBG. It will be a big step in the right direction if we start implementing take-or-pay agreements," Jain added.