Power Generation from Waste Scenario in India
About 55 million tonnes of waste (municipal solid waste) is generated in India, along with 38 billion litres of sewage in urban areas. Furthermore, large quantities of liquid and solid wastes are produced by industries as well.
Waste generation in India is only expected to increase rapidly in the coming years. And we need to develop an approach that anchors on producing energy from waste.
With rise in income and large scale migration to urban areas, consumption levels are likely to increase. As a result, waste generation in India is estimated expected to grow at a 1-1.33% per capita rate annually. Consequently, the amount of land needed for disposal and economic costs of collecting and transporting waste will be significantly affected. Also, we can't ignore the environmental consequences of increased MSW generation.
Indian Government Support for Waste to Energy
The Indian Government has adopted waste to energy as a renewable technology and has decided to support it using incentives and subsidies. There are deliberate promotion strategies made by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to promote all the technology options that are available for energy recovery from urban and industrial wastes.
India - Potential of Energy Recovery from Urban and Industrial Wastes
State/Union Territory Liquid Waste (MW) Solid Wastes (MW) Total (MW)
Assam 2.0 6.0 8.0
Andhra Pradesh 16.0 107.0 123.0
Bihar 6.0 67.0 73.0
Chhattisgarh 2.0 22.0 24.0
Chandigarh 1.0 5.0 6.0
Delhi 20.0 111.0 131.0
Gujarat 14.0 98.0 112.0
Haryana 6.0 18.0 24.0
Jharkhand 2.0 8.0 10.0
Kerala 4.0 32.0 36.0
Karnataka 26.0 125.0 151.0
Maharashtra 37.0 250.0 287.0
Pradesh Himachal 0.5 1.0 1.5
Manipur 0.5 1.5 2.0
Mizoram 0.5 1.0 1.5
Meghalaya 0.5 1.5 2.0
Orissa 3.0 19.0 22.0
Pradesh Madhya 10.0 68.0 78.0
Punjab 6.0 39.0 45.0
Pondicherry 0.5 2.0 2.5
Rajasthan 9.0 53.0 62.0
Tripura 0.5 1.0 1.5
Pradesh Uttar 22.0 154.0 176.0
Tamil Nadu 14.0 137.0 151.0
Uttaranchal 1.0 4.0 5.0
West Bengal 22.0 126.0 148.0
Total 226.0 1457.0 1683.0
India Waste to Energy to Energy Potential
According to the above table, the potential power from urban waste is estimated to be about 1460 MW from the MSW generated in India. Also, 225 MW is calculated to come from sewage and about 1300 MW to come from industrial waste.
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in India have also begun the promotion process for the generation of energy from waste. This was achieved by providing incentives and subsidies for all projects that will have to do with the power generation from waste. According to Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) in India, only two percent of India's potential has been realised so far. Also according to market analysis, the Indian market as regards the municipal solid waste to energy could be experiencing a compound annual growth rate of 9.7% by 2013.
Primary Constraints that are experienced by the Waste to Energy Sector in India
The following are the limitations faced by this sector:
• The whole Waste-to-Energy concept is still new in India
• Most of the technologies that have been proven as regards urban wastes have to be imported.
• The costs to run the projects are very high because of the importation of equipment.
• Lack of financial resources with Urban Local Bodies/Municipal Corporations.
• Lack of policy guidelines that are conducive from the State Governments as regards the supply of garbage, allotment of land and power purchase/evacuation facilities.
As waste generation in India is expected to increase rapidly in the future, building technology with power generation from waste approach is a welcome idea. It might not be a perfect energy source as none exists. However, it is still a viable one since it uses waste that is widely spread across the country.
