2. Technologies have Lower Efficiencies: The solution to this problem, calls for innovativeness in the deployment of these technologies. To give an example – one of the paper mill owners in India had a brilliant idea to utilize his industrial waste to generate power and recover the waste heat to produce steam for his boilers. The power generated was way more than he required for captive utilization. With the rest, he melted scrap metal in an arc and generated additional revenue by selling it.
Although such solutions are not possible in each case, one needs to possess the acumen to look around and innovate – the best means to improve the productivity with regards to these technologies.
3. Technologies Still Lack Maturity: One needs to look beyond what is directly visible. There is a humongous scope of employment of these technologies for decentralized power generation. With regards to scale, few companies have already begun conceptualizing ultra-mega scale power plants based on biomass resources. Power developers and critics need to take a leaf out of these experiences.
4. Lack of Funding Options: The most essential aspect of any bio-energy project is the resource assessment. Investors, if approached with a reliable resource assessment report, could help regain their interest in such projects. Moreover, the project developers also need to look into community-based ownership models, which have proven to be a great success, especially in rural areas.
The project developer needs to not only assess the resource availability but also its alternative utilization means. It has been observed that if a project is designed by considering only 10-12% of the actual biomass to be available for power generation, it sustains without any hurdles.
5. Non-Transparent Trade Markets: Entrepreneurs need to look forward to exploiting this opportunity of having a common platform for the buying and selling of biomass resources. This could not only bridge the big missing link in the resource supply chain but also could transform into a multi-billion-dollar opportunity.
6. High Risks / Low Pay-Backs: Bioenergy plants, as discussed above are rife with numerous uncertainties, fuel price escalation, unreliable resource supply, to name just a few. Such plant owners should consider other opportunities to increase their profit margins. One of these could very well include tying up with the power exchanges, as is the case in India, which could offer better prices for the power that is sold at peak-hour slots. The developer may also consider the option of merchant sale to agencies which are either in need of a consistent power supply and are presently relying on expensive back-up means (oil/coal) or are looking forward to purchase “green power” to cater to their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiatives.
7. Resource Price Escalation: A study of some of the successful bioenergy plants globally would result in the conclusion of the inevitability of having own resource base to cater to the plant requirements. This could be through captive forestry or energy plantations at waste lands or fallow lands surrounding the plant site. Although, this could escalate the initial project costs, it would prove to be a great cushion to the plant’s operational costs in the longer run. In cases where it is not possible to go for such an alternative, one must seek case-specific procurement models, consider help from local NGOs, civic bodies, etc., and go for long-term contracts with the resource providers.
Conclusions
Bioenergy projects have been in controversy since ages, with the initial debates raging over the feedstock’s intervention with food available for human consumption. Although these disputes are now a thing of the past with such technologies being successful in proving their deftness over the use of a multitude of resources like agro-wastes, animal-wastes, municipal waste, forestry residues, and others, which are of no significant use to the mankind.
However, with times, numerous other issues have come into existence, posing as obstacles to the wide-spread implementation of such clean technologies. The entrepreneurs and other clean-tech industrialists need to look beyond the horizons and seek solutions to these issues and help the proliferation of these technologies, which can make a big dent in the increasing global power demands.
References
1. http://www.emergent-ventures.com/UploadedFiles/Videos/Pitfalls%20of%20Biomass
%20assessment%20Final.pdf
2. http://www.nri.org/projects/biomass/conference_papers/policy_annex_2.pdf
3. http://www.slideshare.net/guest067b99/india-biomass-power-sector
4. http://www.unep.fr/energy/activities/frm/pdf/BiomassPowerInsurance-FeasibilityStudy-Final.pdf
5. http://www.ice.gov.it/paesi/asia/india/upload/182/INDIAN%20WIND
%20%20BIOMASS%20POWER%20PROGRAMME1.pdf
6. http://mnre.gov.in/gbi/G%20C%20Datta%20Roy.pdf
7. http://mnre.gov.in/
About the Author
Setu Goyal is pursuing Masters Program in Renewable Energy Engineering and Management at the TERI University (New Delhi), and has an entrepreneurial zeal to improve waste management and renewable energy scenarios in India and other developing countries.
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