With a view to provide clean fuel mainly for cooking purposes and also for other applications for reducing the use of lPG and other conventional fuels, the Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA) is going to set up 600 biogas plants under the National Biogas Manure and Management Programme (NBMMP) across the State this year.
Out of 600 manure powered biogas plants, about 380 such plants are being set up in Nainital district and rest in other districts, as the officials concerned of the UREDA informed. The interesting fact about this NBMMP is that the Government would also grant 50 per cent subsidy of the total cost of a biogas plant or maximum Rs10,000 as subsidy per plant whichever is applicable, to the applicant.
Though the NBMMP has already been running here, now the Government is seriously promoting this unconventional mode of fuel for cooking purpose at household level, said l D Sharma, Project Officer, UREDA, Haldwani, while talking to The Pioneer in an exclusive interview.
The basic purpose of encouraging people to adopt this unconventional mode of clean fuel is to reduce dependence on lPG cooking gas and more importantly, promotion of this unconventional mode of fuel will also help maintain environment, he added.
It is worth mention here that since animal husbandry is mainstay of the hill State’s economy along with agriculture, therefore, it seems this NBMMP may go a long way in meeting energy needs even in rural and hilly areas.
As the manure in the form of cow-dung is easily available at every households which are engaged in animal husbandry business along with agricultural activities, financial assistance in the form of subsidy can come in handy for the people particularly farmers to set up this manure powered biogas plants. Apart from providing clean fuel for cooking food, the most important aspect of this unconventional mode of energy generation method is that it would also provide bio-fertiliser or organic manure which is more fertile than any other fertilizers, as the experts inform.
More so, generation of the bio-fertilisers or the organic manure will also reduce farmers’ dependence on the chemical fertilizers.
Besides, use of biogas will also help mitigate drudgery
of rural women, pressure
on forests and maintain climate change by preventing
black carbon and methane emissions.
In the meantime, it may be recalled that given energy crisis the State Government has already given one year deadline for all the Government, semi Government and private organisations to switch over to efficient use of energy and its conservation method from traditional power consumption mode.
Though the Uttarakhand Government had already passed an order — the Uttarakhand regarding efficient use of energy and its consumption directions-2013 in May 2013, increasing energy needs of the mountain has only necessitated taking up of that kind of energy saving mechanism.
For instance, under the May 13 efficient use of energy and its conservation directions, the State Government has made use of solar water heating system mandatory for industries, semi-Government and private hospitals and nursing homes along with the Government hospitals, hotels, motels and banquet halls, jail barracks and canteens, housing complexes, all residential buildings built on a plot sized 500 square yards and above falling within the limits of municipal bodies, Government buildings, residential schools, hostels to name a few.
Besides, the Government has also made mandatory use of compact fluorescent lamp (CFl), energy efficient tube light system for consumers in all industrial, commercial and institutional sectors having connected load of 30 kilo watt or above.
Besides, for all the Central Government offices, public sector undertaking institutions/ establishments located in State, the use of CFls, energy efficient tube lights or light emitting diode (lED) lamps will also be mandatory as per the said guidelines.