Biogas utilization in Pakistan

Biogas utilization in Pakistan

Introduction:

Biogas plant is name often given to an anaerobic digester that treats farm or organic wastes. The history of biogas plants goes back to ancient Persia and China. It was observed that rotting vegetables produce flammable gas. In 13th century the Chinese were using covered sewage tanks to generate power. In 1859 first biogas plant was built to process sewage at a Bombay in Indian Sub Continent. The biogas plants can be fed with energy crops such as maize silage or biodegradable wastes including sewage sludge and food waste. During the process the biomass is converted into methane producing renewable energy that is used for heating, electricity and many other operations that use any variation of an internal combustion engines.

Typical composition of biogas:(Compound Chemical Formula %age)

• Methane CH4                50–75
• Carbon dioxide CO2    25–50
• Nitrogen N2                   0–10
• Hydrogen H2                 0–1
• Hydrogen sulfide H2S 0–3
• Oxygen O2                     0–0

Biogas gas is also being used in power generators for electricity production around the world as renewable fuel source. Leo Corporation Pakistan has successfully installed biogas plants to produce electricity using different bio degradable materials in Punjab

In China 30 million rural households that have biogas digesters enjoy the following benefits:

•  Saving fossil fuels
•  Saving time collecting firewood
•  Protecting forests
•  Using crop residues for animal fodder instead of fuel
•  Saving money
•  Saving cooking time
•  Improving hygienic conditions
•  Producing high-quality fertilizer
•  Enabling local mechanization and electricity production
•  Improving the rural standard of living

Pakistan is home to over 160 million head of cattle (buffalo, cow, camel, donkey, goat and lamb). The dung of these livestock can feed five million biogas plants of varying sizes, according to energy experts at the National University of Science and Technology (Islamabad) and Faisalabad Agriculture University This can help plug the yawning gas supply gap. According to government figures, 73 percent of 200 million people (a majority of them in rural areas) have no access to piped natural gas. Such people rely on LPG gas cylinders and fuel wood.  

As per recent livestock census, there are 51 million animals (Buffaloes, Cows, and Bullocks) in Pakistan. Thus, 19.125 Million M3 biogas can be produced daily by anaerobic fermentation of dung through installation of about 3.825 million family size biogas plants, which could meet the cooking needs of about 50 million people. The total population of Pakistan is about 170 million, out of which 68% reside in the rural areas, which comes to be 98 million. Therefore we can meet the cooking / heating requirements of 44% rural masses from this single source of energy (biogas) besides, producing 57.4 million Kg of nitrogen enriched bio-fertilizer per day or 21.00 million tons of bio-fertilizer per year, which is an essential requirement for sustaining the fertility of agricultural lands.

Biogas   potential in Pakistan is widely distributed; its potential may be best developed at the point of generation. However, there are many point sources where large-scale biogas can be generated at one location. The most ready example is Landhi’s Cattle colony, where a 20 MW power project of biogas has been formulated.  There does not seem to be much progress on this plant. There could be several large projects of this size elsewhere in the country as well. Biogas need not be a monopoly of electric power producers; gas companies can and should enter this arena of biogas as well. In fact, they ought to be the primary players. Biogas can be upgraded to pipeline-quality gas.

Policy:

Pakistan has made a policy to add RSE (Renewable & Sustainable Energy) for energy production; Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) has been established to contribute 5% energy production from renewable. AEDB is now working on energy production project by using huge resource of biogas near Karachi in Landhi cattle colony to produce 30 MW which is being funded by New Zealand.( New Zealand based firm has completed the pilot phase of the biogas project at Landi Cattle Colony, Karachi where waste from 400,000 cattle in the area would be utilized to generate electricity and high grade organic fertilizer. The full scale plant is estimated to generate up to 50 MW of electricity and 1500 tons of organic fertilizer per day.). , framework for power Co-generation 2013 (Biomass/Bagasse) was approved by Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) for bagasse/biomass based sugar industry projects. 1500–2000 MW of power is expected to be generated in next 2–3 years   

History:

Government of Pakistan undertook propagation of Biogas Technology early in 1976. Initially, 1200 family size units were installed.  The biogas digesters adapted at that time were known as Indian style digesters. This style is constant pressure type. A deep rounded well is dug in the ground and lined with bricks and cement. A round steel drum is turned upside down and fitted as a lid on the mouth of the well.  Gas is collected in this drum. Gases lift the drum up and after they are used, drum moves downward.  This program could not attract attention mainly because life of the drum was low and daily filling of cow dung was a hassle. Discovery of natural gas was also a hurdle in the promotion of biogas as it was easy and hassle free to use.  Government of Pakistan established Pakistan Council of Renewable Energy Technologies (PCRET) which launched another project for installation of 2,500 biogas plants in 2007 with a subsidy component of Rs.17000/- per plant. In two years, despite various financial constraints, about 2,000 biogas units have been installed.   a major drawback in the Indian digesters was the steel drum. Presence of H2S in the produce cracks it within two or three years. Replacement of steel drums is a cost which is difficult to bear just like the cost of batteries in the small off-grid solar solutions.  Its installation also requires high expertise of craftsmanship. It costs round 13-15 thousands rupees per cubic meter. 10, 12, 15 and 20 m3   sizes are commonly used.   High initial cost and high operational cost is the barrier in the adaptation of the Indian style digesters.

In 2010, Rural Support Program Network (RSPN) initiated Pakistan Domestic Biogas Program. This program aimed to develop the domestic biogas sector   the project was designed to put down a robust foundation for the establishment of a commercially viable domestic biogas sector. The proposal used a time horizon of four years to strengthen the commercial biogas sector. Although the project aimed to promote an approach in which government, non-government and private sector organizations assumed their roles in a complementary fashion that intrinsically fit their character; this did not catch eyes of the masses. Only 5000 dome type digesters were constructed in addition to training about 500 local masons.
Dome type digesters are made of bricks and cement and involve fixed volume principle. No drum is used as a lid in this technology. Cost of such digesters range from 8 to 10 thousands rupees per cubic meter which is cheaper than Indian style digesters. However these digesters also require highly skilled craftsmanship and are built in 20-25 days. Common designs are in 6, 8, 10, 15 and 20 cubic meters. Leakage and seepage are frequently encountered problems but can be corrected with good maintenance and training. However once the digester leaks or seeps, it is difficult to be rectified.
Punjab has also launched a program to subsidize 20000 biogas plants of 30, 50 and 70 cubic meter for the farmers to supplement their diesel engines for water pumps. The design submitted by the consultant is of both Indian and dome type digesters.  The cost for system installation is 12-14 thousand rupees per cubic meter which is quite high. The construction time is around 25-30 days per team for one  

Assessment:
High cost, time consuming construction activities and requirement of high quality craftsmanship are major barriers in the adaptation of dome type digesters.  Stakeholders are enmeshed in a supply and demand context in which the supply side should ensure “off-the-shelf availability” of the technology while the pluralistic demand side organizes the beneficiaries, provides microfinance, promotes the technology and integrates it into rural development activities. For this purpose, many Chinese companies have established a soft type digester.  A tank is dug in the ground as per desired dimensions according to size of the digester. Construction of tank does not require skilled workmanship and even a normal mason can accomplish the task. The soft type digester can then be fixed in the tank. This installation takes only four days for tank and two hours for digester fixation. The cost is 5-6 thousand rupees per cubic meter. A Chinese company has installed many demonstration digesters in Pakistan A Chinese company has also decided to establish an office in Lahore

National Rural Support Program-Pakistan (NRSP-Pakistan) Initiated in 2009 by the non-governmental organization, PBDP was financed by the Netherlands Embassy in Pakistan and technical support was extended by Winrock International and SNV (Netherlands-based nongovernmental development organisations). As a part of sustainability of the biogas program, 50 local biogas construction companies were been set up. International technical experts trained nearly 450 people in construction, maintenance and repair of the biogas units. The biogas program aimed to establish a commercially viable biogas sector. To that extent, the main actors at the supply side of the sector are private Biogas Construction Enterprises (BCEs) providing biogas construction and after sales services to households. At the demand side of the sector, Rural Support Program organized under the RSPN will be the main implementing partners, but will also include NGOs, farmers’ organizations and dairy organizations. 5,600 biogas plants are now saving nearly 13,000 tons of fuel wood burning worth two million dollars and 169,600 liters of kerosene oil for night lamp use Implemented at a total cost of around 3.3 million dollars, the biogas plants have helped reduce the average three to four hours a woman spent collecting fuel-wood and cooking daily. These women now get enough time for socialization, economic activity and health is returning to households thanks to the biogas plants… which provide instant gas for cooking, healing and dishwashing ,.more significantly, the program   is helping avoid nearly 16,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually 

UNDP assisted (2012) a non-governmental organization to set up 150 biogas plants under a project funded by the United Nations Development Program and the Japanese government for the rehabilitation of the people affected by 2010 floods. Families supplied biogases earlier were spending between Rs5000 and Rs6000 on buying and transporting wood every month to their homes.  They also experienced improvement in crop productivity with the use of slurry, a by-product of biogas. The slurry had replaced urea to a great extent as it is comparatively much cheaper and a lot more beneficial in terms of crop productivity. It not only helped improve the quality of crop, but also reduced its harvesting period. A total of 27 biogas units had been installed in the village. One beneficiary stated “Earlier, we used at least three to four bags of urea for one acre of crop that could either be banana, wheat or sorghum. The price of urea has increased but a few months ago it cost Rs1,700 a bag. So you can well imagine how much we are benefiting even from the by-product of biogas,” said a beneficiary, adding that banana plants grown with the help of slurry had matured 10 to 15 days earlier as compared to those given urea

Tube Well Conversion to biogas:

Punjab government had designed a plan to convert about 100,000 agriculture tube wells from diesel to biogas in five years (2013 -2018) in a bid to save energy resources and promote biogas technology in the province. According to agriculture census 1.1 million tube wells are installed across the province for irrigation, 900,000 of them are run on diesel. On the other hand 32 million cows and buffaloes are owned by small and big farmers in the province which producing 117 million tons of dung annually. If half of this amount is used to produce gas then the waste will produce 2.93 billion cubic meters of gas annually. With this plan the Government hopes to save 288 million liters of diesel and 30 billion Rs ($ 280 mil.) annually. According to officials work on the project would start next year, and the provincial government will bear 50% of the conversion costs, inviting expressions of interest from interested companies, while leaving it to the farmers to select the company and pay directly to the technology provider. Moreover biogas plants installed with tube wells will help produce organic manure rich in nutrients, which will save the money spent on fertilizers.

WWF

World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) had achieved the target of setting up 2,000 biogas units in 13 districts of Punjab, Sindh and KP.“The purpose was to help improve lives shattered by the floods in a way that is not only sustainable but also eco-friendly. We have provided one biogas unit to one household as our experience has shown that the involvement of multiple families could create conflict and result in project’s failure.”The biogas unit could be run by a family even if it has only one buffalo. One unit of an average size of six to 15 cubic meters costs from Rs70,000 to Rs80,000 further one bag of dried slurry replaced nine bags of urea Local people were involved in its construction so that they could handle any problem in repair later    A few people in villages in Punjab were running generators on biogas after making changes in its design on a self-help basis,” 

Proposed plants:

Letter of intent was issued for 12 MW power plants established for utilization of agricultural wastes in Jhang and 9 MW plant is going to be installed at Pak Ethanol Pvt. Ltd., Sindh. In coming years 5000 biogas units will be installed all over the country by Pakistan Counsel of Renewable Energy Technologies (PCRET). Government has invested 356 million to import 1400 biogas plants  Biomass/ Waste-to-Energy Following Biomass/Waste-to-Energy projects are in various stages of implementation under IPP mode: M/s SSJD (12 MW) Sind. M/s Lumen Energia (12 MW Shahkot).Punjab M/s Biomass Power Generation Limited (12 MW), Faisalabad M/s Green Sure Environmental Solutions (12 MW), Mardan, KPK

Centre for Advanced Studies in Energy at NUST (CAS-EN) is working on project entitled; “Biomass Resource Availability Study” funded by International Finance Corporation a subsidiary of World Bank Group (IFC-WBG) 

Government of Pakistan has asked PCRET to launch mega project on the biogas technology by installing 25,000 biogas units all over the country to not only cater the needs of cooking but also for agriculture and commercial purpose in order to meet the shortage of gas and electricity in the country. The project is still under evaluation and appraisal 

Conclusions:

Biogas intervention strategies, guidelines and facilities for the supply and use of anaerobic biogas digesters, in rural communities for producing cooking gas and organic fertilizer need to b devised through public and international financing and technical assistance.

Biomass has been used as an energy source for thousands of years by the humankind. Traditional fuels like firewood, dung and crop residues currently contribute a major share in meeting the everyday energy requirements of rural and low-income urban households in Pakistan. An average biomass using household consumes 2325 kg of firewood or 1480 kg of dung or 1160 kg of crop residues per annum. There are good prospects for using biogas energy in rural areas through a network of community biogas plants