BAGASSE POWER, AN UNTAPPED POTENTIAL IN INDIA - A REVIEW

Conventional fuels such as coal, petroleum etc are limited in the nature therefore, alternate sources are needed to fulfill the demand of energy in future. India, which accounts for around 85 per cent of South Asian electricity generation, still facing serious power problems with current generation being about 30 per cent below the demand. Overall, Indian power demand is projected to increase to 1,192 billion - kilo - watt - hours (BkWh) by 2020, which is more than three times, 378 BkWh consumed in 1996 (Report; Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources). One of the major commercially grown agricultural crop in India is Sugarcane. The plant have the highest bioconversion efficiency through pho tosynthesis and is able to fix around 55 tonnes of dry matter per hectare of land under this crop on annual renewable basis. India produces nearly 40 million metric tonnes (MMT) of bagasse and it is being minorly used as raw material in the paper industry. Through this source cheaper electricity can be produced and the greenhouse gases can be minimized in terms of the usage of biomass as fuel. Therefore, Bagasse, can play a major role in substituting fossil fuels for the future power generation.