Key Points

In Punjab, the epicentre of stubble burning, Germany's Verbio Group is in the process of setting up around 10 bio-energy manufacturing plants in addition to its existing plant to utilise crop stubble for energy production and combat pollution.

On the sidelines of the 2nd International Conference and Exhibition on Bioenergy and Technologies in New Delhi, Verbio Group Founder & Chief Executive Officer Claus Sauter told ANI that installations of these Compressed Biogas (CBG) plants to combat India's problem of pollution to fulfil its aim towards clean energy are in process.

"In the pipeline right now, around 10 new plants, most of them in Punjab. We are also seeking partnerships with local companies in India, but that's, let's say, the short-term what we want to achieve," he told ANI.

The company has begun producing compressed biogas from agricultural residues, primarily paddy stubble, which farmers typically burn after harvesting the paddy. It has the capacity to consume 100,000 tonnes of agricultural residues per year, and produce 33 tonnes per day of CBG and 650 tonnes per day of bio-manure.

The plant not only provides jobs and value to rural areas but also produces soil improvers and replaces natural gas, reducing India's energy dependence, he said.Speaking on the business coming from the plant, Sauter said, "The business case becomes viable, profitable, but it's a great story. It brings jobs and value to rural areas. We are working together with the farmers' community there."

Besides replacing natural gas with CBG and reducing India's energy dependence, such CBG plants are also helping farmers improve their soil health, he said. When farmers provide their stubble to the plant, it prevents them from burning it, which would otherwise damage the soil's nutrients. Eventually, soil will preserve its nutrients and yield a better crop. The bio-manure produced by the plants also improves the soil health.

"So there are a lot of positive aspects and we hope that we can continue the good conversation with the government what is needed really to make it bigger and hopefully the next years we will build a few more plants all over India, use agriculture residues and make CBG compressed biogas," Sauter added.

To achieve its goal of building 10 more CBG plants in Punjab, the company is in talks with the Indian government and local companies for potential partnerships.

The company is optimistic about replicating the success of the ethanol industry with CBG and is exploring further expansion in the bio-energy sector, particularly in ethanol and biogas production from biomass.

Sauter also said that the company needs access to the natural gas grid because Punjab is scaling up the production of CBG; the gas has to go somewhere, and for that, the market is not there.

- ANI