Assessment of Bioenergy Potential of Agricultural Wastes: A Case Study Cum Template Gabhane Jagdish1,*, Tripathi Akshay2, Athar Shoeb2, William S.P.M. Prince2, Vaidya A.N.2, Wate S.R.2 1Sardar Swaran Singh National Institute of Bioenergy, Kapurthala, Punjab, India 2Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Division, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nehru Marg, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India *Corresponding author e-mail id: jagdish_17000@yahoo.co.in
Online published on 27 April, 2017. Abstract Agricultural wastes are potential substrates for biofuel production due to their high cellulose content. The biofuel potential of different agro-wastes has been studied. However, assessment of biofuel potential of any particular area generating different kinds of agro-wastes requires scientific analysis. The biofuel production potential of agro-wastes in the state of Maharashtra India has been studied in the present investigation with an objective of formulating a comprehensive template which can be used for the assessment of biofuel potential of agro-wastes elsewhere. The results of the investigation revealed that there are 11 major crops (banana, sugarcane, oilseed, cotton, wheat, sorghum, pulses, maize, rice, soybean and groundnut) in the state of Maharashtra producing about 109.98 million tonnes of agro-wastes/year. Although the total quantity of agro-waste is high, considerable amount of it being utilised/wasted in other means such as cattle feeding (19.648%), farm wastage (4.156%), burning (19.994) and composting (4.085). Taking into consideration all the vital factors, the present investigation finds sugarcane and banana wastes as potential substrates for biofuel production with a gross production of 11, 531.12 × 106 M year ’and 4, 802.49 × 106 M year ’of methane and 15, 480 million litre year−1 & 5, 785.038 million litre year−1 of cellulosic ethanol. The biochemical analysis also indicated that both sugarcane and banana wastes are more suitable for biofuel production as the cellulose content (44.78% and 42.7%) of these wastes is high compared with others. Top Keywords Agro-waste, Biofuel, Bioethanol, Bio-methane, Residue production ratio. Top |