Uttarakhand To Produce Green Power From pine needles – Free PDF Download

Context

• The Uttarakhand government has begun efforts to produce green power from the leaves of pine trees – known as pine needles – in a bid to reduce their quantity in the jungles as they catch fire very quickly.
• According to the Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA), the total area of Pine forest in the state is about 3.43 lakh hectare.
• These pine forests produce about 20.58 lakhs tonnes of dry biomass every year in the state.
• In the summer season, forest fires are common in these areas as pine needles, which keep falling off the trees from the middle of March till the onset of the rains in July, are highly inflammable.

Power generation

• In 2014, Avani set up another plant of 120 kW in 2014 at Chachreda village in Pithoragarh. The electricity generated through the biomass gasification plant was sold to the state grid through a 20 year Power Purchase Agreement between Avani and Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL).

 Collection

• A 100 kW gasifier running for 24 hours requires 4,500 kg of pine needles. Thus, about 1350 tonnes of pine needles are required per year.
• In Uttarakhnad, biomass collection is mostly done by women and thus for gasifier also, mostly women are employed for the collection of pine needles. Since the pine forests shed their needles in summer season, the pine collection activities are done during the month of April to June and stored for the complete year.

Other benefits

• The high energy content residue of biomass gasification process is briquetted into cooking charcoal using a locally available binder.
• The availability of charcoal at door step has reduced the fuel gathering time of the villagers by 70% and provides a smoke – free environment to the villagers.

 Challenges

• Addressing both collection and transportation challenges is key to the implementation of projects. • Collection of pine needles involves carrying heavy loads over distances usually over steep slopes.
• Secondly, the moisture content of the pine needles causes lower efficiency and high maintenance for the gasification system.

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