Oil Majors Bet on Compact Bio-gas to Tackle Emission Woes in India

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December 26, 2019

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by Shahkar Abidi (Auto Car Pro) Over 500 letters of intent (LoIs) have been issued to entrepreneurs by three government-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) for setting up of Compact Bio-Gas (CBG) plants, claims a top official from the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. The government envisages stting up about 5,000 such CBG plants across the country through its ‘SATAT’ (Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation) initiative, with an estimated production of 15 MMT CBG per annum by 2023.

Speaking to Autocar Professional on the sidelines of a road show organised in Navi Mumbai by the three OMCs on Monday, Vijay Sharma, Director, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas said, “India can produce approximately 62 MMT equivalent of CBG annually which is sufficient to replace the entire gas demand of the nation and contribute in making a ‘brown revolution’ for energy. We are planning to ask to link the CBG project and waste management to smart cities so as to get the assured supply of feed for the project.

The government has offered a procurement price of Rs 46 till 2024 with take-off assurance of 10 years plus GST. The industry experts claim that CBG has the potential to replace CNG as an affordable fuel in automotive, industrial and commercial uses by conversion of biomass or any kind of organic waste. In fact, the evolving CBG program will go a long way in reducing India’s dependence on crude oil imports.

What is CBG?
Compressed Biogas (CBG) is purified and compressed biogas, which is produced through a process of anaerobic decomposition from various waste/ biomass sources like agriculture residue, cattle dung, sugarcane press mud & spent wash of distilleries, sewage water, municipal solid waste (MSW), biodegradable fractions of industrial waste etc. CBG can be used as a green fuel in automotive, industrial and commercial sectors.

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Most of the entrepreneurs present at the workshop complained at the lack of financing by banks for the CBG project.

The future is now: How oil and gas companies can decarbonize (McKinsey)

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