Fields of Energy: Unlocking Biogas from Agricultural Waste in Mandya and Belagavi

Abstract

Agricultural residues constitute a renewable energy source that is of considerable importance but not fully used in India and especially in rural areas where there is the growing need to adopt renewable sources of energy. Biogas technology offers a satisfactory option in the transformation of crop residues into clean fuel whilst dealing with environmental issues involved in open burning of residues. This paper describes a comparative evaluation of the biogas generation potential in the Mandya and Belagavi districts of Karnataka that have a different cropping pattern and biomass resources. The mixed-method research design that combined residue estimation models, biogas yield, and socio-economic surveys was taken. It shows that Mandya theoretically has a biogas potential of about 1.26 billion m 3/year with the majority being sugarcane and paddy residues and Belagavi has a higher potential at 2.07 billion m 3/year with diversified agriculture. The results indicate that the centralized forms of cooperative digesters would be more appropriate in Mandya and the decentralized systems at the household level in Belagavi would be more appropriate with the distributed biomass profile. In addition to the production of energy, adoption of biogas helps save more emissions, raised soil fertility, and rural energy security. The article emphasizes the need to have region-focused renewable energy policies to speed up the process of rural energy transition towards sustainability.