Solar-Biodiesel Minigrid System Developed By CSIR-CMERI For Small Scale Renewable Energy

CSIR-CMERI-Centre of Excellence for Farm Machinery has developed Off-grid Solar Biodiesel Hybrid Minigrid of 50kW peak capacity system for providing 24X7 power to Center for Excellence in Farm Machinery (CoEFM) Residential Colony at Gill Road, Ludhiana (Punjab). Prof. (Dr.) Harish Hirani, Director, CSIR - CMERI inaugurated the system on 1st February 2021.

Speaking on the occasion Prof. Hirani said that currently major share of the installed power capacity of our country is from fossil fuel sources like coal, diesel etc., which have serious implications on country's energy security and environmental pollution. These high power centralized generation systems also warrant investment on expensive Transmission & Distribution infrastructure leading to higher transmission losses. In this scenario, localized region specific distributed generation systems like Minigrids with small scale Renewable Energy Sources can be potential generators of electricity near load centres and can help in addressing energy needs of local communities. These type of systems can be a unique solution for uninterrupted power in remote areas, villages, hilly area etc.

In addition,Solar Biodiesel Hybrid Minigrid system developed at CSIR-CMERI also has applications in Smart city projects, because of its inherent smart features with respect to integration of different sources. Unlike in rural areas, power requirement of domestic loads in cities are higher along with huge fluctuations due to varied usage patterns making the power balancing a challenging issue.

Experiments were conducted in the CoEFM residential colony during different times of day, month and different seasons to understand the performance of the developed system under different conditions of loading, solar radiation etc. Both Solar Photovoltaics and Biodiesel are renewable in nature and can help in reducing pollution. Solar PV systems installed on different capacities of Solar Trees (2 Nos of 3.05kWp, 1Nos of 8.125kWp & 3 Nos of 11.375kWp) use less land space which is of great advantage in urban areas.

Prof. Hirani also informed that recently developed Fully Automatic Biodiesel Plant of capacity 1 ton per day (8 hours) which can produce Biodiesel from any feedstock (waste vegetable oil, Used Cooking oil, Animal Tallow etc.) is being used to produce necessary fuel for running generators. He further added that these type of systems also help in employment generation. This developed system is not only lighting the residential colony but also being used to run 10hp& 5hp agricultural pumps. Future plan is to increase its capacity through addition of more number of Solar Trees and Battery Banks. Other sources of energy like wind energy and Biogas can also be integrated into this system. This type of development empower many of the local communities in rural and urban areas to become self-reliant in energy and move India one step forward towards “Atmanirbhar Bharat”.

Converting Used Cooking Oil into Bio-Diesel - Govt Launches Programme in 100 Cities

State-run oil marketing companies Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum on Saturday launched a programme to procure biodiesel made from used cooking oil in 100 cities across the country.

The programme was formally launched by Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, under which the three OMCs would invite expression of interest from private entities for setting up plants to produce biodiesel from used cooking oil.

Initially, the biodiesel would be procured by the OMCs at an assured rate of Rs 51 per litre, which would be increased to Rs 52.7 in the second year and Rs 54.5 per litre in the third year.

The minister also launched Repurpose Used Cooking Oil (RUCO) sticker and a mobile phone application for collection of used cooking oil (UCO) to ensure that it does not come back to ecosystem.

The sticker would affixed by the food joints, hotels and restaurants in their premises to show that they supply UCO for producing biodiesel.

Addressing an event to mark 'World Biofuel Day' here, Pradhan said, "Biodiesel is available in many forms other than used cooking oil. It is waste to wealth. We will celebrate World Biofuel Day as alternative energy day."

"Like Amul, where milk is collected from households and then converted into a commercial product, there will be RUCO movement. The biggest issue (with biofuels like compressed bio gas) was offtake guarantee. More than 300 firms have got letter of intent for compressed bio gas. Its implementation is a challenge. But we are targetting 5,000 such units till 2024."

He also said, "China has a larger population but its (energy) distribution is not that organised as compared to our three oil marketing companies. That includes city gas distribution firms also.

"Under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Scheme, we would achieve the target of providing 8 crore LPG connections by September end. Already, there is 20 per cent reduction in chest congestion disease reported in India due to the clean fuel movement."

Regarding ethanol blending, he said,"We would also make ethanol from surplus food stock. At present we produce ethanol from sugarcane molasses. Non-subsidised bio mass would be converted into energy."

"About four-five years ago, we had decided to increase ethanol blending with petrol. It has increased from 1.5 per cent to 7 to 8 per cent. It will soon be 10 per cent. Our ultimate goal is to achieve 20 per cent ethanol blending with petrol," the minister added.

At present, 850 crore litres of diesel is consumed every month in India. The government aims to blend 5 per cent of biodiesel in diesel by 2030. Thus, 500 crore litres of biodiesel is required in a year.

In India, 2,700 crore litres of cooking oil is used, out which 140 crore UCO can be collected from bulk consumer such as hotels, restaurants and canteens for conversion, which will give around 110 crore litres of biodiesel every year.

At present, there is no established chain of collection for UCO, which presents a huge opportunity.

Speaking on the occasion, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan lauded the efforts of the oil ministry for converting USO into biodiesel.

He said the repeated use of UCO can cause diseases like hypertension, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's and liver ailments, among others. PTI KKS