Context

• India aims to establish 5,000 Compressed biogas projects across the country under the Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) scheme, but the sector faces some key challenges. 

Bio-CNG (CBG)

• Compressed biogas is a form of renewable natural gas produced by the anaerobic digestion of organic matter, such as agricultural waste or sewage. 
• It is composed primarily of methane and carbon dioxide. 
• CBG has calorific value and other properties similar to CNG and hence can replace CNG in automotive, industrial, and commercial areas.

Need for Bio-CNG

• It can provide a buffer against energy security concerns caused by crude oil price fluctuations.
• It can help lower pollution and carbon emissions.
• The slurry left after biogas is extracted from the digester can be used as fertilizer.
• It can provide additional sources of revenue to the farmers and thereby help in amelioration of the rural economy.

SATAT

• Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation scheme was launched in 2018, by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to promote the production and use of compressed biogas (CBG) as a transportation fuel.
• It aims to produce compressed biogas (CBG) from Waste and Bio-mass sources like agricultural residue, cattle dung, sugarcane press mud, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), and sewage treatment plant waste.
• Under this scheme, entrepreneurs shall set up CBG plants, and supply CBG to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) for sale as automotive and industrial fuels.

Challenges in the production of Bio-CNG

• There are challenges, like the arrangement of feedstock, technology and equipment availability, and distribution of the gas.
• The short window of the harvest season is a challenge in the case of agri- feedstock -based plants. 
• There is not enough infrastructure and machinery to collect the waste
• The uptake of CNG in the auto sector is less than 10 percent today. Unless there is a market for CNG in the transport sector, distribution will remain a challenge.
• CNG and digestate are the two main products obtained from the bio-CNG plant. There is little demand for the digestate as it needs to be enriched with nutrients.

Way forward

• India can increase the availability of feedstock by encouraging the use of agricultural and municipal waste as feedstock for bio-CNG production.
• India can improve the efficiency of bio-CNG production by investing in research and development to enhance feedstock conversion into bio-CNG.
• Developing infrastructure for bio-CNG distribution by building more bio-CNG refueling stations and by making bio-CNG more easily accessible to consumers is essential.
• India can encourage private sector investment in bio-CNG production by providing financial incentives and creating a favorable policy environment for bio-CNG production.