ENERGY SELF SUFFICIENT TALUKAS - A SOLUTION TO NATIONAL ENERGY CRISIS

It has been shown that biomass at taluka level has the potential for providing food, fuel, fodder and fertilizer to its inhabitants. It can also provide employment in the process. The study has been done for a Taluka (an administrative block of 90-100 contiguous villages) in western Maharashtra where it has been shown that all its energy needs in 2000 AD can be met by proper use of agricultural residues and energy plantations via agro-energy systems. The supply options include : a) ethanol production from sweet sorghum and molasses produced by existing sugar factories; b) pyrolysis oil production from agricultural residues; c) electricity production from energy plantations and agricultural residues. These energies can replace petrol, LPG, diesel, kerosene and electricity. Economic analysis for supply options shows that they can become economically viable only if electricity pricing for rural areas is done properly. It is also shown that biomass energy-based supply options have the capacity of providing employment to about 30,000 people in the Taluka. Thus energy selfsufficient talukas may provide an alternative development model to megacity-based centralized energy one.