Punjab plans agri-waste use to produce power

Charanjit Ahuja :2009-02-05
Chandigarh: The Punjab government has chalked out an ambitious plan to generate power from agriculture waste by setting up co-generation power plants at all the state-owned cooperative sugar mills.
The concept, the brain child of Punjab’s cooperation minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh, aims to involve the private sector on a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis at its nine sugar mills. The private sector companies, through cooperative societies in the state, will purchase agriculture waste including paddy straw to generate power through the biomass project. All these plants will be functional by the end of 2010.
Singh told FE, “The farmers of Punjab would get a benefit of Rs 600 crore annually as, according to a recent study of Punjab Agriculture University, farmers burn paddy straw worth this amount every year.” The Punjab Sugarfed has signed a MoU with private parties to set up co-generation plants and for the modernisation and upgrade of all the sugar mills on a BOOT basis.
Capt Kanwaljit Singh pointed out sugarcane cultivation in Punjab is now being done on 39,000 hectare compared to 60,000 hectare last year. On its part, the produce had come down from 594 lakh quintals last year to 206 lakh quintals this year. He said with the new concept, the farmers would be able to supplement their incomes.
The minister said about Rs 1,000 crore would be spent on setting up these plants and each plant would generate between 20 mw and 25 mw of electricity.
The MoU has been signed for sugar mills of Ajnala, Batala, Bhogpur, Budhewal, Fazilka, Gurdaspur, Morinda, Nakodar and Nawanshahr with four companies including Spray Engg Devices, Saraya Industries, Purab Infrastructure Projects and A2Z Infrastructure.
Spray Engineering will set up a cogeneration plant in Bhogpur to generate 18 mw and the sugar making capacity will be enhanced from 1,016 tonne crushing per day to 5,500 tonne crushing per day at a cost of Rs 80 crore. A2Z Infrastructure and Purab Infrastructure will establish three plants to generate 20 mw each at Nakodar, Budhewal and Fazilka and a 25-mw power plant at Morinda at a cost of Rs 450 crore.
The Saraya Group will set up plants of 12 mw each at Ajnala, Gurdaspur, Nawanshehar and Batala with an investment of over Rs 300 crore. He said all these plants would be commissioned by September 2010.
It is to be noted the state cooperative mills has the potential to generate...
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/punjab-plans-agriwaste-use-to-produce-power/419284/

Fazilka: Asia’s first energy-saver town

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20071206/bathinda.htm#9
Fazilka, December 5
The Czech Republic Magazine Carbuster in its 32nd issue, focusing on the theme ‘faith and environment” has selected Fazilka as the first Asian town for adopting the best energy saving practices to fight against global warming in transportation.
Fazilka has set the best example to reduce the effect of global warming. Using religion and world car free network, the city has been successful in bringing together organisations and individuals dedicated to promoting alternatives to car dependence at the local level and working to reduce the human impact on natural environment while improving the quality of life for all.
The campaign was started by the Patron of Graduates Welfare Association Fazilka (GWAF), Bhupinder Singh, on April 22 on the occasion of ‘Earth Day’ by organising a cycle rally for senior citizens followed by installing hoardings of holy messages from Shri Guru Granth Sahib by Guru Nanak Dev Ji on ‘Dharti Tapan’ (global warming) in Fazilka.
The campaign got an impetus this year when global warming became the theme of the “Fazilka Heritage Festival-2007.”
According to a survey conducted by Bhupinder Singh, at present, Fazilka generates 17.5 tons of solid waste every day. Residents have been called upon to stop the use of plastic ware and use CFL lamps instead of the conventional electric bulbs to conserve energy.
Singh maintains that Fazilka is the safest town as no pedestrian and cyclist’s death has been reported in road mishaps within the city zone for a long time.
It is primarily because of 160-year-old narrow residential streets design by the erstwhile East India Company.
To protect the environment, a slogan “Ganga Maiyaa Hum Tere Apradhi, Prayshchit Karenge Cycle Chala Kar, Ped Laga Kar” has been chosen due to the alarming situation arising out of the shrinking of Sunderban delta every year.
One thousand tree samplings have been planted along the Freedom Fighter road in the last five years. This stretch of road and its surrounding areas has been successfully converted into a zero-pollution zone.
The Indian Army has planted more than 9,000 tree samplings in and around Fazilka to bring more land under a green cover. 500 tree samplings have been planted and maintained by progressive farmers at different places.
This year, more than 3000 ‘sheesham’ samplings were gifted and planted by the progressive farmers.
Sub-divisional magistrate of Fazilka Rajiv Prashar has also taken up an initiative to check environmental pollution by imposing a ban on all school children up to the age of 18 years from going to school on automobiles.

Fazilka set to pioneer use of CFL lamps

Anilesh S Mahajan TNN
Novermber, 21, 2007
Chandigarh: It may be called as the first citizen effort to turn to the compact fluorescent light (CFL) lamps and Fazilka would be the first city in Punjab to accept it. This effort has come without any government’s initiative in this regard. The NGO, Graduate Welfare Association of Fazilka (GWAF) has impressed upon all the traders in the city to not only promote CFL, but also to sell it on ‘no profit no loss’ basis during the Fazilka heritage festival starting from November 22 to 25. The theme of the festival is global warming. “Conservation of energy is an important issue for the state as well as for the nation. As citizens of the country we have to save energy, when we told this to the people here, they agreed to turn on to CFL lamps,” said Dr Bhupinder Singh, a retired professor of IIT Roorkee and founder of GWAF. “When citizens are told about the benefits it can give to them as well as to the state, they readily acquiesce to the change,” he added. Fazilka electricity parts dealers’ association chief Pradeep Ahuja added that they would be selling only CFL during the festival in the city. “We cannot offer subsidies, but this would be our initiative towards the mission,” he added. Moreover, all the leading business houses in the city have been asked to turn to CFL and they have agreed to it. Vikram Ahuja of farm solutions said that he has already changed the lamps and have asked other to do so. GWAF has a good influence over most of the citizens in the town, as most of the graduates are its members. It believes that this would set an example for the rest of the state. It is worth mentioning here that the Punjab government and Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) has already turned on to CFL. In comparison to the incandescent lamp used by the domestic users, one sixth to one-fourth energy is saved. It is promoted by the PSEB and Central Electricity Commission (CEC) too.