Thaindian News

New Delhi, Nov 29 (IANS) The government may soon bring out a national mission on biomass, on the lines of the one on solar energy, to promote greater investment into renewable energy sources, Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah said Tuesday.

“We are working on the National Mission on Biomass, which we will be putting before the cabinet. It will be in the 12th Plan, which is starting now,” Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of the Bio-Energy Summit 2011.

“Once the national plan is accepted by the cabinet, it will be implemented in two phases. The first phase will be in the 12th Plan (2012-17) and second phase will be in the 13th Plan,” he added.

The National Mission on Biomass once introduced is expected to boost power generation from biomass, a renewable energy source which is available in India in abundance.

It will also bring in policy and regulatory environment which will facilitate large-scale capital investments in biomass-fired power stations.

Talking about private partnership in the sector, the minister said, “Only private partnership works here as all these works are to be done by private (firms) only…government is merely the facilitator. We can give them assistance but we feel that private work is better.”

In global renewable energy space, bio-energy is gaining more and more importance amongst other options. Acceptance of bio-energy for its benefits while addressing India’s climate change and energy security concerns is also on the rise.

The degree of emission reduction that can be achieved through the use of bio-energy varies widely, depending on choices made at each step from feedstock selection and production through final use.

The minister admitted that collecting the right mix of raw materials for bio-mass projects was a challenge.