ENERGY  ALTERNATIVES: RENEWABLE
ENERGY AND ENERGY CONSERVATION
TECHNOLOGIES



Energy Plantations

  Technically speaking, energy plantation means  growing select 
  species  of  trees  and  shrubs  which  are  harvestable in a 
  comparably  shorter time and are  specifically meant for fuel. 
  The  fuel  wood  may be used either  directly in wood burning 
  stoves  and  boilers  or processed into methanol, ethanol and 
  producer  gas. These plantations help provide wood either for 
  cooking  in  homes  or for  industrial  use, so as to satisfy 
  local  energy  needs  in  a  decentralised manner. The energy 
  plantations  provide  almost  inexhaustible renewable sources 
  (with  total time  constant of  3-8 years only for each cycle) 
  of  energy  which  are  essentially  local and independent of 
  unreliable  and  finite  sources  of  fuel .  The  attractive 
  features of energy plantations are:  (a) heat content of wood 
  is similar to that of Indian coal, (b) wood is low in sulphur 
  and  not likely to pollute the atmosphere, (c) ash from burnt 
  wood is a  valuable  fertiliser, (d)  utilisation of  erosion 
  prone land for raising these plantations helps to reduce wind 
  and water  erosion, thereby  minimising  hazards  from floods, 
  siltation, and loss of nitrogen and minerals from soil and (e) 
  help in rural employment generation - it is estimated that an 
  hectare  of  energy  plantation  is  estimated   to   provide 
  employment for at least seven persons regularly. Selection of 
  multipurpose  species  provides a  number of by-products like 
  oils, organic  compounds, fruits, edible  leaves, forage  for 
  livestock ,  etc .  Data  collected  from  Forest  Department  
  reveals that annual  woody biomass  available is in the range 
  11.9  to  21 t/ha/yr.  An  energy  forest  raised  at Hosalli 
  village  in  Tumkur district to support a wood gasifier plant 
  has annual yield of 6 t/ha/yr.