The next green
revolution has already happened in the tiny, remote village of
Ranidahra in Chhattisgarh. Pushed to the fringes of our consciousness
and urban initiative, this hamlet in the Bodla block of Kabirdham
district is shining bright. For it has been electrified with bio-fuel,
using jatropha seeds.
This eco-project undertaken by the State Government has been sponsored
by the British High Commission and an NGO, Winrock International India.
“This project was assigned to us by the Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy. We have experimented in some of the remotest villages of
Chhattisgarh over three years to assess how bio-fuels can work for
long-term sustainable models. The greatest challenge was convincing the
people that a plant could generate electricity. They had the
conventional idea of a thermal power grid system as the only model
capable of supplying 24 hours of uninterrupted power. It was a
challenge,” says Prodyut Mukherjee, programme officer, energy and
environment, Winrock International India (WII).
Ranidahra demonstrates the technical and financial viability of running
conventional generators on Jatropha oil instead of diesel. While a
litre of diesel costs around Rs 30, a litre of jatropha oil requires 4
kg seeds, priced at Rs 6.25 a kg. That works to Rs 25 as input cost.
Imbued with a new idea that could transform their dark lives, the
villagers volunteered their services under shramdaan and planted more
than 25,000 Jatropha saplings.
Since project officials did not want to interfere with the food
security system, the saplings were planted along roadsides and farm
boundaries but not on farmlands. Even waste lands were not spared. The
village comprises 110 households and has a population of 600. “We
collected the seeds and put them into a standard oil expeller. Once the
oil was extracted, it was directly poured into the generators. The
power plant was commissioned on April 9, 2007 and it has been running
successfully since. The Government has been working on many plans but
this is the one that has worked out,” says Mukherjee.
Concurs S K Shukla, executive director, Chhattisgarh Biofuel
Development Authority. “I am glad that a breakthrough has happened in
Chhattisgarh. This plant was started in 2006. We had submitted a
detailed project report to the State Government which then invited the
private sector to help out and accelerate the development process. We
are now planning to cover 26 villages in Korba district under the
National Thermal Power Corporation. This includes areas adjoining
Ranidahra. Right now we ensure three-and-a-half hours of continuous
power to households and five hours for streetlights. That will go up
once we increase plantation sizes.”
With the existing plantations at 10 hectares, the team has come up with
three generators of 3.5 KVA with a back-up generation capacity of 7.5
KVA. “We have managed the distribution patterns so that they can
benefit the villagers in terms of their productivity. The streetlights
work from 7 pm to midnight and the households consume power from 6 pm
to 9:30 pm. Once we have enough plantations, 24-hour power supply is an
absolute possibility,” assures Mukherjee.
Villagers are happy. Punia Bai, who was here as a test case of how
bio-fuels can change lives, says, “My children can now study after
sunset. You cannot imagine the boon time. It is now safe to move around
in the village as there are streetlights.”
The State Government has woken up to the advatages of bio-fuels and is
leaving no stone unturned to extend help. Shukla says, “We have made a
beginning. We welcome franchisees and private sector to operationalise
similar projects.”
The project has also trained villagers in basic safety rules while
working around jatropha plantations. “These plants are not edible, so
they should not be mixed with other vegetation,” he adds.
The good part is that it works. You can also use jatropha oil in your
vehicle. The project has in no small part been aided by the fact that
these villages are nearer the forest, so earmarking land for jatropha
plantations was easy. But the State Government is also working on
jatropha oil substitues like Pongamia, another bio-diesel and sweet
Sorghum, which yields ethanol.
Being a sub-tropical country, India can grow oil-bearing seeds for
bio-fuels. Of 1,25,000 un-electrified villages in India, 25,000 are
considered remote. The Central Government promises 100 per cent
electrification of rural households by 2012.
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