India is the second largest producer and consumer of Coal in the world. India consumes over 1 billion MT of coal every year including 200 million MT of imported coal.
Coal burning in India produced 1.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in 2021. India is looking to cut down 1 billion tons in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by 2030 and become “net zero” by 2070. It is very much important to reduce our dependence on coal, while securing our energy needs, to achieve these milestones.
The available biomass in India currently stands at 750 million metric tonnes (MMT)/year with surplus biomass availability of 230 MMT/year. Biomass provides 32% of all the primary energy use in the country at present. Some of the surplus biomass in converted for energy & other purposes while most of the biomass is burned in fields ,resulting in emission in excess of 1.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂).
This excess biomass is an important raw material for manufacturing bio-fuels such as Pellets, briquettes, Bio-CNG, Bio-ethanol etc…
By converting surplus biomass into biofuels we can prevent environmental pollution and reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions caused either by burning or decay of biomass in in fields or landfills as well as by replacing coal we also eliminate pollutants like CO2, SOx, NOx caused by burning coal

India has about 160 million hectares of land under agriculture and more than 55 million hectares are considered “Waste Lands” a significant part of it of which can be restored using advanced agricultural practices.
Unused land as well as restored waste lands can be used to grow biomass through high yielding energy crops such as Trees, Bamboo, grasses to produce raw material for bio-fuels.
Close 2-2.5 million hectares (approx.) of energy plantations are required to completely phase out coal usage. if only a 5% of waste lands can be converted into energy plantations we can meet our target of phasing out coal. Moreover, most of these crops help in phytoremediation and over the period of time make the land suitable for other crops to grow.
These crops are carbon negative crops where most of the carbon captured released by burning them as bio-fuel is absorbed and some percentage is being stored as soil carbon.

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is the process of extracting bioenergy from biomass and capturing and storing the carbon, thereby removing it from the atmosphere. BECCS has been considered a revolutionary concept and the most effective, economical and natural way for carbon capture and sequestration . Energy (“bioenergy”) is extracted in useful forms (electricity, heat, biofuels, etc.) as the biomass is utilized through combustion, fermentation, pyrolysis or other conversion methods.
Using Solar/Wind for coal substitution is not a complete Solution!
The major disadvantages of solar and wind are that they are variable and intermittent sources of energy. The amount of electricity produced varies by the season and fluctuates minute to minute. Battery Storage can be a solution but it is high investment and storage costs generally overtakes generation costs. Disposal of Batteries pose a significant risks related to Ecotoxicity & Water pollution.
Large Solar farms are also reported to have adverse environmental effects, including habitat degradation and harm to wildlife. Industrial heating applications which require 24*7 constant supply can not rely on fluctuating power.