India Biogas Cookstove

The project aims to replace the commonly used, inefficient wood-fired mud stove technology with clean, sustainable biogas-based cook stoves. It involves bundling household biogas plants located in the state of Punjab, India. Each household will utilise the dung of its cows to feed the digester for the production of biogas for domestic purposes. The generated biogas from the biodigesters will be used for cooking and other thermal energy needs in households.

The baseline scenario was entirely reliant on firewood as the primary fuel used to meet domestic energy needs, especially for cooking. This firewood was typically sourced from nearby forests and the open market. However, the use of firewood, considered an inefficient cooking system (conventional system), resulted in indoor pollution and inhalation of fumes. Additionally, there has been a concerning trend of decreasing forest land cover and an increase in degraded land, with forests being transformed into open scrublands. This degradation of forest lands has exacerbated the already existing problem of desertification. It has become imperative to maintain adequate forest cover in the state to mitigate the effects of climate change.

This thermal energy generated from the project activity replaces an equal amount of thermal energy that would otherwise have been supplied from wood biomass (firewood)-based stove technology. Consequently, the project activity replaces firewood for equal thermal energy needs, thereby reducing harmful greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Residues from the biodigesters are repurposed as organic fertilisers in the local community's garden areas and fields