27 October 2022: BiofuelCircle, India’s first online marketplace for biomass and biofuels, has embarked on an ambitious project to establish 20 Biomass Banks at select locations across Maharashtra.
Biomass Bank, a digitally enabled rural business concept, facilitates biomass collection, aggregation, transport, and processing for green energy using BiofuelCircle’s digital platform.
The project has BAIF Agro and Bio-Technology Private Limited, as rural implementation partner, under the guidance of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
The first phase of the project includes Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and Self-Help Groups (SHGs) spread across Amravati, Hingoli, Pune (Ambegaon) and Osmanabad Districts.
Biomass Banks, set up by these FPOs and SHGs will digitally connect farmers and drive collection of agricultural waste from the upcoming harvest season. BiofuelCircle marketplace will further provide market connect and services for end-use of the aggregated residue as industrial fuel.
Sharing his views on the initiative Suhas Baxi, Co-Founder and CEO, BiofuelCircle said “BiofuelCircle’s three-sided marketplace model is designed to drive wide scale rural participation. We aim to address the challenges around bioenergy supply chain and make a positive impact on the environment and the rural community by providing economic value, clean energy and increased rural job opportunities.”
This phase of the project aims to create market linkage for 15,000+ farmers and provide a sustained method for evacuating 100,000 MT Agri-residue biomass annually and create additional rural income of Rs 15 Crores.
Adding to this Mr. Shrinivas Kulkarni, Director, BAIF Agro and Bio Technology said “We work with the farmers at the grass-root level. Dealing with the crop residue is an issue. Its evacuation itself costs money. While burning it down may appear to be the easiest way, it’s not in the best interest of the farmer since it reduces soil nutrients. Biomass Bank is an encouraging move towards simplifying the “farm to industry connect” and helping meet the country’s energy needs with biomass and at the same time benefiting even the smallest farmer. Rural enterprise model generates more rural jobs and provides an additional source of income to the farmers.”
Furthermore, this initiative is a significant step in contributing towards climate change by ensuring sustainability and efficient waste management.
