Biogas

Indian Economy glossary

Also called: Gobar gas · Topic: Environment and Sustainable Development · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 7 "Environment and Sustainable Development"

Meaning

Biogas, or gobar gas, is a fuel gas made mostly of methane. It is produced in a biogas plant, where cattle dung and other organic waste break down without air (anaerobic digestion). It gives rural homes clean cooking fuel. That reduces fuelwood cutting and smoke inside the house. The leftover slurry is a very good organic fertiliser and soil conditioner, so the dung is not wasted.

Example

Burning dung cakes directly gives smoky fuel and destroys the dung's value as fertiliser. A family biogas plant gives both clean gas and fertiliser. NCERT notes that plants were spread through easy loans and subsidies. GOBARdhan (2018) and SATAT (2018) now scale this up to compressed biogas.

Don't confuse with

  • CNG (compressed natural gas): this is a fossil fuel taken from underground reserves. Biogas is renewable and made from organic waste.
  • LPG: this is a petroleum-based cooking gas, supported through schemes like PM Ujjwala Yojana, and it is not made from farm waste.

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