1 Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Longowal (Sangrur), Punjab.
2 School of Energy Studies for Agriculture, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab.
3 Mechanical Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, Haryana.
A method is presented, which estimates the potential of agricultural residues from crop production. The total amount of unused agricultural residues in Punjab is about 13.73 million-tonne/year, which if completely exploited through direct combustion or gasification, can contribute as much as 15% to the current state electricity needs. Based on the residue production ratios, the production of different agricultural residues has been worked out and divided into four main categories such as Residue Straw (A1), Stalks (A2), Sugarcane Bagasse and Tops & Leaves (A3), Maize Cobs & Shells (A4). It has been observed that Al is about 74.81% of total crop residues producedfrom Straws in the state of Punjab. The remaining A2, A3 and A4 are 8.24%, 6.89% and 10% respectively. The total potential of energy availability from unused agricultural residues is about 39.75*10/15 J, which is 15–20% of the total primary energy.
Agricultural Residues, Biomass Availability, Spatial Energy Potential and Biomass Potential
