Indian Oil forms JVs for CBG projects in India

State-owned energy company Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) has formed two joint ventures to develop compressed biogas (CBG) projects in India, the company announced on September 29.

The first 50:50 joint venture is with Gurugram-based EverEnviro Resource Management while the second 50:50 joint venture is with Bengaluru-based GPS Renewables. Both these joint ventures need approval from various government bodies, IOCL said.

CBG is a renewable fuel that is produced from the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter. It is a clean and green fuel that can be used in a variety of applications, including transportation, cooking, and electricity generation.

The Indian government believes that there is ample potential to set up biogas plants in India considering the livestock population of 535.78mn, which includes about 302mn total population of bovines comprising cattle, buffalo, Drung ox, and yak.

Biogas contains about 55-65% methane, 35-44% carbon dioxide, and traces of other gases. Biogas, in its raw form, that is without any purification, can be used as clean cooking fuel replacing liquefied petroleum gas, lighting, motive power, and generation of electricity. It can be used in diesel engines to substitute diesel up to 80% and up to 100% replacement of diesel by using 100% biogas engines. Further, biogas can be purified and upgraded up to 98% purity of methane content to make it suitable to be used as a green and clean fuel for transportation or filling in cylinders at high pressure of 250 bar.