Enabling Rural Economy in India to Partially Substitute Petroleum Products by Methanol—Technology Solutions and Policy Support

An estimate of the energy for cooking and transportation needs of rural India is made, and it is established how there would be a serious pressure on imports if such needs are attempted to be served using only conventional petro-products. Methanol derived from biomass could be one way to partially substitute the petro-products in rural areas. While there is a need to step up efforts for indigenous technology, especially for the gasification of such biomass, it is argued that it is more important to formulate a consistent policy to support both the technology development and its market adoption. A road map to set up modular bagasse-based gasification cum methanol plants in a distributed manner across the country is described. In order to make these plants commercially viable, policy support in terms of initial capital subsidy and an administrative pricing mechanism is suggested.