Published by :Decentralised Energy Systems India Private Ltd.(DESI Power) Banglore.India.

With financial support from :FREND (Fund for Renewable Energy – Decentralised), Seuzach. Switzerland.Volkart Stiftung, Winterthur. Switzerland.

Photographs by Mark Edwards and Hari Sharan

Copyrights:Photographs of Mark Edwards : Mark EdwardsAll other material : The Publishers

People, Biomass and Power

1

People and biomass have been inter-linked from the beginning of life on this planet. Today, even

after industrialisation has taken over human life, biomass – from forests, grasslands, fruit trees,

agriculture – remains the lifeline of the poor, providing them with bare necessities for survival -

food, fodder, fuel and shelter.

Energy for sustenance – for the processing of agricultural produce, cooking, warmth – was

traditionally provided by biomass and direct solar energy till the advent of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels

brought about industrialisation and still continue to drive it. But their reserves are limited and their

emissions have accelerated the process of global warming which, if allowed to proceed

unchecked, is likely to upset the balance of nature and lead to climate change.

Fossil fuels have driven industrialisation but their advantages have still not reached hundreds of

millions of villagers in developing countries. Now it is predicted that fossil fuels will become as rare

as Royal Bengal Tigers within the next few generations, without ever having touched the lives of

millions, who will continue to live in an endemic state of powerless poverty unless the trend of the

last five decades is reversed.

This book tells the story of the people of a village who, using their own biomass and modern

technologies, produce electrical power, create energy services and create jobs. They thus change

their own lives without making use of fossil fuels, neither creating pollution nor contributing to

global warming and the resulting risk of climate change.

Is this story just an example of how to solve the problems of one village or does it demonstrate that

the Gandhian vision of a decentralised rural economy -based on renewable energy and local value

addition- can be a large scale solution? Can a large number of such sustainable villages put a

brake on the headlong rush of a centralised political economy which has kept large sections of the

population in poverty and thus created horrendous social problems? Does the story make one long

for a mix of centralised and decentralised economic and energy systems which would eradicate

poverty while balancing the demands of economics, social progress and ecological survival for this

and the coming generations?

Only time will tell. At this time the least we can do is to help build more and more such projects in

villages in all parts of india. This may or may not change the entire development paradigm, but will

certainly change for the better the lives of the people who live in these villages.

Baharbari is a village in the midst of fertile land with no shortage of water. Located fairly near the

foot hills of the Himalayas, it lies in the Kosi river belt. The entire region is fed by hundreds of large and small tributaries of Kosi, all of which join and swell to one oceanic flood during the monsoon season, putting an annual full stop to all activities in villages like Baharbari for nearly three months.

The Village

This photograph was taken in the month of May which is normally hot and dry. Baharbari is lucky to have most of the houses situated on high grounds and it is seldom that many of these are flooded. The paths are always rutted and during the rainy season they become muddy, slippery and hardly passable.

This little stream called “Das” looks idyllic and placid now but its face changes beyond recognition during the monsoon season! The villagers have heard about the risk of climate change, do not understand its chemistry but wonder nonetheless about how it will affect the rains and floods in their region.

2

The Village

Baharbari is one of the thousands of villages left behind in the race for a decent human life. It has only dirt

tracks in the village and between it and neighbouring villages, and no hard surface roads connect it to the national highway 5 kilometres away. It was once declared electrified but a rusting transformer and bare electric poles are the reminders of a dismal failure. Similarly during one of the national missions a radio-telephone station was approved for the village but a bare tower and an empty building are the only remnants of yet another failed promise of development.

3

About 250 families, a total of about 1200 people live in this village now. The majority of them are small farmers and landless labourers. Most of the families cannot survive on farming or the irregular local farm jobs. Young men have therefore become rare in the village.They go to work outside Bihar and support their families on the savings they make by living in slum conditions. People in the village claim that none of their family members contribute to the social and health problems attributed to migrant workers in the cities. I know and they know that this is not true but what alternative do they have ? What will be clear from our story is that the people of Baharbari are hardworking and clever but remain poor in the midst of plentiful local resources.

The Village

The main crops of Baharbari used to be paddy and jute. Jute is fighting a losing battle against plastics and is no

longer an economically viable crop. The green revolution brought wheat whose water needs cannot always be met on time by the seasonal rains. The richer farmers can run diesel engines but for smaller farmers irrigation water is a luxury. As a result, an ever decreasing part of the increasing population can today depend on agriculture for its livelihood and most of the families suffer from chronic underemployment.

4

The lovely yellow-green paddy saplings are nurtured all along the riverside before the monsoon and are transplanted in water sodden fields after the rains.

Apart from paddy, wheat and jute, small amounts of mustard and lentils are also grown in Baharbari. Growing vegetables for sale is not common.

The Village

Ponds are traditionally found in most of the villages in this region. They belong to rich families and bring rich

dividends from the sale of fish. The villagers wash themselves, their clothes and their cattle in these waters. Many of their health problems result from contaminated water and a lack of hygienic facilities.

5

A woman’s working life starts at a very early age. Little Purni struggles to pump clean water for her family. Domestic water is the responsibility of the women, as is fuel for cooking. But in the poorer families they must also work as daily wage earners when they can find a job.

The Village

6

Cooking as well as boiling and drying of

paddy for making rice or rice flakes are done with agricultural residues and cow dung cakes.

Women burn the fuels at very low efficiencies. The traditional “chulahs” (cooking stoves) also produce a lot of smoke which make the village women asthmatic at an early age.

This grandma is lucky because this day she did not have to travel too far for the jute stalks and straw she has collected and is now carrying home.

The cow dung cakes drying on the wall of this traditionally built bamboo and thatch house is made by mixing cow dung with straw and other residues and dried in the sun.

Even today, cow dung cakes provide a bigger percentage of India’s energy needs than its nuclear power stations.

The Village

7

The responsibility for providing household cooking fuel including the making of cow dung cakes is one reason

amongst many others why young girls do not go to school. Other chores of the girls and women are to bring water, collect other fuels, light the lamps, look after the siblings and help in the household.

Sarita is the “Bahu” (daughter-in-law) of a well to do family and uses similar fuels in her kitchen as the poor grandma below. Affluence is indicated by her clothes, the utensils, the food being cooked and the grain storage silos.

Watched by her grandchildren, Dilya Devi cooks in the open air in her courtyard. Moving on from mud utensils to metalware comes with increasing family income.

The Village

8

Paddy is the main crop of the village. It is boiled, dried and pounded to separate the husk and make rice.

Different sizes of stoves, fired by agro-residues such as rice husk, jute stalks, straw and cow dung cake, are used for agro-processing.

Processing paddy when done at home is also a woman’s job. Rice is heated and pounded to make rice flakes called “Chura”.

Baharbari is famous for its traditionally hand-pounded fine “Chura” which fetches a premium price in nearby markets.

Mamta, on the left, and her friend are pounding rice, with smoking stoves at the back of the court yard.

The Village

A women’s work is never done, not if you live in Baharbari, no matter how old or how young you are.

9

Her family told me that little Puja was just playing at cleaning the kitchen utensils! But in her “playful way”, she helps her overworked mother every day, just like other girls of all ages in the village.

It is a hot summer morning and Rinki, who like all elder siblings looks after the younger ones, is coaxing her brother to eat his breakfast of rice and daal.

The Village

It seemed to me that in the sharing of household work, a much bigger share is taken by young girls and women

who always seem to carry heavy loads of food, fuel and water on their heads.

A grandmother and a granddaughter share the family load and carry rice for husking and wheat for milling, making a round trip of perhaps 10 km.

Farouk too walked kilometres with his sister Shabnam, who carried the bag of paddy to be husked and is now going back with the rice.

10

The Village

11

Most of the houses in Baharbari are made of bamboo walls with mud plaster and thatch roofs. The men build

the walls and the roofs and the women and girls plaster them with mud mixed with straw and husk.

Usha, who is certainly not older than thirteen, is plastering and beautifying her house a few days before her own wedding.

As opposed to chores for managing domestic life, which fall mainly on women, both men and women do their share of field work. Gayatri Devi and her veiled friend are weeding a jute field. Tender jute leaves are also eaten as a vegetable.

The Village

12

Weddings in Baharbari, as in most of India, seem to defy modern rationality. The poorest of the poor take

loans at exorbitant rates to pay dowry to get their underage daughters illegally married. In a not so unusual case, I was told that the rate of interest was 10% per month on the original amount till the entire amount was repaid. In the past, it led to lifelong bonded labourdom.

Aarti was about thirteen years old when she was married. This photo was taken two days after her wedding, when she had returned from her husband’s village place. She will live at her parents place for a year or two.

Aarti in her wedding finery with her harassed mother at about midnight, a little before the auspicious time when she got married.

The Village

Aarti with her new husband after the

wedding ceremony. The red vermilion in the parting of her hair is the sign of a married woman.

The house and courtyard were packed with wedding guests. The women sat on the verandas and sang traditional wedding songs while a battery-operated loudspeaker outside belted out film songs.

All the walls were decorated with paintings. The father spent 25,000 Rupees but the groom did not get a car as a dowry.

13

The Changes

14

For many years, the people of Baharbari heard about biomass, biogas and solar lights but as in most Bihar

villages, nothing ever happened, till 19 villages formed an industrial and job creation co-operative called BOVS, its Hindi acronym.

It took them a few years to register the co-operative and some more time to finalise the programme. The process of consultation and interaction within the village was very intense during this period. The villagers were very sceptical about the plans of BOVS. They had all heard promises made at election times and during the rare visits of ministers and politicians, but few of the schemes for rural development had materialised.

Why should it be different this time, they asked.

DESI Power’s people spent many days in the village, learning, explaining and discussing every possible aspect of the new concept of an energy-driven and self-managed village. This was their first real village project and they knew little about the dynamics of village life. For the villagers, this was not the first time that the promise of change was being “sold” to them.

They were wary of the demands that such a project might make on their slender resources. They were sceptical about the reliability of the technology and who would mend the machines and pay for it. They were not at all sure about our commitment to stay the course. Their questions were as pertinent and hard as any that I have heard from educated and city audiences. Women participated in many such meetings.

The Changes

15

The project in Baharbari is based on DESI Power’s concept of using locally generated electricity supply and

energy services using renewable energy resources to run micro-enterprises which do local value addition and provide jobs in villages. The power plant, energy services such as water pumping and battery charging, and the first phase of micro enterprises were built simultaneously. The generating capacity and the micro-enterprises have since been augmented and battery operated domestic lighting systems are being tested. The power plant belongs to DESI Power and the micro-enterprises to BOVS. But all the plants are operated and managed by BOVS with support services provided by DESI Power. It is planned to transfer the power plant to BOVS within a short period.

The Framework of Village EmPower Partnership© Project in Baharbari

Finance: BOVS, DESI Power, FREND.Grants from the Dutch G o v e r n m e n t , W W F , Summit Foundation andS h e l l F o u n d a t i o n

BOVSSS LTD.

Employment and for Village Development

Power Partnership [EmPower Partnership©]

Stand-alone Power PlantBased on Biomass Gasification

Village Enterprises Cluster Centre

Provides Electricity and Energy Services

Project Development and Packaging. Continuing Extens ion Serv ices, and Performance Audit. Training and Refresher Courses

Paddy processing, Chura, Wheat milling, Water supply, Battery charging, Briquetting, Pond and fishery, Energy plants, domestic lighting.

Economic, Social and Financial ResultsThe Village

* Regular employment (especially for women) * Higher farm output * Better produce prices* Better women’s health * Profitable businesses * Women’s self-help group * Capacity to undertake local social initiatives

Decentralised Rural Power Plants

* Assured electric load and biomass supply * Profitable power plant and energy services* Ultimately extension service fees to run the cluster centres.

The Government

A replicable model for small scale (25 – 100 kWe) decentralised (off-grid) power supply and energy services for remote areas * Reduced power and financial losses in rural power grids * Less budgetary support needed for rural power supply * Increased rural productivity * Lower migration to cities.

*

The Environment

* Lower local pollution * Lower CO2 emission * Lower energy losses * Saving of non-renewable energy resources * Productive and efficient use of waste products.

Increased Sustainability: Local and Global

The Changes

16

The power plant and small scale industries started operating nearly three years ago but it is only now, after

Shell Foundation decided to support us, that the critical mass of business units could become operational. Parts of the grants are considered as loans from a revolving fund and BOVS expects to start servicing the loans and making a profit from next year.

A biomass gasifier, two dual fuel engines, a briquetting machine, a rice huller, a flower mill, a battery charging station, six water pumps, domestic battery lights and a fish pond are parts of the EmPower Partnership project.

The plant has become the center of village life. Irrigation water flows through small channels to the fields, from a pump at the station shown here and from other pumps distributed far from the plant in the midst of the fields all round the village. Fair sharing of the opportunities created is one of the key reasons for BOVS’ success. People from Baharbari and neighbouring villages drop in even when they have no work there, just to get together, watch and chat.

The Changes

17

The IISc – Netpro gasifier which converts biomass into a combustible gas is the world’s leading and the most

successful technology in its range. It runs with high reliability and ease of operation on multiple fuels: e.g., in Baharbari on rice husk briquettes, “Ipomea” and “Dincha” stalks. Operation, maintenance and management is done by locally trained staff.

Ipomea is a weed which grows almost everywhere in India and on which DESI Power’s Orchha plant has run for over 18,000 hours. In Baharbari, it is now being planted in ditches and along the riverside and is sold to the power station to supplement the rice husk. In addition, “Dincha”, an annual plant similar to jute which is losing markets to plastics, is being planted in the fields where jute used to be grown earlier. Both these species are flood resistant but “Dincha” has a thicker stem and is better suited for gasifiers. Agro and energy forestry will bring additional income to the growers and the cutters in the village.

BOVS is also working with the farmers to start energy plantations with other suitable plants on lands not being used for farming. Growing non-edible oil seeds such as Castor which used to be grown earlier but no longer has a market is being examined by the villagers from the points of view of land usage and profitability. Castor oil can be a fuel source for running small mobile diesel pumps.

Poor Baharbari is in a way lucky compared to many other poor villages. DESI Power’s experience in three regions of India show that resource rich areas such as Baharbari which have fertile lands and adequate ground water due to monsoon rains offer the best conditions for the success of EmPower Partnership Projects. Villages in these regions can start showing positive results within three to four years of starting a project. How to find the investment capital to make such a start is, of course, another story.

The Changes

18

Rice husk generated in BOVS’ own rice hulling plant and purchased from farmers, is briquetted and fired in the

gasifier.

The briquetting machine provides employment to 2 - 3 persons.

The briquettes have also been tested in small stoves and are an excellent substitute for coal and firewood.

BOVS is now preparing to become a fuel supplier to neighbouring villages and thus create a new source of income for itself and at the same time help to reduce pollution and CO2 emissions.

The Changes

19

The producer gas generated by the gasifier is fed to a dual fuel engine where it substitutes 75% of the diesel

and generates electricity. Pure producer gas engines which do not use any fossil fuels and produce cheaper electricity have already been tested in the Bangalore plant of DESI Power. One of them is being installed in DESI Power Orchha and it is planned to install one also in Baharbari.

The power generated by the engine is used by the enterprises of BOVS and for energy services such as pumping and selling water, and charging customers’ batteries. Setting up a computer centre is next on the list.

The power plant is run by three local boys trained by Shiv Kumar, DESI Power’s expert (on the left). Sakur (next to Shivkumar) is a graduate and was trained in Bangalore and on site together with Bipin, on the right, who finished high school and was also trained in Bangalore. Akhilesh who is being trained to be an operator is the son of a local farmer and even though he has not finished high school, he shows excellent promise as an operator.

The Changes

20

The rice mill requires boiled and dried paddy which is prepared in this outdoor plant. A home made steam

boiler, soaking pits and boiling drums are used in this processing plant. The boiled paddy is dried in the sun before being husked.

Shramila, the “fireman” here is a handicapped girl crippled by polio who was earlier dependent on her family for her sustenance. She now has a regular job and a self-supporting life. She never seems to tire and when the boiler is not working, she takes on any other job that needs doing. No wonder BOVS is so successful.

The steam will very soon be produced largely with the waste heat from the diesel engine, saving rice husk which can be briquetted and either used in the gasifier or sold as fuel in neighbouring villages.

BOVS built this boiler very cheaply. Producing steam in this boiler by burning rice husk is neither cheap nor economical.

The Changes

21

Paddy is being husked in this low cost rice huller

installed at the start of the project. BOVS runs a larger rice mill now, both for customers who bring their own paddy and for BOVS which runs a rice trading business. The rice processing is done by a team of 5 people: two men and three women.

All the workers in the plant carry out multiple jobs and are never short of work. As shown earlier, the husk is subsequently briquetted and sold to the power plant and to other fuel users.

The women crew: from left to right: Shila, Shramila(BOVS “fireman”) and Shanti, the wife of a landless labourer who also works part time for BOVS.

Shila is the mother of Usha, the young girl pictured on page 11. Shila’s husband Duvall is a landless labourer and one of her other daughters (married but still living with her parents) is a folk wall-painter.

Shila appears to be a multi-tasker par excellence and is normally quite articulate. But when I asked her why she had married Usha at such an young age, she was quite evasive.

Looking at the two young marriages in the village, I get the feeling that passing on the responsibility of a young girl to her “ultimate” family may be the main reason for the hurry. In harsh contrast to the future of her daughters, Shila’s young son has been put under the tutelage of a friendly family in

.the district town 20 km away so that “he gets educated and does not end up with a life like ours”.

The Changes

22

Six pumps located in different parts of the village ensure that farmers have an assured supply of irrigation

water at the right times. Farmers pay by the hour and arrange with BOVS when they want the water supply. Many of them get credit and pay only after the harvest is in. Collecting the dues is, I am told, relatively hassle free.

Modern, efficient and healthy cooking energy solutions are being demonstrated in the village and the women’s group is engaged in planning for their large-scale usage.

After thirty years in the renewable energy field I am still baffled by the lack of success of modern solutions for non-fossil cooking in villages. In spite of national and international programmes and campaigns, neither energy efficient stoves nor solar cookers have made a real break through except in very limited pockets. I am now waiting for BOVS’ experience. It will manufacture and sell stoves and the fuels for them. It also plans to assemble and sell or lease solar cookers of those types for which demands emerge.

The Changes

23

Batteries are a source of energy for villages.

On dark nights, kerosene lamps, lanterns and torches are the sources of light and are sparsely used. Even the poorest family keeps a torch. The migrant workers bring radios and TVs to their villages. These gadgets are run by lead acid batteries which are carried for miles on shoulders, bullock carts or bicycles to berecharged at the nearest available diesel generator.

Charging batteries is a part of the energy services provided by BOVS and is quite profitable.

BOVS has set up a battery charging station for a variety of batteries. It has completed its plans to introduce battery operated domestic lights which will run for 2 to 5 hours after being charged daily in the power plant.

Financing is also being sought for introducing rechargeable batteries for torches. They will either be sold outright or on a monthly payment basis. PV lamps are also being made available for the more affluent.

The EmPowerment

24

Even though BOVS has only a small part of the villagers as shareholders and members, the entire village has

been involved in the project from the very beginning. The political balance has gradually shifted and the old feudal control of the village is now gone. How far and how soon can the village-level democracy influence decision making at the district and state levels still remains to be seen.

Ramprasad (left), is the head of a “Harijan” (untouchable) family which is no longer as untouchable as tradition used to demand. He is, in fact, a Director of BOVS.

Women are now active in village life. BOVS has women members and a woman director. The village women have formed their own active organisation called “Sakhi Saheli” (Friends and Companions) where both the rich and the poor are represented. A small self-help fund has been created to give emergency loans to the women. How to ensure the education of the girls and find jobs for them is high on the agenda of Sakhi Saheli.

The EmPowerment

25

The functioning of the school has improved

for which I do not think BOVS can take direct credit ! Not so many years ago, I once told the headmaster that the government school was nothing more than a political alibi and a disgrace to the village. Today, notwithstanding the dilapidated school rooms and the lack of facilities, devoted teachers are guiding many village children to the secondary stage. Sadly, not many girls stay beyond 10 – 12 years of age but I find that more and more boys go on to high schools in neighbouring towns.

School children are gathered here to receive prizes for a painting competition organised by “Sakhi Saheli” and BOVS. Now the teachers are very keen to have a small computer centre at the school and BOVS has promised to set-up one.

Mamta (right) is an exception. A bright young activist, she finished her schooling and supported by her father, started providing a very basic primary health service to the villagers. She also teaches in the school and has been earmarked to run the health centre that “Sakhi Saheli” plans to build in the village after her training is completed. She is, however, married and whether she can stay on in Baharbari and continue with her work is uncertain.

The EmPowerment

26

BOVS runs a comfortable guest house and many visitors come to Baharbari now. Some come to look at the

concept in practice, some to see and learn, some to see and support and some to stay for a while and work there.

BOVS manages all the activities of the EmPower Partnership project: technical and managerial tasks as well as social interactions. It stays active without getting involved in party, caste and religious politics. Together with Sakhi Saheli it has become the spearhead of village development in this Panchayat (the smallest elected administrative unit in the Indian democratic system).

DESI Power will continue to provide continuing extension services to BOVS and other village organisations which start EmPower Partnership Projects. Its engineers visit Baharbari regularly to give technical and managerial support and provide refresher courses.

The technical and financial data management is computerised. The economy of Baharbari has grown since BOVS started its activities. 22 people have regular jobs in the power plant, in micro-enterprises and in providing energy services. Regular water supply has increased the farm output and the sale of agro-fuel has created new sources of income. Life will be a bit more comfortable for the villagers when the planned domestic light service becomes operational. The projected profitability of Baharbari EmPP Project Based on the current investments in business units (BUs) and the Power Plant (PP) is given in the following table.

Total Investment for BUs (Considered as bank loan) Rs 1143714

Interest rate Capital repayment period Capital service Capital Service, BU

%/Y y%/YRs/y

12.08.020.1230230

Profit, BU (after capital service and overhead costs) Profit as % of capital Profit as %age of income

Rs/y % %

123510113.5

Investment, Power Plant Dividend, Power Plant Dividend, Power Plant

Rs/y % Rs

23263138186105

Profit EmPP (BU+PP) ROI, EmPP (BU+PP)

Rs/y %

3096158.9

A healthy balance sheet of BOVS will accelerate and strengthen the process of empowerment of Baharbari.

Sustainability

27

The objectives of the current batch of EmPP projects such as Baharbari are the following:

DESI Power proposes the use of a “Triple Bottom Line” methodology which should be used for quantifying the economic, social and ecological results of a new project. Investment decisions taken on the basis of a weighted “ Triple Bottom Line“ is much more likely to lead to sustainable projects than the present solely profit-centred criterion. The analysis of Baharbari has not yet been fully quantified but the table below gives preliminary results.

Triple Bottom Line

To demonstrate the reliability and manageability of sustainable energy and other technologies in villages.

To demonstrate that within a framework of financing policies and mechanisms, the investments can be viable.

To show social impacts in terms of new jobs, additional income, jobs for women, improvements in health and other living conditions, capacity building and self-reliance.

To examine the impacts on local pollution and quantify the reduction of green house gas emissions.

A CO2- Neutral Power Plant

Sustainability Criterion

•

•

•

•

If you asked one of the villagers why Baharbari should have its own decentralised power plant, process its

products for its own benefit and local job creation, look after its own water supply and generally be in charge of its own fate, he may not be able to articulate the story as told in this book. But what each of them will forcefully tell you is that they waited in vain for over 50 years for the promise of independence to materialise. Every women will tell you that she is prepared to work as hard as you ask her to, if her children do not grow up to have a life like hers. Every farmer whose field lies in the water supply areas of BOVS will tell you about the times when he used to look in vain at the sky for rains for his wilting crops. The children will tell you how they enjoyed the painting competition last year and look forward to the next one. And at least a few young men will tell you that they no longer go to Punjab every year even though they get a lower salary now.

You will also meet villagers from the neighbouring villages. Why can’t they too have a plant in their own village? In two villages, co-operatives have been formed, the land has been allocated and the plans about what will be done have been finalised, so why does DESI Power not build the next plant?

We show them a project report. We show them a financing plan. We tell them about trying to find funds and to arrange for their equity by selling the CO2 saved. We tell them about a bank in Karnataka which has agreed to give loans to biomass gasification based power plants and about not being able to find a similar bold banker in Bihar.

We tell them that our experience in EmPower Partnership Projects show that decentralised systems work but they need a whole range and variety of technologies that are truly appropriate: reliable, affordable and manageable by local people. How can the small people in villages get them, finance them and be trained to use them? Decentralised solutions are still unbankable – even when they are good for creating jobs, reducing rural emigration and the social chaos of the slums, saving fossil energy, saving pollution, and reducing the risks of climate change. Most of the decision makers consider the risk of losses by decentralised projects as being too high but they never mention the astronomical losses of the centralised power sector over the last 50 years. They talk about the low generation cost of a 500 MW coal fired power plant but they forget about the losses in bringing that power to the consumer and the real cost of electricity at the users end. And the cost of pollution, at the mines, oilfields, refineries, pipelines and in the countryside around the plants, is never an issue in these discussions.

So we must learn not only to design, build, operate and maintain, manage and make profits from small village plants but also learn about ways to persuade, convince and motivate a large number of decision makers and investors who are used to big plants. To achieve that, we must show them a large number of successfully operating EmPower projects.

But right now, can some one tell me how to finance a replication plant in the village next to Baharbari? And how to build a large number of plants to convince the investors?

People, Biomass and Power

28

Biomass Gasifiers of IISC Technologyaround the World

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DESI Power, INDIA139/B, 10th Main, RMV Extension, Bangalore 560080, India Ph : + 91-80-361 3585 / 361 3457; Fax : + 91-80-361 1584 Email : desipower@vsnl.comWebsite : http://www.desipower.com

BOVSS, Village Baharbari, District Araria, Bihar. India

FREND, Fund for Renewable Energy – DecentralisedBirchstrasse 6, 8472 Seuzach.

Switzerland.

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