: Punjab unveils ambigious plan to go carbon neutral, conserve energy #IndiaNEWS #Education <br>Of this, 1,493. 95 MW capacity solar plants have been installed. Besides, 462. 07 MW co-generation

Punjab unveils ambigious plan to go carbon neutral, conserve energy #IndiaNEWS #Education
<br>Of this, 1,493. 95 MW capacity solar plants have been installed.
Besides, 462. 07 MW co-generation power plants, 91. 5 MW biomass power projects, 175. 35 MW mini-hydel projects and 1. 5 MW waste-to-energy projects have been installed.
These facts came to light in the Governors address in the legislative assembly on Friday.
The state is aggressively pursuing the development of compressed bio-gas (CBG) projects that are utilising surplus paddy straw to the tune of 16. 54 million tons per annum.
A total of 43 CBG projects having a total capacity of 495. 58 tons per day based on paddy straw and other agro-residues have been allotted. They aim for a sustainable solution to prevent stubble burning smog, which blankets the entire northern belt of India, comprising Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Chandigarh, in October-November.
Asias largest CBG plant was inaugurated in October last year by Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann at Bhuttal Kalan village in Sangrur.
Agriculture is an important sector of the states economy. Punjab, the grain kitty of India, ensures food security of the nation. Its contribution to the central pool in 2022-23 was 51 per cent wheat and 25 per cent paddy.
As per official figures, 15,820 solar pumps, 103,329 solar streetlights in villages and 178,000 family-size biogas plants have been installed.
As per Governor Banwarilal Purohits speech, the state is planning to increase renewable energy to 50 per cent of the installed capacity by 2030 in line with the national agenda for clean-energy sources.
The state annually produces 20 million tonnes paddy straw.
To provide a much-needed alternative to stubble burning, Asias largest CBG facility has been commissioned with a foreign direct investment of approximately Rs 220 crore by Germanys leading bio-energy company Verbio AG.
With a total capacity of 33. 23 ton CBG per day, the plant, spread across 20 acres, is consuming 100,000 tonnes of paddy straw that is being procured from within a 10-km radius of the facility.
There is a daily production of around 600-650 tons of fermented organic manure that can be used for organic farming.
The state has constituted a task force to create a mechanism for off-taking of fermented organic manure generated from the CBG projects based on agro-residue.
The Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA), a state nodal agency, has allocated 42 CBG projects, aiming to attract an investment of Rs 1,200 crore, besides generating employment opportunities for over 8000 skilled and unskilled people.
As per government figures, the cases of paddy stubble burning have been reduced to 49,922 in 2022-23 from 71,304 in 2021-22.