A Tool for sustainability : a case for biogas in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Sri Lanka at present oscillates between an energy crisis and an economic crisis now entwined as a result of costly private power purchase agreements based on thermal power aggravated by rising fuel prices. The country indeed can claim to be the only country in the region to provide uninterrupted power to the consumer but the situation at present had been realized at an enormous cost. The loss for the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) in the last year had been stated to be Rs. 53 billion, no small amount which could have been well used elsewhere. The power purchases are soft options and at the heart of operations lies the process of generation. On the agriculture front, the government is engaged in a costly subsidy operation with respect to the provision of fertilizer while the responsible scientists lament about the serious degradation in soil quality as provision of soil amendments etc. are not taking place. This is resulting in lower yields but with higher costs of production. There is a serious opportunity for organic matter to be used up in this area. The write up is to be courageous in thinking about bio gas based power generation in a big way while realizing additional benefits which will really give meaning to the statement sustainable processes in national economic management and development. The interest in renewable energy systems is continuing across the globe in all types of economies and Sri Lanka is no exception. However, in the context of Sri Lanka Biogas can said to be the ‘Cinderella’ among all renewable as yet the attention that it justly deserves due to its ‘beautiful potential’ has not materialized. The longer the country delays this the costlier it would be for any implementation. While many express the benefits and the potential of biogas, influential publications in Sri Lanka fails to allocate even up to a paragraph on this versatile technology option. As summarised in Figure 1 from Chanakya (2002) the versatility of biogas stems from its ability to address any emerging issue of the time. The biogas initially appeared in supporting public health in developing economies and quickly migrated to addressing energy security for the poor under the energy crisis of seventies. Today it appears to be a front line option in addressing the threat pose by climate change. Biogas as a combination of methane and carbon dioxide provide a natural gas mix in working to produce nanomaterials in the emerging nanotechnology revolution which in turn will lead to a new material platform (Vamathevan, 2011).Natural gas along with carbon dioxide had been experimented upon by many to realise ‘syngas’ from which various energy and material pathways can be derived and in biogas one realises both together from waste materials by biological action. The captivity by ‘Cinderella’ still eludes the planner and the policy maker.