Bamboo light energy source of Manipur

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Bamboo light : Driving force of energy source of Manipur

By: Irabanta Oinam *

Electric power is a vital component for operating most machines. Not only machine, it also gives happiness in both physical & biological process.

Today without electric power, quality education has no meaning. An example is that there are lots of complains arising from various localities when power is not available during the examination schedule of high & higher secondary schools.

Today a develop country is highly based on fast information and communication. As we come into the era of computer and internet, electricity become an uncompromised essential item of life. The state has limited electrical service, with either part-day operation.

Manipur has vast resources of bamboo. In our State bamboo is under the category of minor forest product. According to State Forest Department, the revenue collected from bamboo resource was only Rs. 3.42 lakhs in the year 2004-05. According to FSI in 1991, total land area covered by bamboo in Manipur is 3691.77 sq.km. It comprises 14 pc of total geographical area of Manipur.

The number of bamboo resource found in Manipur is 114.70 lakh ton-nes. There are many species of bamboo grown in Manipur such as

Longa,
Utang,
Khokwa,
Saneibi,
Maribob,
Laiwa,
Liwa,
Watangkhoi,
Nat,
Unap,
Vee,
Wamu,
Tenwa,
Wak,
Oonal,
Mobiwa etc.

The State has a large population of bamboo. Out of 126 taxa of bamboos reported from India over 53 species are found in Manipur. Bamboo can grow easily in the valley areas as well as on the hill slopes of the state. It is a fast growing, versatile woody grass.

It is an economic resource having immense potential for improving the quality of life of rural/ hill and urban communities with environment regeneration qualities like carbon sequestering. It is grown like any other horticultural crop by tilling the land and is harvested annually, when grown commercially.

The world market for bamboo is valued at US $ 10 billion of which China's share alone is to the tune of 50%. Market for bamboo is expected to reach about US $ 20 billion by 2015. The size of the India bamboo industry is estimated to be about Rs. 6505 crores, which may grow to Rs. 26,000 crores by 2015.

Bamboo flowering is reported in 1954-55 and also in 1974 (source BSI) in Manipur. At present the state has sounded the alarm bell for controlling the rodent population as we have witness bamboo flowering. Bamboo flowering and eventual death of the species in the coming seasons will make available large scale bamboo residues.

National Mission on Bamboo Applications (NMBA) has been specially created by TIFAC to address the issue of value addition of these residues. One such application conceived by NMBA is distributed power generation through bamboo gasification and further value addition of the residues. Several project were made for gasifier applications in the North Eastern region of the country where large scale bamboo flowering are to occur.

To utilize the vast bamboo resources, the State need to set up more Bamboo based gasifiers; presently one is under construction at Taobam village for generation of power/thermal energy. It will offer exciting prospects for value addition and utilisation of bamboo resources. The technology has been developed, tested and stabilised and is now available for large scale induction, suitable for application in the 25Kw to 1 Mw range.

Gasification of bamboo! bamboo waste for electricity/thermal applications:

The requirements for the gasification units are a small proportion of the total availability. A 100 Kw gasifier would require only about 1000 tonnes per annum, the equivalent of a truckload every three days on the average.

An added advantage of gasification of bamboo is that 15% of the biomass would also be available as a by-product in the form of high grade charcoal. In the case of a 100 Kwe gasifier, around 135 tonnes of charcoal would be available each year to meet local needs of fuel. It is clean, cheap & renewable source of energy.

It does not depend on quality, species, and maturity of bamboo. Bamboo is a renewable, flexible and versatile material. It grows in natural forests, and is cultivated in homesteads, groves and on private plantations (source: TIFAC)

Since long the state bamboo sector is neglected. A bright example is the failure of bamboo chipping plant located at Jiribam.

Till date the management of state bamboo resources has many constraints with lack of post harvest treatment and technology for product development, inadequate trained manpower and inadequate infrastructure for large scale harvesting in the event of gregarious flowering.

Keeping in view the potential of bamboo, the state has poor market linkage and technology application. The National Mission on Bamboo Technology & Trade Development has been mooted by Planning Commission to accord Bamboo development a strategic role in rural economy, poverty alleviation and bamboo based handicrafts & industrial development.

The task for coordinating the National Mission on Bamboo Technology and Trade has be-en entrusted by the Prime Minister to the Ministry of Agriculture. The Mission document envisages coverage of 2 million ha under bamboo during the 10th Plan involving an investment of Rs. 2608 crores. The document also envisages the integration of different Ministries/ Departments for the holistic development of the sector.

The estimated fund requirement for the 10th Plan is Rs. 2608 crores covering Rs. 2000 crores for raising new bamboo plantations in 2 million ha, Rs. 208 crores for technology development, Rs. 275 crores for handicrafts development, Rs. 125 crores for trade and market development.

The economic and social benefits from these activities have been worked out as 8.6 million job creation in the Tenth Plan, building up of 2 million ha bamboo resource and market opportunities worth Rs. 6500 crore with an investment of Rs. 2600 crore, enabling 5 million families of artisans and farmers crossing the poverty line.

Technologically advanced countries are poor in bio-resources! If we capture the wealth of our bam-boo resources through the assiduous application of technology, we could improve the present power shortage in the state.

This may improve the overall economy of the state as we need power to operate most machine.

* Irabanta Oinam wrote this article for The Sangai Express
This article was webcasted on July 10th, 2006

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