Policies to overcome barriers to the spread of bioenergy technologies in India

Abstract

India has over two decades of experience of formulating and implementing bioenergy programmes. These programmes have undergone changes from time to time, reflecting the dynamics of the policy environment. The Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES), the prime mover of the programmes in India, has now responded with a comprehensive renewable energy policy to give a further fillip to the evolving sector. The need for climate change mitigation provides an opportunity for promoting the renewable energy (RE) sector. This calls for an assessment of the policy barriers to the spread of bioenergy technologies (BETs) in India. This paper attempts to (1) assess technical potential and achievements of BETs, (2) analyse the institutional framework for bioenergy development, (3) review policies on BETs being promoted under various RE programmes in India, (4) identify barriers to the spread of BETs, and (5) consider policy options to overcome some of the key barriers. The experience shows that despite several financial incentives and favourable policy measures, the rate of spread of BETs is low because of the existence of institutional, technical, market and credit barriers. These barriers are by and large known, but what still remains to be understood is the type and size of barriers from the stakeholders' perspective, which varies for a given technology and the stakeholder. Policy options suggested to overcome such barriers include (1) rational energy pricing, (2) incentives to promote private sector participation, (3) institutions to empower and enable community participation, (4) financial support for large-scale demonstration programmes and for focused research and development on BETs for cost reduction and efficiency improvement, and finally, (5) favourable land tenurial arrangements to promote sustained biomass supply. The global mechanisms for addressing climate change such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) provide additional incentives to promote BETs.