One of the main constraints for industrial growth of India is inadequate infrastructure. Though a lot has been achieved during the past couple of decades the energy situation is far from satisfactory There is this energy crisis looming large and for a country like India the problem could well become very serious in the future.
Conventional energy sources are becoming scarcer by the day and therefore new sources are to be explored. Through out the world lot of work is going on for alternative sources of energy.Apart from nuclear energy other sources such as solar energy, energy from wind and ocean waves, geothermal energy etc could become major alternatives for the conventional source from fossil fuels. Hydrogen is seen as a major alternative for automobile combustion engines.
For Indian conditions Biogas is a very interesting proposition, because of the abundance of the raw material - cow dung.
One of the main sources of methane or the biogas is from cow dung. There was an article in the Times of India written by Mr.Arun Firodia, which was very informative on the subject. Look at the numbers:

· India’s cattle population is about 250 million, which will produce 125 million tons of dung per year.
· Calorific value of one Kg of methane gas is equal to one KG of Petrol/Diesel/LPG
· Per capita requirement of LPG is 15KG and dung from 75 million cows can produce methane gas for cooking purpose for the entire population of the country.
· Petrol consumption in 2003-2004 was 8 million tonnes. Dung from 40 million cows is sufficient to produce equivalent amount of methane gas.
· Electric energy consumption of rural India is 112 KWH per capita/annum. Assuming that 200gms of petrol can produce 1 KWH power, dung from 85 million cows can meet the needs of a rural population of 740 million in India.

One should think it is high time the cow worshipping people of this country will utilise the cow dung more profitably so that the cow will be able to maintain its status in our society.
Plants of different production capacities are available in the country. Today the production of biogas from cow dung is mainly used for domestic cooking. However the production on a large scale may pose many problems. The whole production process depends on bacterial activity, which is not a totally dependable process since several factors affect the bacterial activity. Large-scale production would require innovation and adoption of controls for uninterrupted supply.
One is reminded of the grand success of milk production in the country. In the early sixties and seventies there was severe shortage of milk in the country. One man’s vision and hard work saw the flooding of milk in the country. The co-operative initiative started by Mr. Kurien, was responsible for this success. A similar co-operative movement can make methane production in this country a successful venture.
The cattle population is spread out all over the country and a well thought out strategy should be worked out to see that all the dung is collected properly and brought to the various plants within the specified time period. It may be necessary to produce the methane gas in small plants at district levels so that time is not lost in transportation, which may be vital for successful bacterial action.
After the gas is produced it must pass through quality checks and necessary processing before delivery. Problems of packaging and delivery of the standardised gas may also pose problems. Methane gas can be liquefied only at very high pressures, which may not be practical. However, methods could be evolved depending on the end use of the gas.
It is hoped that Indian researchers and industry will take an active part in utilising the abundant natural resource to meet the energy crisis faced by the country.
I hope some leaders of industry will take the initiative and save the country a lot of foriegn exchange and also dependence on the conventional fossil fuels which are slated to be exhausting within a couple of decades
I understand that the reputed German automobile manufacturer BMW is producing electrical energy from landfill gas, methane, to meet almost 20% of their energy requirement. They are getting the methane gas from a distance of about 9 kilometres through pipe lines to gas turbines for production of electrical power. This is really good.