[Digestion] Some calculations for South India

[Takamoto]

Dear List and Chanakya,

Thanks for the detailed answer. But I was thinking, shouldn't you add those two numbers because biogas both reduces Methane emissions from open pit composting AND reduces unsustainable CO2 emissions from cooking with firewood. Its not an either/or situation, right? 

All the best wishes,

Kyle
Managing Director
Schutter Energy Ltd.
www.takamotobiogas.com



On Nov 7, 2012, at 10:06 PM, Hoysall Chanakya wrote:

Dear Kyle /Digestion List Members
Answers to Kyle's Questions
A rural family with 4 cattle heads producing 40kg animal dung would if
completely uses it for biogas production produce @40L biogas /kg dung =
1600L biogas with 60% methane = 0.686kg methane which is 21 times more
potent than co2 (21*0.686=14.4kg CO2 per day).  It is assumed by
attempting to put it for open pit composting only half this weight is
emitted as methane = 7.2kg CO2e/day [2.63 t COe per year, per family of 5]

Another approach used is that each person uses about 2kg fuelwood per
capita day of which about 35% is collected unsustainably.   1 kg wood with
50% C (general assumption) produces 3.66kg CO2 or which only 35% or
1.283kg CO2 is produced per day.  So in a year each person produces 0.468t
CO2e and per family of 5 persons we get 2.34t CO2 equivalent per family
per year.

As you see both routes give roughly similar CO2e(quivalent) annually.   I
am sure you will get plenty of references for this.  Only IPCC default
will not have these specific cattle dung yield or per capita wood
consumption data.  This data is typical for rural India around Bangalore
and has been measured many times.

Best wishes
Chanakya

-- 
Dr. Hoysall Chanakya
Centre for Sustainable Technologies
(Assoc. Faculty at Centre for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transport and
Urban Planning (CiSTUP) and Centre for Contemporary Studies)
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012
ph 91-80-2293 3046; fax-91 80 2360 0683


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