Page 306 - Refining Biomass Residues for Sustainable Energy and Bioproducts

Potentials of postharvest rice crop 13

residues as a source of biofuel

2
1
Pratyush Kumar Das , Bidyut Prava Das and Patitapaban Dash 1
1
Centre for Biotechnology, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (Deemed to be University),
2
Bhubaneswar, India, Rama Devi Women’s University, Bhubaneswar, India

13.1 Introduction

The increase in the demand for energy requirement and the necessity for reducing
the environmental waste loads make the situation complex and necessitate immedi-
ate action to mitigate these problems. Biofuel is a potential source of alternative
energy, directly or as an additive, to reduce the load on the consumption of conven-
tional sources of energy and to reduce the load of wastes generated in the environ-
ment due to anthropogenic activities. Production of biofuel from the biodegradable
wastes and biomass having least commercial importance is a possible approach for
curbing environmental degradation. The use of postharvest rice crop residues, a
common example of lignocellulosic biomass, as a biofuel feedstock is encouraging
on the basis of food security and keeping the land-use pattern undisturbed. The bio-
fuel such as bioethanol is a product of carbohydrate fermentation. The blending of
the unleaded gasoline with bioethanol has the possibility of increasing the engine
performance in an automobile. Keeping the growing demand from the domestic
sector, the biogas is one of the feasible options to fulfill this demand. In addition to
fulfill the energy demands, it could be a better option for protecting the environ-
ment from the greenhouse gas emission.

13.2 Focus on rice productivity in India

Rice is the staple food for approximately more than half of the Indian population
and forms major share of the total food grains produced in the country. In countries
such as India, rice not only holds economic value but also possesses social and cul-
tural significance. The unique feature of the rice crop is its ability to grow in
diverse tropical environments, including rainfed lowlands of south and Southeast
Asia (Das et al., 2009). Among the top five rice-producing countries in the world
during 2005 09, India ranks second in the list after China. Table 13.1 provides the
information about the top five rice-producing countries and their average production
in million tonnes (mt) per annum during the period of 1980 2014 (Varma, 2017).
The year 2018 showed significant changes in the production of rice by some of
Refining Biomass Residues for Sustainable Energy and Bioproducts. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818996-2.00013-2
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