Page 324 - Refining Biomass Residues for Sustainable Energy and Bioproducts

Potentials of postharvest rice crop residues as a source of biofuel 293

carbon and nitrogen to the open environment (Jain et al., 2014). To protect the
human health the quantity of the toxic element should be limited in the components
of the environment such as air, water, and soil (Das et al., 2017). All these changes
may be the factors behind trapping of heat energy nearer to the earth’s surface,
unwanted changes in the quality of the environmental components, significant
changes in the climate, and loss of biodiversity (Mehta et al., 2013). Ultimately, it
degrades the environment and in addition, causes the loss of energy potentials of
rice straw. In addition, the burning of rice straw also has the possibility of nutrient
loss from the soil, contamination of the soil with pollutants, and subsequently soil
degradation. Contamination of the soil is a complex and burning problem and ulti-
mately needs decontamination (Das et al., 2018).
The open challenge in front of us is to reduce the environmental degradation and
to reduce the loss of energy stored in rice straw so as to increase the energy pool of
the society. The digestion of the rice straw inside the bioreactor reduces the release
of harmful digested products and by-products to our environment and subsequently,
the possible correlated environmental pollution. In addition, the products and the
by-products formed during the digestion of the rice straw feedstock inside the bior-
eactors could be stored and consumed as biofuel at the time of need for domestic,
agricultural, and small-scale industrial applications.
Let the common questions arise from the members of the society regarding the
use of rice straw as a biofuel feedstock. It gives an opportunity to consider the
quantity and quality of rice straw before its application as a biofuel feedstock. It is
supported by the fact that rice straw has low nutritional value and that too produced
in billion tonnes per annum. Besides, it also reduces the competition between the
edible crops and the energy crops and increases the land-use efficiency during the
agricultural production process. It is strongly advocating in favor of use of rice
straw as a biofuel feedstock.
The pilot project experiments in relation to the use of rice straw as a biofuel
feedstock is essential for standardization of the process and characterization of the
product. The marginal farmers in developing countries such as India are not finan-
cially strong. They are not in a position to face the failure of the field-scale applica-
tion. The pilot project paves the way for success of the field-scale application and
minimizes the risk associated with the acceptance of the field-scale applications,
socially and economically.
The field-scale application of rice straw as biofuel feedstock is a way for possi-
ble improvisation of the economic status of the farmers. In addition to the value of
crops, they could be able to get as bonus, the price of the generated biofuel. The
possible constraints from the economic basis of consideration are costs incurred for
transport of rice straw from agricultural fields to the site of bioreactors to generate
biofuel. The minimum the expenditure incurred, better the possibility of acceptance
by the farmers concerned. The limited use of conventional sources of energy due to
the application of biofuel, reduces the expenditure incurred by the farmers for agri-
cultural production purposes and makes the process further economical.
To make this field-scale application socially acceptable, awareness program is
playing a key role. The involvement of nongovernment organizations and extension