One of the consequences of a growing economy like India is the massive increase in consumption, directly leading to huge amounts of waste generation. The silver lining here is that this waste is a valuable raw material in generating energy, to meet the ever increasing demand of electricity in India.

In its 2009-10 Annual Report the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) estimated that approximately 55 million tonnes of MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) are generated in urban areas of India annually. It is estimated that the amount of waste generated in India will increase at a rate of approximately 1-1.33% annually.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) promulgated the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules in 2000 requiring municipalities across India adopt sustainable and environmentally sound ways of processing MSW. In this regard, Waste to Energy (WtE) provides a solution towards complying with government regulations, and achieving integrated solid waste management. WtE is perceived as a means to dispose MSW, produce energy, recover materials, and free up scarce land that would otherwise have been used for landfill.

The MNRE estimates that the potential to generate power from MSW will more than double in the next ten years, while the potential from industrial waste is likely to increase by more than 50%. Although the cost per MW of capacity may be greater than other renewable sources, the benefits of waste management, energy and metals recovery, and reduction of GHG emissions need to be considered.

(Data Courtesy: WTERT Council Research database)

Tamil Nadu is among the top Indian states with a huge potential for recovery of energy from waste, indicating a possibility of 137 MW from solid waste, 14 MW from liquid waste totaling to 151 MW of power. With an opportunity like this, RSG Energy Pvt Ltd is enthusiastically paving way to tap into this market & evolve as a one stop shop for its clients, in all aspects of energy solutions.