In 1989, in India a rice straw fired thermal plant at a cost of Rs 35 crores was inaugurated at Jalkheri Punjab. This generated 62 million units of electricity per year and is the only plant of its kind in the world. paddy husk (obtained during milling of paddy) can be converted into smokeless solid fuel briquettes suitable for use in domestic cooking, hotels, kilns and boilers (in India, this is done at Briquetted Fuel Plant installed at Alternate Hydro Energy Centre, Roorkee).

This process is based on the principle of pyrolysis and involves heating the raw material at 250-300°C in absence of air. The fuel briquettes are sold at Rs 0.60 per kg, which is cheaper than firewood and coal.

This may not prove to make any significant contribution in western countries, but will certainly prove significant in Asian countries where it is available in huge quantity due to population explosion.

Since 1988, Central Metabolic Engineering and Research Institute, Durgapur has successfully run India’s First pilot plant using solid garbage (leafy waste) to produced electricity. The plant used about 500 kg garbage and can produce 5 kw of electricity per hour. The garbage undergoes anaerobic digestion to produce biogas which in turn is used to produce electricity.