Oil and Gas Marketing Companies (OGMCs) are inviting potential entrepreneur to procure Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) under the SATAT scheme.

Try this MCQ:

Q.SATAT is an initiative of the Government of India, aims at:

(a) Promoting Self Help Groups in rural areas

(b) Providing financial and technical assistance to young start-up entrepreneurs

(c) Promoting affordable transportation

(d) Providing affordable and quality education to the citizens for free

SATAT Scheme

• SATAT stands for Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation.
• It is an initiative aimed at setting up Compressed Bio-Gas production plants and makes them available in the market for use in automotive fuels by inviting Expression of Interest from potential entrepreneurs.
• The initiative was launched in October 2018 by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas in association with the PSUs- Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

Its implementation

• CBG plants are proposed to be set up mainly through independent entrepreneurs.
• CBG produced at these plants will be transported through cascades of cylinders to the fuel station networks of OMCs for marketing as a green transport fuel alternative.
• The 1,500-strong CNG stations network in the country currently serves about 32 lakh gas-based vehicles.
• The entrepreneurs would be able to separately market the other by-products from these plants, including bio-manure, carbon-dioxide, etc., to enhance returns on investment.
• So far 9 CBG plants have been commissioned and started supply of CBG under the scheme.
• These plants are located in Andhra Pradesh (1No.), Gujarat (3 No.), Haryana (1 No.), Maharashtra (3 No.) and Tamil Nadu (1No.).

Benefits of the programme

There are multiple benefits from converting agricultural residue, cattle dung and municipal solid waste into CBG on a commercial scale:

• Responsible waste management, reduction in carbon emissions and pollution
• Additional revenue source for farmers
• Boost to entrepreneurship, rural economy and employment
• Support to national commitments in achieving climate change goals
• Reduction in import of natural gas and crude oil
• Buffer against crude oil/gas price fluctuations

Back2Basics: Compressed Bio Gas (CBG)

• Biogas is produced naturally through a process of anaerobic decomposition from waste / bio-mass sources like agriculture residue, cattle dung, sugarcane press mud, municipal solid waste, sewage treatment plant waste, etc.
• After purification, it is compressed and called CBG, which has a pure methane content of over 95%.
• CBG is exactly similar to the commercially available natural gas in its composition and energy potential.
• With calorific value (~52,000 KJ/kg) and other properties similar to CNG, CBG can be used as an alternative, renewable automotive fuel.
• Given the abundance of biomass in the country, CBG has the potential to replace CNG in automotive, industrial and commercial uses in the coming years.

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