Beneficial Utilization of Biomass Waste in Construction Material - Research Monograph
Authors: K. Snehal , N. Manimaran , Basuroy Debojyoti , Maity Soumen , Chaunsali Piyush 
Published: December 2024

Bioenergy is one of the key sources of renewable energy production in India. The strength of India’s biomass sources rests primarily on its agricultural sector. An enormous quantity of crop residues is being generated on a seasonal basis in India. The gross and surplus biomass residues available in India per annum are estimated to be ~750 million tonnes (MT) and ~230 million tonnes (MT), respectively. The surplus crop residues are the sustainable feedstock for the production of bioenergy. In India, cereal crops (rice, wheat, etc.,) and sugarcane are found to have a significant potential to generate crop residues, i.e., 70% of surplus crop residues (~ 160 MT). The geographical variation in the production of crop residues is quite prominent among the states due to the variability in crop acreage and crop productivity. Uttar Pradesh generates the highest estimate of gross (~ 184 MT) and surplus crop residue (~ 60 MT), respectively. The estimated production of surplus crop residue in states like Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh is in the range of 10 – 38 MT, and for other states, it is less than 10 MT. As per a recent MNRE report, surplus crop residues generated in India can produce around 28 GW of power per annum. Further, bagasse cogeneration units in India are responsible for the additional generation of around 14 GW of power per annum.
The most prominent industries that use cogeneration systems for bioenergy collection in India are the sugar, rice, and paper industries. The highest number of Indian sugar industries are located in Uttar Pradesh (124 nos.) and Maharashtra (211 nos.). West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, and Haryana are the major rice-producing states of India. Maharashtra, Andhra
Pradesh, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh hold ~50% of India’s paper manufacturing capacity. The combustion of waste biomass residues in the cogeneration power plants of these industries is responsible for the production of enormous quantities of biomass ash. According to 2020 – 2021 estimates, biomass residues from sugar (i.e., bagasse), rice (i.e., rice husk), and paper (predominantly rice husk and bagasse) industries in India generate around 3.5 MT, 5 MT, and 10 MT of ashes per annum, respectively. In the current scenario, most biomass ashes generated from industries are landfilled, leading to significant disposal and environmental issues. Hence, the valorization of enormous amounts of biomass ash is the need of the hour. Furthermore, biomass ash can be used in developing construction materials due to the presence of amorphous silica. However, its widespread application in concrete is limited due to compositional variability and lack of source mapping of biomass ash. This monograph provides a comprehensive database of sugarcane bagasse ash (SBA), rice husk ash (RHA), and paper mill ash (PMA) availability in the 10 major states producing sugar, rice, and paper, and their geographic distributions. An inclusive review of biomass and biomass ash characteristics followed by the incorporation of biomass ashes in Portland cement and non-portland cement-based binders is discussed. Lastly, a case study demonstrating the feasibility of utilizing Indian biomass ash in the development of low-carbon alkali-activated binders is presented.