Energy is a major input for overall socio-economic development. With fossil fuels expected to get exhausted in another 40 years or so, renewable sources of energy have emerged as an alternative to fossil fuels. India with an area of almost 328 million hectares is the 7th largest country in the world producing 450-500 million tonnes of biomass per year as per EAI. As per a recent report almost 200 million tonnes of household and agro processing waste annually generated in India are disposed-off in a dispersed manner. Also, there are about 63 million ha waste land in the country, out of which about 40 million ha area can be developed for use. Additionally Urban, municipal and industrial wastes alone have a roughly 1700 MW potential of cheap and affordable power generation. The research work illustrates a specific case for North East India as to how this can be achieved through an innovative entrepreneurial approach for generation of green energy from biomass waste.

• Neeraj Sharma(Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India)
• Hari Krishnan G(Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India)
• Rajat Agrawal(Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India)