Department Of Environmental Sciences

TOPIC :- BIOMASS BURNING

Presented by :-
Deepak Kr Yadav
 Biomass burning
• Biomass burning is the
combustion of organic
matter
• Burning can be natural
or manmade fires
Eg:- forest fire
Eg:- burning of crop
stubble, landfill fires
 Forest fire
• The most common hazard in forest is fire
• Forest fire imbalances in nature and endanger to floral
and faunal wealth
• About 90% of the forest fires in India are created by
humans
• During summer the probability of forest fire is maximum
• Causes of forest fires are :-
1) Environmental causes
2) Human related causes
 Types of forest fire
• Surface fire • Crown fire
 Effects of forest fire
• Loss of biodiversity and extinction of plants and
animals
• Loss of wildlife habitat and depletion of wildlife
• Loss of valuable timber resources
• Global warming
• Loss of carbon sink resource and increase in
percentage of carbondioxide in atmosphere
• Change in microclimate of the area with unhealthy
living conditions
 Landfills fire
• It is a site for disposal of waste
• Are used for waste management purposes, such
as the temporary storage, transfer, or processing
of waste material(sorting, treatment, or
recycling)
• Presently Delhi generates 8360 tons municipal
solid waste (MSW) per day
• In Delhi (MSW) is disposed at 3 landfills sites
Bhalswa, Ghazipur, Okhla
Landfill fires
 Environmental effects & public health
aspects
• Landfills have been known to be one of the
major sources of anthropogenic green house
gas(GHG)
• Global warming
• Causing odour and other potentially
dangerous substances
• Local air contamination due to fugitive dust
and bad ordour
 Crop residue burning
• Farmers have been burning
large quantities of crop
residues, particularly in area
with high yield potential
• As the crop residues may
interfere with tillage and
seeding operations for the
next crop, may farmers
prefer to burn the residues
left in the field that lead to
air pollution and wastage of
nutrients
 Crop residue burning
Advantages Disadvantages
• Cheap • Loss of nutrients
• Quick and easy • Loss of carbon
• Can assist weeds, insect • Impact on soil structure(soil
and disease control aggregate stability)
• Increase in erosion(wind
and water)
Emission of different pollutants from CRB
500 – 550 million tones (MT) of crop residue are
generated per year
 Delhi as a chamber gas
• A WHO survey in 2014 found that 13 out of the
most polluted 20 cities in the world are in India,
led by Delhi
• WHO recorded an annual average of PM2.5 of 153
micrograms per cubic meter in the Indian capital
• Burning of crop residue pollutes the national
capital’s air
• Winter crop burning triggers heavy pollution in
Delhi
 A case study from Mirzapur village of
Kurukshetra district, India
• Factors responsible for crop residue burning
(CRB) are :- 
• The main reason behind this practice was to
prepare their land for the next crop in short time
and to remove pest, weeds etc
• Additional factors observed behind residual
burning were non-availability of man power for
manual harvesting of stubble, high cost of residues
removal, and low market rates of residues
• About 90% of the respondents were well aware regarding
air pollution caused by residual burning however, they
were unaware about specific air pollution related health
problems and green house gases emissions
• The farmers were unaware about the negative impacts of
residue burning on soil quality
• There is a need to create awareness among farmers
through gram panchayats (village societies), community
based organizations, NGO's and institutions like Krishi
Vigyan Kendras
• Only 10 % farmers knew that CRB practice is banned in
Haryana and nobody knows about any kind of punishment
or fine imposed on defaulters
 Burning of crop residues leads to
1) release of soot particles and smoke
2) emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as
carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide
causing global warming
3) loss of plant nutrients such as nitrogen (N),
phosphorous (P), potassium (K) and sulphur (S)
4) adverse impacts on soil properties
5) wastage of valuable carbon (C) and energy rich
residues. Biomass burning is one of the significant
global sources of atmospheric aerosols
An elegant solution for complex
problems

BIOCHAR

Biochar
 Biochar
• Biochar is charcoal used as a soil amendment
• Biochar is a stable solid, rich in carbon, and can
endure in soil for thousands of years
• Like most charcoal, biochar is made from
biomass via pyrolysis
• Biochar thus has potential to help mitigate
climate change via carbon sequestration
• It can increase soil fertility of soil , increase
agricultural productivity
Special Thanks

Dr.R.K. KOTNALA
Head of Division, Chief Scientist,
National Physical Laboratory
Hydroelectric Cell,
Environmental Science,
Humidity Sensor & Solar Cell
Email address :-
rkkotnala@nplindia.org
 References
• https://www.reenergyholdings.com/renewable-energy/what-is-bi
omass

• https://www.eia.gov
• www.hindustantimes.com/india...India...landfill
• Niveta Jain Arti Bhatia, Himanshu Pathak Centre for Environment
Science and Climate Resilient Agriculture, Indian Agricultural
Research Institute, New Delhi-110012, India
• https://www.eartheclipse.com/environment/various-causes-and-
effects-of-wildfires
• www.researchgate.net/publication/289202446_Possible_reasons_
and_farmers_awareness_towards_crop_residue_burning_an_overvi
ew_and_a_case_study_from_Mirzapur_village_of_Kurukshetra_dis
trict_India
[accessed Sep 10, 2017]