WWW.GLOBALMETHANE.ORG
4
1. Introduction
This study examines the potential for biogas-powered cooling systems in India by conducting a
financial pre-feasibility analysis for a pilot project in the state of Maharashtra. More than two-
thirds of the workforce in the country relies on agriculture as their livelihood (FAO, 2023). Food
loss, also known as post-harvest loss, is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) of the United Nations as a “decrease in quantity or quality of food resulting from
decisions and actions by food suppliers in the segment of the chain excluding retail, food
service providers, and consumers (2021).” Post-harvest food loss results in economic losses for
farmers, reduced food security, and methane emissions as organic material breaks down. In
India, post-harvest losses pose the following challenges:
▪ Social: Each year in India, an estimated 30 percent of fruits and vegetables are lost or
wasted despite the country ranking 94th out of 100 on the 2020 Global Hunger Index
(HLPE, 2014; Agarwal et al., 2021).
▪ Economic: A 2015 report from the Ministry of Food Processing Industries estimated annual
post-harvest food loss of over US $15 billion in India alone (Jha et al., 2015). Additionally,
when all farmers harvest and bring commodities to market on the same schedule, the
surplus drives commodity prices down reducing revenue potential of India’s farmers.
▪ Environmental: According to EPA’s Global Non-Carbon Dioxide (CO
2
) Greenhouse Gas
Emission Projections & Mitigation Potential, the agriculture sector is responsible for
approximately 21 percent of the nation’s non-CO
2
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (EPA,
2019). The primary sources of agricultural methane emissions are livestock enteric
fermentation, livestock waste management, rice cultivation, and agricultural waste burning.
Of these, livestock waste management, which represents seven percent of global methane
emissions, offers a viable, near-term opportunity for methane recovery and utilization (GMI,
2013). Additionally, agriculture is an energy and water intensive process, which is wasted
when post-harvest foods are lost.
When livestock manure and organic components in agro-industrial waste decompose, the
process produces and emits methane, a potent greenhouse gas with up to 30 times the heat
trapping potential of carbon dioxide. Capturing this methane provides an opportunity to lower
the amount of methane accumulating in the global atmosphere and harness this renewable
energy source. Anaerobic digestion is a biological process in which bacteria break down
organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Anaerobic digestion systems utilize airtight chambers
where manure, biosolids, food waste, other organic wastewater streams, or combinations of
these feedstocks decompose to produce biogas—a blend of methane and carbon dioxide—and
digestate, a nutrient-rich output that can be used as fertilizer.
For several decades, biogas systems have been used commercially, including in the agricultural
management sector, to reduce methane emissions, improve manure disposal, control odors,
and produce biogas for energy (GMI, 2013). Biogas generated from readily available