Dehradun: In view of working seriously on the permanent solution of forest fire in Uttarakhand and the possibilities of producing CBG (Compressed Bio Gas) from pine leaves (Pirol), Chief Secretary Mrs. Radha Raturi, in a meeting with Indian Oil in the Secretariat, has given instructions to form a committee of officials of related departments like Energy, Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Forest etc. and Indian Oil in this regard. The Chief Secretary has asked Indian Oil to study the possibilities of using Pirol as feed stock in CBG production in the state, its utility as organic fertilizer and green hydrogen and send a report to the government. The Chief Secretary has asked Indian Oil to form an internal committee in this regard and give a detailed feasibility report to the government soon. In this regard, she has directed to identify one potential place each in Garhwal and Kumaon to run the project.
According to Indian Oil, after the possibility of collecting about 40 percent of the total availability of Pirul in Uttarakhand, 60000-80000 tons of CBG production can be expected per year. The gross availability of Pirul in the state is 1.3 to 2.4 MMT per year. Pine forests are spread over 400000 hectares in the state. Here 2-3 tons of Pirul is available per hectare.
Chief Secretary Mrs. Radha Raturi has directed the Forest Department, Animal Husbandry and Cooperative Department to work actively with Indian Oil on this project.
Principal Secretary Mr. R.K. Sudhanshu, Secretary Mr. R. Meenakshi Sundaram, Mr. Dilip Jawalkar along with officials of Forest, Planning, Finance, Energy Department and Indian Oil were present in the meeting.
