b i o m a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 7 1 ( 2 0 1 4 ) 1 2 5 e1 3 3

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GIS mapping of rice straw residue for bioenergy

purpose in a rural area of Assam, India

Moonmoon Hiloidhari, D.C. Baruah*

Energy Conservation Laboratory, Department of Energy, School of Engineering, Tezpur University, Tezpur 784028,
Assam, India

article info abstract

Article history: Agricultural residues are a promising source of biomass energy. However, agricultural
Received 22 October 2011 residues are seasonally available and loosely distributed over large geographical areas and
Received in revised form hence require spatio-temporal assessment. Satellite image is a handy input for such
28 August 2014 assessment and high resolution image could increase the preciseness of estimation. In the
Accepted 24 October 2014 present study, rice cropland is mapped using high resolution WorldView-2 satellite image
Available online 11 November 2014 in a rural area of Assam, India. The rice cropland map in combination with agricultural
statistics is then analyzed in GIS in order to assess rice straw availability for potential
Keywords: bioenergy generation. About 54% land of study area belongs to rice cropland, which can
WorldView-2 contribute 5360 tonnes surplus rice straw per annum (equivalent to 83,296 GJ). Potential
GIS electric power capacity from the surplus rice straw in the study area is 523.50 kW. However,
Rice straw residue at individual village level the potential varies from 4.45 kW to 28.69 kW. Considering the
Biomass energy power crisis in India, the findings of this work are expected to assist policy makers and
Biomass combustion biomass energy developers in decision making process. Particularly, this paper generated
information on village level rice straw residue availability and subsequently potential
electric power capacity. Such information is limited in the India expect for few states.
2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

many satellite data are available free of cost (e.g. Landsat

1. Introduction
Successful applications of remote sensing and GIS have been
well documented in various fields of research such as natural
resource management, forest assessment, biodiversity map-
ping, land use land cover mapping, natural hazard mapping,
pollution monitoring etc. Due to some distinct advantages of
geo-spatial technology over traditional methods (survey, sec-
ondary data collection), application of spatial tools are getting
popularity. Some such advantages are (i) local to global
coverage, (ii) precise and timely information, and (iii) data
retrieve and reiterative capacity at user convenience. Further,
image), making it the most preferred choice for user.
The crisis with conventional fossil based energy system
has compelled the global community to urgently search for
renewable energy resources. Remote sensing and GIS could
play a significant role in assessing the status of renewable
energy resources of a region and also for planning cost-
effective exploitation of such resources. Assessments of
hydro, wind, solar, geothermal and biomass resources using
such tools have been reported in literatures [1e5]. Wider
application of geo-spatial technique is particularly common in
biomass energy studies. Assessments of forest biomass [6],
agricultural biomass [7], energy plant for biodiesel [8], aquatic

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 91 94355 08563; fax: 91 3712 267005.

E-mail addresses: hiloidhari@gmail.com (M. Hiloidhari), baruahd@tezu.ernet.in (D.C. Baruah).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2014.10.018
0961-9534/ 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
126 b i o m a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 7 1 ( 2 0 1 4 ) 1 2 5 e1 3 3
biomass [9] are some examples of such successful applica-
tions in recent time.
Agricultural residue such as rice straw has been recognized
as a potential biomass energy feedstock. Energy generation
from crop residue has been reported from many parts of the
world including Denmark [10]. Utilization of rice residue for
heat and electricity generation [11], bioethanol [12], and biogas
production [13] are reported as some attractive options. Rice is
predominantly cultivated in different parts of India, and thus,
generates a large amount of straw. It is reported that India
produces about 22 million tonnes of surplus rice straw
annually [14]. However, large chunk of straw is either left in
the field as wastes or sometimes burnt in many parts of the
country [15]. Concern has been raised for two instances viz. (i)
methane emission when straw is left uncollected and allowed
to decompose in field and (ii) release of atmospheric pollut-
ants (carbon monoxide, aerosols etc.) when burnt in the field
[16,17]. Thus, management of leftover straw is important from
environmental point of view besides its prospect as renewable
energy.
Poor quality of electricity supply characterized by frequent
power cuts and fluctuating voltage are common features in
rural India, despite the fact that more than two third of pop-
ulation lives in rural areas. It is also reported that about 78
million people in India depend on kerosene lamp for lighting
due to non availability of reliable supply of electricity [18].
Although Government of India has initiated a national level
rural electrification programme (RGGVY-Rajiv Gandhi
Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana) in 2005, more than 58,000 vil-
lages are still remain without electricity connection [19].
Furthermore, conventional grid connected power supply is
nearly impossible in many remotely located villages. Thus,
power generation utilizing locally available energy sources
seems to be feasible option in such areas. Along with energy
requirement for cooking, agricultural, transport, machinery
operation, need of electricity is also very important to support
rural development in India, as inadequate supply of electricity
and rural poverty are found closely related [20].
Assam is one of the 29 states of India located in the
northeastern part and endowed with fertile land, favorable
rainfall and natural bioresources. However, the state of Assam
lags behind rest of the country in terms of socio-economic
development. Inadequate supply of electricity could be
considered one of the causes of lack of development. Shortage
of power supply not only affects essential household activ-
ities, but also hampers entrepreneurial, agricultural, health
and education systems. Small scale rural businesses are also
adversely affected due to poor supply of electricity. Inade-
quate supply of electricity has resulted in unemployment and
associated socio-political problems. The peak demand of
electricity in the state of Assam is about 1200 MW. But the
total availability of power in Assam at present is around
800 MW including state's own generations of about 260 MW.
There is a shortfall of about 400 MW power during peak de-
mand [21]. Thus, increase in additional generation capacity
utilizing locally available energy resources could improve the
power scenario in Assam. Biomass, hydro (including small
hydro) and solar could be regarded as some alternative op-
tions for power generation in Assam. However, large hydro-
power projects are not free from criticism due to
environmental concern. Development of small hydro gener-
ation is also not encouraging. Similarly, higher cost associated
with solar PV power becomes barrier for its development.
Considering these facts, agricultural residue biomass could be
considered as potential alternative fuel for power generation
in rural areas of Assam. However, this is a geographically
distributed resource and, therefore planning pertaining to
estimation of its availability, collection and transportation is
essential. Satellite image data could be used in GIS platform to
generate useful information for such planning.
The usefulness of spatial assessment techniques for
renewable energy planning through assessment of distributed
resources has been demonstrated in many instances. Satellite
image is a critical input for such analysis and high resolution
satellite image is expected to increase the preciseness of the
estimation of renewable energy resources. The quality of
satellite data influences the accuracy of geo-spatial analysis.
The satellite images have passed several stages of develop-
ment with increasing level of applications. However, uncer-
tainty still remains in precise mapping of resources using
coarser to moderately coarser resolution images at local level
[22,23]. The difficulties arising due to lower resolution images
could be minimized by using high resolution images. With the
prologue of high resolution images (IKONOS, CARTOSAT,
QuickBird, WorldView-2 etc.), it is now possible to map earth
natural resources, such as distributed crop residue resources,
at greater depth with superior accuracy.
Keeping in view of the above discussion, the present GIS
based study is carried out in a representative rural location in
Assam to assess rice straw residue availability for potential
electric power generation capacity.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Study area
A representative rice growing rural area (10,000 ha) of Sonitpur
district, Assam (India) is considered for the present investi-
gation. Geographical location of the study area is in between
92 540 15.1900 E (upper left longitude), 26 460 40.8200 N (upper left
latitude) and 93 00 17.1300 E (lower right longitude),
 0 00
26 41 15.93 N (lower right latitude). The climate of the study
area is sub-tropical type with average summer (March to
September) and winter (October to February) temperature is
29  C and 16  C respectively. On the other hand, the annual
rainfall varies between 1355 and 2348 mm. The study area is
an agrarian economy and about 80% population dependent on
agricultural activities for their livelihood. Rice cultivation is
the major agricultural activity for the people of this region. In
general, in the state of Assam, rice is cultivated in two sea-
sons, i.e. winter (June/July to November/December) and sum-
mer (December/February to May/June). However, in the
present study area only winter rice is cultivated due to lack of
irrigation facilitates for summer rice.
As mentioned above, the study area falls in Sonitpur dis-
trict. As per 2011 Census of India report, population of the
district is about 1.9 million with population density of 370
people per sq.km. On the other hand, sex ratio and literacy
rate in the district is 956 and 67%, respectively. Jamuguri, a
 b i o m a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 7 1 ( 2 0 1 4 ) 1 2 5 e1 3 3 127

rural town is the only major point of business exchange for the
nearby rural people of the study area. Tezpur, headquarter
and major town of Sonitpur district is about 50 km away from
the study area. Although the study area is connected with
electricity grid, however reliable and quality supply of elec-
tricity is still lacking.
2.2. Satellite image
WorldView-2 multispectral satellite image having spatial
resolution of 2 m collected on 10 October, 2010 is used in the
present study. The multispectral sensor has eight spectral
bands viz. coastal blue (band 1), blue (band 2), green (band 3),
yellow (band 4), red (band 5), red-edge (band 6), near infrared-
1 (band 7) and near infrared-2 (band 8). It is useful to read a
satellite image both in natural color and false color com-
posite in order to better understand the features present in
an image. Therefore, both bands 4, 3, 2 (natural color) and
bands 7, 5 and 3 (FCC, false color composite) combination are
considered to initially identify the features present in the
image. However image classification is carried out with FCC
bands.
The ortho-rectified image of the study area having Uni-
versal Transverse Mercator (UTM) projection is shown in
Fig. 1. Geo-location accuracy of the image as expressed by Root
Mean Square Error (RMSE) is 6.7 m.

Fig. 1 e WorldView-2 image of the study area in 7, 5, 3 band (Near IR-1, red, green) combination (Below: an enlarged part of
the image). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this
article.)
128 b i o m a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 7 1 ( 2 0 1 4 ) 1 2 5 e1 3 3

2.3. Image classification most common way of determining classification accuracy is

through computation of error matrix (also called as confusion
Categorization of the pixels in a digital image representing the matrix). Detail procedure for computing error matrix is re-
ground features into some user defined classes is the process ported elsewhere [29,30]. Result of accuracy assessment of the
of image classification. Two common methods are available present study is presented in Table 1. Desirable minimum
for image classification, viz., (i) manual (or on-screen) digiti- limit of overall accuracy for land use land cover classification
zation and (ii) digital classification. Digital classification can be has been reported as 85% [29,31,32]. Further, accuracy for each
further grouped into supervised and unsupervised classifica- individual class of a classified image should exceed 70% [32].
tion. A suitable classification scheme is a pre-requisite for Finally the map is converted into vector format and the
meaningful representation of existing ground features in crop area polygons are exported as vector layer for further
digital format. Consideration of classification scheme de- analysis using GIS software (ArcGIS).
pends on factors like user's needs, characteristics of the study
area and nature of remote sensing data [24]. Supervised digital
classification method is found suitable for image classification
2.4. Mapping of rice cropland and rice straw residue
in the present study. Based on the need and objectives, two
classes viz. (i) crop area, and (ii) non-crop area are considered
In the first phase of the investigation, spatial distribution of
for classification. The identification of crop area enables
rice cropland is mapped to estimate corresponding distribu-
assessment of potential power generation from surplus rice
tion of surplus rice straw. Four factors viz., (i) crop area, (ii)
straw. The spatial distribution of non-crop area needs further
grain yield, (iii) residue (straw) to grain production ratio and
analysis in respect to utilization of decentralized power. The
(iv) straw availability factor are considered for estimation of
steps followed to classify the image are briefly described
surplus rice straw for power generation within a given
below.
geographical boundary [33,34].
Prior to classification, field visits have been made to
The information on grain yield is readily available
explore and record some existing features in the study area
compared to residue (straw) yield. Moreover, the ratio, straw:
using handheld GPS (GARMIN 76CSx). Information on ground
grain (RPR), is the characteristic feature of crop production
features corresponding to some known locations is required
system and could be known. Thus, the gross amount of straw
during classification of satellite image as well as for verifica-
residue generated within a specified area can be estimated
tion of the prepared map. The ground sample points are
using these two parameters. However, to estimate the surplus
chosen in such a way that they are homogenous in nature,
amount of available rice straw for power generation, infor-
large enough to be representative of major variability of the
mation on rice straw availability factor has to be known.
selected classes observed in the image [25]. Ground informa-
Because, rice straw has other competing uses e.g. cattle feed,
tion pertaining to 60 randomly collected locations is used for
domestic cooking fuel, bedding and packaging materials etc.
image classification and information pertaining to other 60
Harvesting and threshing practices also influence the avail-
locations is used for verification of the classified map. From
ability of straw residue. A small fraction of straw is also lost in
the field visits it is observed that croplands of the selected site
collection and transportation processes. Thus, the entire
are used only for winter rice cultivation.
amount of straw generated in the field is not available for
Rice fields can be distinguished from other vegetations
energy purpose. The availability factor used in this study
based on texture, color, tone, shape, size, neighborhood
represents the fraction of residue available as surplus for en-
pattern. Furthermore, rice fields in the study are fragmented
ergy purpose.
in nature which is generally not observed in case of natural
Incorporating the above four factors, following mathe-
forest vegetation. Since WorldView-2 has high spatial reso-
matical expression is proposed to estimate surplus rice straw
lution of 2 m, visual identification of rice fields in the satellite
availability in a given region which encompasses n number
image is also easy. Image classification is done using image
spatially distributed cropland polygons.
processing software (ERDAS Imagine). Maximum Likelihood
Classifier (MLC) method is used for image classification taking X
n

7, 5, 3 image band combination (FCC, false color composite). Srs Ai  Yi  RPRi  Fi (1)
i1
MLC is a supervised method of image classification and
commonly used with remote sensing data [26e28]. After where Srs is amount of surplus rice straw available within a
classification, a post-classification smoothening treatment given region, tonne year1; A(i) is area under rice crop at ith
(i.e., majority filter) is applied to the classified image. Post- polygon, ha; Y(i) is grain yield at ith polygon, tonne ha1; RPR(i)
classification smoothening is necessary to eliminate the salt
and pepper effect from the result, caused by a single or small
fraction of isolated pixels, leading to misclassification [25]. Table 1 e Accuracy assessment result of spatial rice
The preciseness of the map is verified by computing ac- cropland map.
curacy assessment using available sub routines of the image Category Producer's accuracy User's accuracy
processing software. A map generated with classification is Crop area 97.96% 90.57%
considered accurate if it provides an unbiased representation Non-crop area 90.20% 97.87%
of the land cover of the region it portrays [29]. Accuracy Overall accuracy 94.00%
assessment is done to ascertain the preciseness of a map. The Overall Kappa statistics 0.8801
 b i o m a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 7 1 ( 2 0 1 4 ) 1 2 5 e1 3 3 129

is residue to grain production ratio at ith polygon; and F(i) is
availability factor of rice straw at ith polygon.
The parameter A(i) is spatially varying and is estimated
from rice cropland map. The spatial variability of Y(i), RPR(i)
and F(i) among the cropland polygons under study could not
be considered. Therefore, based on a 5-years (2003e2007)
average rice yield data for Sonitpur district (where the present
study area falls) as reported by Ministry of Agriculture (India),
a uniform value of Y(i) is taken as 1.32 tonne ha1 [35]. On the
other hand, field and laboratory analysis of collected rice
straw samples are done to determine the values of RPR(i) and
F(i) as 1.5 and 0.5, respectively.
Residue production ratio or RPR is the amount of residue
produced per unit of grain produced. To determine RPR,
randomly selected rice fields of the study area is visited and
whole rice plant (with root, grain, leaf, straw) samples are
collected for analysis. Farmers of the locality are also con-
sulted to ascertain height of cut, amount of straw left in the
field, amount taken to home and current uses of straw. In
laboratory, grains and plant biomass (i.e. straw) are weighed
separately on dry basis. The ratio of weight between grains
and straw is the RPR. The average value RPR obtained from
this analysis is then used in Eq. (1). On the other hand, to
determine straw availability factor (F), straw biomass contri-
bution of harvested with grains and left in the field are
assessed by measuring the weight on dry basis. It is found that
on average about 35% straw is taken home along with grain
during harvesting and 65% is left in field. It is assumed that
10% of straw left in the field could not be collected efficiently
and another 5% lost in collection process. Thus, 50% (i.e. 0.5
availability factor) straw is available as surplus for bioenergy
purpose.

Fig. 2 e (a) Spatial distribution of rice crop and non-rice crop area, (b) area wise distribution of rice cropland, (c) an enlarged
part of rice cropland.
130 b i o m a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 7 1 ( 2 0 1 4 ) 1 2 5 e1 3 3

Mapping of surplus rice straw availability is done for the
entire 10,000 ha study area with and without considering in-
termediate village boundaries. The satellite image used in the
present study completely covers only 27 villages (other vil-
lages being partially covered) and therefore, potential is also
mapped for these 27 villages.
2.5. Mapping of potential electric power capacity from
rice straw
In the second phase of the present investigation, potential
electric power capacity is assessed considering thermal con-
version technology. Uses of rice straw for heat and electricity
generation are in practice in many regions including Denmark
[10]. Among the different routes for biomass to energy con-
version, combustion is comparatively a matured technology.
It is reported that typical size of combustion based biomass
electricity plant ranges from a few kW to hundreds of MW
with net conversion efficiency between 20% and 40% [36e38].
Biomass based potential electric power capacity within a
given region is estimated based on (i) annual surplus rice
straw availability, (ii) lower heating value (LHV) of straw (iii)
net conversion efficiency of power plant, h and (iv) estimated
duration of plant operation in a year, T.
Spatial variability of LHV, h and T among the study regions
could not be incorporated in the present case. The LHV of rice
straw is experimentally determined as 15,400 MJ tonne1.
Generally, conversion efficiency is a function of technol-
ogy, fuel characteristics and plant size. As mentioned earlier,
conversion efficiency for combustion based biomass power
plant is reported to range in between 20% and 40%. With
technological upgradation, increase in efficiency and hence
higher plant output can be expected. Yang et al. [39] have re-
ported efficiency of a 38 MW straw-fired power plant as more
than 32%, where wheat straw was used as primary fuel.
However, in the present study, net conversion efficiency is
taken as 20% on a conservative basis, so that the present es-
timate will not overrate the electricity generation potential.
Further, continuous power generation throughout the year is
considered to estimate T. Following expression is used to es-
timate electricity generation potential within a given region
incorporating the above parameters.
Srs  LHV
PErs h
T crop patches with their individual sizes varying between 235
where, PErs is potential electric power capacity from surplus
rice straw available within a given region, MW; LHV is lower
heating value of rice straw, MJ tonne1; h is net conversion
efficiency of the power plant and T is the plant operating time,
seconds per annum.
Spatial variability of potential electric power capacity is
assessed for all the cropland patches of 10,000 ha study area.
Further, variability of potential electric power capacity is also
mapped for 27 villages. For assessment of potential electric
power capacity in each individual village, rice cropland vector
layer is overlaid with the village boundary layer using Overlay
Analysis function of ArcGIS software and then village wise
distribution of rice area, rice straw and potential electric
power capacity is estimated.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Accuracy of mapping
In the present study, overall classification accuracy and indi-
vidual class accuracy have been found to exceed 90% (Table 1).
Therefore, the prepared map could be considered acceptable
to provide desired level of preciseness.
3.2. Spatial distribution of rice cropland and surplus rice
straw
Winter rice (grown during June/July to November/December)
which dominates the rice cultivation in the study region is
mapped as shown in Fig. 2(a). Overall, about 5414 ha of lands
(54% of total study area) are under rice cultivation. The
remaining area, classified as non-crop area, is shared by
vegetation, water body, rural settlement etc. The cropland and
non-cropland are distributed in some distinct spatial patterns
which are highlighted below.
In rural set up of Assam, rice fields are fragmentally
distributed among other land uses (rural settlements, rural
forest land) and hence area under rice varies from field to field.
Such variation also observed in the present study area. Alto-
gether 529 rice crop polygons with size ranging from 1 ha to
300 ha are spatially distributed in the 10,000 ha study area.
Sizes of crop patch and hence distributions of locations of
residue availability are important consideration for planning.
The distribution of patches with varying extent is shown in
Fig. 2(b). About 28.50% of total rice cropland is shared by only 6
(2)
and 318 ha (Table 2). Further, it is also seen from Table 2 that,
30.27% of total cropland is shared by 11 rice crop patches with
sizes varying between 100 and 200 ha. On the other hand, the

Table 2 e Rice crop patches wise rice straw and potential electric power capacity.
Crop patch size, ha No. of crop Crop Gross straw, Surplus strawl, Potential electric
polygon area, ha tonne tonne power capacity, kW
<1 348 93 184 92 8.99
1e10 112 365 722 361 35.25
10e50 42 1039 2057 1028 100.44
50e100 10 736 1458 729 71.21
100e200 11 1639 3244 1622 158.44
>200 6 1543 3055 1527 149.18
Total 529 5414 10,720 5360 523.50
 b i o m a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 7 1 ( 2 0 1 4 ) 1 2 5 e1 3 3 131

number of smaller patches (>1 ha) are 348 covering only 93 ha Table 2 also indicates that major contribution of surplus rice
cropland. straw is from less number of larger patches than from more
Costs pertaining to collection and transportation of straw number of smaller patches. As mentioned above, higher cost
residue are important parameters affecting its overall econ- is associated with longer distance of transport and multi-
omy. Higher cost is associated with longer distance of trans- location collection. Therefore identification of high residue
port and multi-location collection. Therefore, availability of potential crop patches will help in both minimization of
sufficient amount of biomass is one of the critical factors for transport and collection cost.
selection of plant location.
The distribution of different land use classes of a repre-
3.3. Potential electric power capacity from rice straw
sentative section of the map is highlighted in Fig. 2(c).
From Fig. 2(c), it is seen that the rice croplands are distributed
Overall, 523.50 kW of electricity could be generated from the
adjacent to rural residential areas. Further, the croplands and
available surplus rice straw residue within 10,000 ha of area.
residential areas are well connected by existing road network
As mentioned earlier, this estimate considers 20% net con-
indicating prospect for easy transportation using prevailing
version efficiency of power plant and throughout the year
transport facilities.
plant operation. However, Potential electric power capacity
Since the size and distribution of rice croplands are
among the crop patches varies from >1 kW to <30 kW. Crop
spatially varying, availability of straw also varies among the
patch wise electricity generation potential in the study area is
rice crop patches. Overall, gross annual rice straw potential in
also presented in Table 2.
the study area is about 10,720 tonnes, out of which
As stated earlier, village level surplus rice straw based
5360 tonnes (equivalent to 83,296 GJ) are available as surplus.
potential electric power capacity is estimated for 27 villages,
Surplus straw potential at individual rice crop patch level
which are lying within the 10,000 ha study area. About 3731 ha
varies from >0.1 tonnes to <300 tonnes per annum (Table 2).
of rice crop lands are spatially distributed among the villages

Fig. 3 e Village wise distribution of (a) rice cropland, (b) surplus rice straw, (c) rice straw based potential electric power
capacity.
132 b i o m a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 7 1 ( 2 0 1 4 ) 1 2 5 e1 3 3
with variation in cropland availability as shown in Fig. 3(a).
The villages are grouped based on the share of cropped area to
their respective geographical area. Share of crop area to village
area ranges between 23% and 47% for 8 villages. While for 16
villages the share ranges between 50% and 75%. There are two
villages having major share (>75%) devoted for cropland.
Thus, it is observed that, agriculture is the major land use
pattern in the villages of the region.
Overall, 3694 tonnes of surplus rice straw is spatially
distributed in the 27 villages with variation from 45.12 to
291.09 tonnes per village, as shown in Fig. 3(b).
Rice straw fueled potential electric power capacity in the
villages range between 4.45 kW and 28.69 kW. The variation of
potential is due to variation in rice crop land availability
among the villages. It is observed that in 10, 14 and 3 villages,
rice straw based potential electric power capacity is 10 kW,
10e20 kW and 20 kW, respectively as shown in Fig. 3(c). The
maximum potential electric power capacity at individual
village level is 28.69 kW.
The prevailing practice of single cropping with the field
remain vacate for about six months opens up possibilities of
growing some other suitable crop. This would increase the
prospect of crop residue availability in the region. Further, the
productivity of rice in Sonitpur district is 12% lower than state
average and 30% lower than the national average [29]. Lack of
modern farming facilities, poor economic condition of the
farmers and lack of awareness are believed to be some causes
of lower productivity. Introduction of modern farm machin-
eries such as tractor, reaper, harvester, irrigation facilities,
high yielding varieties as well as additional generation and
assured supply of electricity to the rural communities are
expected to take care of these issues.
The plan for appropriate pattern of decentralized genera-
tion (size and number) would require further study involving
transport network and demand pattern. The output of the
present investigation is expected to promote such plan. The
village level electricity demand needs to be investigated for
determining straw-fired power plant sizes. Electricity con-
sumption pattern in the selected villages could not be inves-
tigated in the present study. However, from a related study
conducted in a nearby village (Napaam village of Sonitpur
district), the peak electricity demand in a rural household
cluster was found to range between 18 kW and 65 kW [40].
Urban et al. [41] reported that the electricity consumption in
the rural areas of India ranges between 0.3 kWh and 1 kWh per
household per day. Thus, it could be expected that power
achievable from the straw-fired plants in rural areas would
provide a significant portion of electricity demand in rural
areas.
4. Conclusion
Spatial assessment of biomass resources availability is
important bioenergy planning. Satellite data in remote
sensing and GIS platform have been widely used for such
assessment. High resolution satellite image could increase the
preciseness assessment compared to field survey based
studies and GIS based low resolution satellite image analysis.
The present study demonstrates precise mapping (overall
accuracy of 94%) of rice straw residue biomass for decentral-
ized electricity generation using high resolution Worldview-2
multispectral satellite image.
About 5414 ha (54% of the total study area) lands belong to
rice cropland in the study area of 10,000 ha. Variation in
spatial distribution of rice cropland and hence surplus straw
availability and electricity generation potential is observed
both at crop patch and village level. Annual surplus rice straw
residue potential in the entire study area is 5360 tonnes
(equivalent to 83,296 GJ of energy). Considering biomass
combustion route for electricity generation, 523.50 kW of
electricity could be generated from the surplus rice straw. At
village level, potential electric power capacity ranges between
4.45 kW and 28.69 kW.
There is scope of extending power distribution network in
nearby villages of the study as they also possess biomass en-
ergy resources. Considering the power crisis in India, the
findings of this work are expected to assist policy makers and
biomass energy developers in decision making process.
Particularly, this paper generated information on village level
rice straw residue availability and subsequently potential
electric power capacity. Such information is limited in the
India expect for few states.
Acknowledgments
The authors duly acknowledge DigitalGlobe, USA for
providing the WorldView-2 satellite image free of cost as a
part of the 8-band research challenge. Financial assistance for
laboratory facility is provided by Natural Resources Data
Management System (NRDMS) of Department of Science and
Technology, Govt. of India (NRDMS/11/1319/2007, dated 11/04/
2008) as a part of an research project.
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