Venerated as incarnations of Hindu deities, India's sacred cows are also being touted as agents of energy transition by a government determined to promote biogas production to cut its dependence on coal. It is an understatement to say that Nakul Kumar Sardana is proud of his new plant at Barsana, in India's northern Uttar Pradesh state. Firstly, says the vice-president of a biomass joint venture between India's Adani Group and France's TotalEnergies, because it occupies "one of the holiest sites in the world".
A four-hour drive south of the smog-filled capital New Delhi, among fields bristling with brickyard smokestacks, the small town of Barsana welcomes pilgrims who come to honour the Hindu goddess Radha. But Sardana is also proud because his methanisation plant that opened in March is the "most technologically advanced and the largest biogas facility" in India. It was built in Barsana to be as close as possible to its raw fuel -- cattle dung and harvest stubble.
"This region is home to a million cows," he said. "Their dung has been used as fuel for centuries in cooking". Cows have been blamed for contributing to global warming because they produce methane -- a powerful greenhouse gas -- in their manure or when they belch.
But in this case, the region is finding a creative use for the waste produced by the cattle, which are used for their milk. Eating them is taboo for many Hindus. Stalks left behind after the rice harvest -- that would otherwise be burned -- join the slurr.
