Reuse of Locally Available Paddy Waste in Sugar Industries: A Potential Source of Additional Income for Sugar Mills During Sugarcane Off-Season

Rice husk is abundantly available in the local vicinity of sugar mills; hence it can be utilised as biomass in the nearby cogeneration boilers of sugar mills. Consequently, sugar mills will produce additional revenue during the sugarcane off-season. This mitigates the need to develop multiple new biomass-based power facilities. Hence, synergistic use of rice husk in the sugar mills is attempted in the study. Besides, this study also aims to identify suitable sites for the establishment of new biomass-powered facilities by examining the feasibility of utilising the pre-existing sugar mills and thermal plants. Location suitability analysis and sensitivity analysis were performed to determine and assess the stability of the suitability index results. The findings of the study demonstrated that the mean suitability index value of Telangana state is 29.75. A total of 12 out of the 33 districts were identified as having a suitability value that exceeds the average suitability index, indicating the necessity for the establishment of new plants. The criteria C1 and C2 have significant influence on the location suitability when compared with criteria C3. 10 locations were identified to be suitable in Telangana state for the establishment of new biomass-based power plants. In addition, 11 pre-existing sugar mills and thermal power plants are identified in the radius range of 2–90 km, which has the potential to generate additional revenue. Only 1.2% of carbon is found to be emitted in rice husk-based power generation compared with coal power generation.