Environmental Impact

Bamboo can clean the CO2 in the air, absorb the sewage water, removes Heavy Metals, Stop Soil Erosion, increase water holding capacity of the soil and reduce the Particle Matter in air. Due to the fact that Bamboo sequester highest Carbon, it cleans up the atmosphere from the Carbon Dioxide generated due to burning of Non-renewable energy resources such as Coal, oil for the benefit of human kind.

Bamboo being fastest growing plant, it utilizes huge quantity of carbon dioxide by the process of photosynthesis. Bamboo has 50% carbon in all its parts which is a result of carbon sequestration by bamboo. In a year fully matured Beema Bamboo sequesters Carbon Dioxide of over 450 Kgs per tree and reduces the level of Carbon Dioxide on a Environmental Sustainable way. Additionally, at the time of Sequestration bamboo releases up to 320 Kgs of Oxygen per tree in a year which is sufficient for one Human beings’ breath for the whole year.

Bamboo has a fibrous root system that is shallow and capable of holding 200 – 400 mm of rain water. The roots are able to assimilate macro and micro nutrient from sewage water and also cleans up the Heavy Metals if any. Thus, Bamboo is a Good scavenger crop to clean the Sewage / ETP water at a low cost and adding environmental benefit such as reduction in temperature, increase in Oxygen, reduction in bad odour and reduction in Particulate Matter (2.5 PM and 10 PM)

Bamboo leaves keeps growing, maturing and shedding on the ground that gets decomposed and increases the Soil Carbon, Organic content, reduces the pH in alkaline soil and decreases the soil Bulk Density. This improves the quality of the soil and restores even the degraded soil.

Guttation
Bamboo as Carbon Sink
Bamboo as a Air Purifier
Bamboo for Green Highway

Bamboo for Sewage water Clearance
Bamboo for Reclamation of Sodic Soil
Bamboo for Land restoration
Retains the Rain Water

Guttation

Guttation is the exudation of drops of xylem sap on the tips or edges of leaves of some vascular plants, INCLUDING BAMBOO. Dew is different with that of Guttation, which condenses moisture from the atmosphere onto the plant surface.

Excess water drawn by bamboo returns to the ground by the way of Guttation. Water droplets are formed on the Leaf for every 15 seconds, totalling to 4 drops a leaf and almost 4000 droplets per minute from a tree. Quantity increases depending on number of young leaves, high level of humidity in atmosphere and absence of transpiration loss of water through leaves. This phenomenon reverses the excess water back to mother Earth and increases the water utilization efficiency by bamboo.

During the day the plant releases water to the atmosphere by the process of transpiration through Stomata which helps the plant to keep absorbing nutrient and water. At night, transpiration usually does not occur, because most plants have their stomata closed. The soil moisture enters plant roots, because the water potential of the roots is lower than in the soil. The water will accumulate in the plant, creating a slight root pressure. The root pressure forces some water to exude through special leaf tip or edge structures, hydathodes or water glands, forming water drops. Root pressure provides the impetus for this flow, rather than transpiration pull. Guttation is most noticeable when transpiration is suppressed, and the relative humidity is high, such as during the night and in the early morning.

Bamboo as Carbon Sink

Bamboo being fastest growing plant, it utilizes huge quantity of carbon dioxide by the process of photosynthesis. Bamboo has 50% carbon in all its parts which is a result of carbon sequestration by bamboo. Bamboo can absorb Carbon Dioxide and release Oxygen into the atmosphere higher and quicker than all other trees. One Beema bamboo tree cleans 450 kgs of CO2 and releases 320 kg of O2 every year by the process of photosynthesis where radiant energy from Sun is converted into chemical energy in the form of wood and storing the Carbon to the extent of 50% in biomass.

Bio carbon capture takes place when the bamboo is grown either as individual tree or as Energy plantation in large scale. Bio carbon capture is at its best when the fast growing Beema Bamboo clone is grown with all the required nutrition provided scientifically, precisely and in time, which is known as "Precision Farming".

When fossil fuels are burnt, carbon is removed from below ground (gas and oil wells and coal mines) and release into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO2). This is a greenhouse gas that increases the risk of global warming. In contrast, Bamboo (like all other plants) removes CO2 from the atmosphere and incorporates it into plant tissue, both above and below the ground.

"Bio Carbon Capture" by bamboo is an approach to neutralize the fossil fuel emissions, based on capturing Carbon di-oxide from the atmospheric air by the process of photosynthesis by fast growing clones of bamboo-Beema, specially developed for high biomass production as bio-carbon sink. The carbon di-oxide can then be prominently stored in the woods of bamboo or can be used for generating Carbon Neutral Energy. Though the carbon di-oxide capture is done by all plants and trees, the special Beema bamboo developed absorbs 80 tons of carbon di-oxide per acre every year for next hundreds of years.

The average human inhales and exhales about 7 to 8 litres of air per minute in which 20% is oxygen. The annual average human demand for Oxygen is 280 Kgs while a single Bamboo tree can provide 320 Kgs that satisfies the requirement. Bamboo plantation absorbs 35% more CO2 and releases 35% more O2 than a regular tree plantation. Bamboo can be planted in parks and make them as Oxygen parks where the O2 will be released more and create a better environment around.

Bamboo as a Air Purifier

Bamboo has large quantity of leaves which is capable of reducing the Urban Pollution such as PM2.5, SO2, NOx, CO, CO2, VOCs specifically from the air and at the same time produce highest quality of O2 thus it is able to regulate particulate matter in cities.

Bamboo trees grown on the either side of the highway, acts as a natural barrier by reducing the noise and air pollution level. As bamboo is a fastest growing plant on earth, it reaches its maximum growth as "Pollution Filter" in 3 years’ time while other trees would take 25 years to reach its maximum growth to act as pollution filter.

Bamboo is able to adsorb PM2.5 to PM10 by the leaves ability to capture and ultimately mature leaves falls down and gets integrated into the soil.

Now a days the air quality has decreased drastically in both Metropolitan Cities and in towns due to the increase of fine particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) and 10 µm (PM10). PM 2.5 can easily pass through our nose and mouth, then penetrate the lungs, and subsequently cause a range of effects on humans, such as impaired lung function and the loss of haemoglobin ability to absorb Oxygen, eventually leading to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

Bamboo forests showed a strong reduction on Air Pollution, the concentration of atmosphere PM2.5, PM10, PAHs, VOCs decreases by bamboo in several experiments. The bamboo leaf is able to intercept PM 2.5 because of the leaf roughness, Pore Structure, Wax content, Hairy Structure on the Leaf surface. This varies for different species of Bamboo due to variation in the Leaf area Index and Surface Area Characteristics.

Bamboo for Green Highway – Carbon Neutral road

Vehicles moving on the highways derives energy from fuel by burning that converts one litre of fuel into 2.2 kg. of CO2 on an average. The CO2 emitted can be absorbed by planting rows of Beema bamboo on either side of the road. Bamboo as carbon sink plantation on either side of the road will keep on sequestering the CO2 emission from the road, making it a "CARBON NEUTRAL ROAD". Growing trees on both sides of the roads are a common practice but most of the trees planted are slow growing and hence slow carbon absorption. Beema bamboo being the fastest growing plant, it is able to clean up the CO2 faster.

By planting required number of fast growing Beema bamboo plants, we can make a road carbon neutral, which means the emission of CO2 by vehicle is proportionate to the amount of CO2 absorbed by the tree on both sides of the road. The carbon neutral road leaves no carbon foot print for the global warming and it will be one of the first step to make the country free from global warming. When one travels on a carbon neutral road, the fresh air picked up from the road during travel time shall have good level of oxygen as compared to regular roads with high level of CO2. Other than making the road carbon neutral, planting bamboo on both sides would provide excellent tunnelling effect and reduces the noise pollution, especially in roads passing through reserve forest with wild life.

CONCEPT:

Grow Bamboo on both sides of road as green belt. The harvested bamboo is processed to produce BioCNG and dispensed in the highway.

PRINCIPLE:

The newly developed Bamboo clone by name "Beema" is an excellent carbon sink, grows 1 ½ feet a day, producing biomass with 4,000 K.Cal. energy which is used as raw material for BioCNG generation. The variety is highly suitable to grow in all parts of India on the road sides. Harvested bamboo form 100 km on both sides is processed to produce 16.5 lak kgs of BioCNG/ year.

PROCESS:

Growing of Bamboo on Road side:

Bamboo is planted in rows on both sides of road at a close spacing and harvested from 3 years. It is grown as irrigated tree, with drip irrigation and fertigation. The green corridor is established with fast growing thick wall Bamboo species with no thorns, with higher cellulose content. The Bamboo is harvested partially and annually for the production of Bio-Energy.

Among many avenue trees for the road side Bamboo is a better alternative for a simple reason that it establishes and grows faster, sequesters highest level of Carbon Dioxide, regenerates and remains for several years and effectively used for production of Fuel such as Bio CNG, Bio- Ethanol and even Bio Oil.

Bamboo for Sewage water Clearance

Bamboo is the best Scavenger crop and suitable for Bio Remediation.

Disposal of municipal wastewater into rivers could affect water quality of river, marine biodiversity and threaten the existence of coral reefs. However, the same wastewater can be used as a ‘resource’ to enhance plant production, particularly for the biomass production for power generation.

Beema Bamboo grows very well with waste as well as sewage water, it can resist many environmental stresses, including too little or too much water and withstands the range of temperature anywhere between 2ºC to 48ºC. The fibrous root system of bamboo is shallow and is capable of holding the water to an extent of 200 to 400 mm and bamboo is able to assimilate macro and micro nutrient and also absorb Heavy metals from sewage water. One acre of Beema Bamboo will consume 40,000 litres of Sewage water per day.

Bamboo for Reclamation of Sodic Soil

Salinization of soils and ground water is a serious land degradation problem in arid and semi- arid areas and is increasing steadily in many parts of the world. Bio-drainage involves the planting of salt tolerant and fast transpiring trees to pump out the excess water and dissolved salts.

Bamboo plantation increases Soil Hydraulic conductivity, improves the physical properties of the soil, increases in soil organic matter content, porosity, water retention, structural stability and organic matter content of soil.

The rapid growth and the strong root systems make bamboo particularly suited for soil remediation. Soil salinity, sodicity and pH decreased significantly in the Bamboo Field top soil as a result of bamboo leaf shedding. Bamboo cultivation in sodic soil results in the improvement of biogeochemical characteristics of soil by increasing the water holding capacity, and by the addition of organic carbon, nutrients and microflora.

Microbial activity gets enhanced due to the accumulation of humus through decomposition of bamboo leaf litter and root decay. Further, there is also a significant reduction in soil bulk density and increases in porosity, water holding capacity, field capacity, permeability and infiltration rate. The potential extent of the biological rejuvenation of the sodic land was related to the distribution of bamboo roots in the soil profile. To obtain better results, suitable bamboo species as per the local climate should be selected in order to provide maximum and constant litter mulch throughout the year. This, in turn, would protect the land from desiccation. Thus, un-utilized waste sodic lands could be rehabilitated effectively to restore degraded environments through planting bamboo.

Planting Bamboo in a Sodic Soil needs special care and planning since bamboo cannot grow straight away in a Sodic Soil. One has to plan the plantation technique in advance in consultation with Soil Scientist or with our scientist as per the Specific Soil Test report, Soil Profile and quality of irrigation water.

Bamboo for Land restoration

Mine dumps and disused mines are environmentally hazardous and polluting the environment with dust particles and heavy metals. This is mainly because of the lack of green vegetation and trees, which finds difficult to grow on the poor soil. Bamboo can be made to grow by adapting modified planting technique.

The shallow rooted fibrous bamboo roots can hold the soil as well as hold the rain water and also increases soil microbial colonization. Growing Bamboo in the mine area increases the soil organic carbon and within 2 years time 80-90 % of the mine area can be greened.

Planting Bamboo in the mine area needs special method based on the soil test, water test, soil profile, age of mine soil and weather. Every mine has unique opportunity and problems. A detailed analysis should be taken based on which the planting should be taken with locally available resources. The leaf litter falling bamboo plantation keep increasing from the first year and reaches a level of 3.5 tons per acre in the fourth year and reaches a maximum of 4.0 tons per acre in the fifth year. The dried leaf when it degrades and absorbs the moisture and get converted into leaf compost and doubles in its weight. The fallen leaf degrades over a period of time which can be treated by appropriate micro-organism to degrade faster. The degraded leaf litter of bamboo increases the organic content of the soil, alters the CN ratio of the soil, and increases the beneficial microbial load and ultimately making the mine soil fertile. Once the bamboo establishes, the leaves shedding shall increase the organic carbon and naturalize the place and normalize over a period of 4 to 5 years.

Bamboo has a shallow rooting pattern, where the root depth does not go beyond 2 feet while laterally it can travel for 10 to 20 feet in all directions. The shallow rooted fibrous bamboo roots can hold the soil as well as hold the rain water to an extent of 200 to 400 mm of water and also increases soil microbial colonization and decreases the soil erosion.

Among many benefits of bamboo being used as biomass, the ash generation is very less as compared to many other biomass sources. In the integrated bamboo energy farming along with buy back arrangement, returning the ash back to the Bamboo farms balances the minerals and nutrients depleted from the soil and improve the sustainability of soil nutrient.

Retains the Rain Water

Bamboo has fibrous root system that grows up to a depth of 2 to 2 ½ from the ground surface. In a matured bamboo plantation of 4-5 years old, the root covers almost entire soil section to an extent of 30-40 % of the soil, the roots create anywhere between 200 to 400 mm of water. The excess water either goes as run off or charges the ground below where by increases the natural water table over a period of time.

Bamboo for Cofiring

Bamboo biomass can replace coal, either partially or completely. When the coal is replaced partly with bamboo biomass, it is cofiring of coal and bamboo, that reduces the cost, CO2 emission, SOX and NOX emission.

Cofiring is sustainable and moves towards renewable energy. Bamboo biomass has good calorific value, very low ash content as compared to coal and optimum combustion property when fired along with coal. Cultivated bamboo as energy plantation and used at the age of one year, doesn’t have ash deposition issues, corrosion, pollutant emission and short supply of biomass fuel.

Cofiring biomass residues with coal in traditional coal-fired boilers for electricity production or in cement production, generally represents one of the most cost-effective and efficient renewable energy options for adoption of climate change technology, which doesn’t need additional investment.

Bamboo is grown as energy plantation under high planting density and harvested when the bamboo biomass is one year old. The harvested bamboo is chipped and dried as per the requirement of the boiler. Most of the boiler can accept 20% of biomass by weight for cofiring along with the coal. The cost of bamboo biomass is lower than the cost of coal, especially when it is cultivated as captive energy plantation.

Generally, the operation cost is typically higher for biomass then for coal. But in the case of Beema bamboo cultivation as energy crop, the cost of biomass is less and effectively reducing the operation cost apart from reducing the pollution.

There are many power projects, cement manufacturing factories, mineral processing plant exploring the cofiring option. One must consider the existing boilers design and the firing process, to decide the percentage of bamboo biomass for cofiring. Similarly, based on the agroclimatic condition, soil test report, water test report, water availability, one must choose the right bamboo species and design the cultivation method.

Torrefied Bamboo

There has been increasing interest in the combustion of coal and biomass but the difference in combustion characteristics of biomass makes it difficult, some of the boilers to handle raw biomass for fuel. Torrefaction is a valid way to improve the properties of raw biomass for thermal conversion which alters biomass into a fuel more like coal.

Torrefaction is a process which biomass is converted into torrefied bamboo by heating at temperature of 300oc for one to two hours in a specially constructed kiln. The torrefied bamboo is enhanced with higher heating value, energy yield, energy density and reduction in volatile gases.