Biomass gasifier based institutional cooking in India: a preliminary financial evaluation

The unit cost of thermal energy for biomass gasifier-based institutional cooking systems has been estimated and compared with that for LPG and coal-based institutional cooking options. It works out to Rs 0.37/MJ for a 29 kWth (25 000 kcal/h) biomass gasifier system while for a 291 kWth (250 000 kcal/h) system it is Rs 0.23/MJ. Biomass gasifier-based institutional cooking systems are always financially more attractive than corresponding coal-based systems and are even better than LPG-based systems for capacities over 58 kWth.