On November 1st 2021 Invest International signed a commercial agreement for development capital meant for business incubator Humankind Group (HKG). With this grant Invest International supports the preparation for constructing the first of a series of biomass plants in India to generate biogas and soil enhancement products from agricultural waste from rice straw through anaerobic digestion.
The contribution of 200.000 euros is part of a 1.5 million euros development package in which also the Dutch Fund for Climate and Development (DFCD) participates. The investment is used for early project development activities, a Feasibility Study and a scaling-up strategy for generating green energy from rice straw in India.
Read more on what we doRice straw is a waste product of rice harvest. In many rice producing countries the amount of rice straw generated is often bigger than the rice production itself. The use of rice straw is considered uneconomical and therefore it is burned. This traditional burning is a high contributor to air pollution and smog in India, a country in which more than 1.67 million people died from air pollution in 2019.
But rice straw is a very valuable waste product that can be recycled into green energy and biofertilizer with HKG’s biomass technology.
“By scaling-up the technology and opening two biomass plants in India we will contribute to less carbon emissions and thus cleaner air, and generate extra income for rice farmers in India. We can create so much value out of the waste that we can pay farmers for their waste to recycle. A win-win situation towards a more sustainable future”, states Mike van den Hof, Managing Partner at Humankind Group.
“By scaling-up the technology and opening biomass plants in India we will contribute to less carbon emissions and thus cleaner air.”
Mike van den Hof
Managing Partner Humankind Group
The project will have significant impact on both the environment, health and social issues and the economy. It impacts Climate Action (SDG 13) and contributes to Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8).
“Producing biogas from waste is not new, but from rice straw it is. This technology has such a huge potential. It can change the way how rice farmers work in India and give them new opportunities. Besides improving the lives of Indian farmers. A fairly unique agriculture project”, says Femke Bos, Director Business Development, Strategy & IESG at Invest International.
Read more on our view on impactWhen the project development phase is completed, an investment decision will be made at the beginning of 2022. If all goes according to plan, at the end of the year the first plant in India should be up and running.
The traditional burning of rice straw is a high contributor to air pollution and smog in India, a country in which more than 1.67 million people died from air pollution in 2019.
Humankind Group is a business incubation, development, acceleration and investment firm focused on creating innovative, highly scalable and commercially viable businesses and ecosystems to improve human lives and heal the planet. Besides having a substantial base in the Netherlands, HKG will also use Dutch technology for the first plant such as the Adverio design for the anaerobic digestion facility, Pentair technology and E3 project management capabilities.
