Feasibility assessment of renewable energy resources for tea plantation and industry in India-A review

In tea production, India ranks second largest in the world, after China. Indian tea industry is one of the largest in the world and with over 13,000 gardens and produces 1350 million kg of tea leaves. Tea production and processing require electrical and thermal energy in various processes such as irrigation, withering, rolling, fermentation, drying, sorting/grading, and packaging. To produce one kg of tea requires thermal and electrical energy in the range of 4.45-6.84 kWh and 0.4-0.7 kWh respectively. In tea gardens, diesel generators are commonly used for irrigational needs in off-grid areas. In tea industry, fossil fuels such as coal, low sulphur diesel are mostly used to encounter the thermal energy needs and these energy sources heavily pollute the environment. This is a serious cause of concern for all including national and international agencies. These conventional fuels may be replaced by suitable renewable energy resources to meet the energy demand of tea plantations and industries. The identification of suitable renewable energy technologies to satisfy the energy requirement of both tea plantation and industry for north-eastern states and the southern part of India are reviewed extensively and the technological barriers are delineated.