Nishant Bioenergy Pvt. Limited

Nishant Bioenergy provides pellet fueled cooking stoves through local biomass-fuel pellet manufacturing facilities creating employment and saving the environment by replacing LPG stoves.

Energy Products/Services

• Carbon neutral biomass pellet “Earth Stove”
• Biomass-fuel pellets
• Biomass fuel pellet plant
• Carbon credit management with state of the art web based monotioring and evaluation program

Target Market

• Commercial kitchens cooking food for more than 100 people per day seeking a low cost alternative to conventional LPG or diesel stoves.
• Nishant’s solution provides pellet-fueled stoves that are half the cost to operate compared to these conventional stoves.
• Nishant estimates a market of more than 800,000 cook stoves across India. With ever increasing oil prices, schools, hospitals, and other kitchens are seeking low cost solutions that Nishant can provide.

Revenue Streams

• Sale of carbon neutral biomass briquette stoves
• Sale of biomass fuel pellets for own network of stoves and to existing briquette consumers (boilers and kilns)
• Sale of carbon offsets

Value Proposition

• Nishant provides pellet fuel technology along with innovative cook stoves through franchisees with exclusive territories. This creates local employment and stove users get a 50% reduction in fuel costs and are assured a trouble free supply of fuel and service.
• Each pellet production facility creates employment for 20-25 people in rural agricultural areas and saves around 1,300 tons of LPG.
• This saves about 3,800 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere, or the equivalent of 15 flights between Delhi and Washington DC.
• For every 10 stoves made, one new job is created.
• The stoves are carbon neutral because they release the carbon from the biomass that originally consumed carbon when they were alive.
• Nishant is currently the leading producer of biomass pellet stoves and pellet fuel  plants in India

Problem Addressed

• Despite heavy subsidization, LPG and other petroleum fuels are becoming increasingly expensive as well as remaining detrimental to the environment
• Many institutions that cook for large numbers of people (over 100 a day) are looking for cheaper alternatives to LPG
• Agricultural waste products from rural farming areas can be turned into pellets where otherwise they would have little use, giving farmers an extra source of income

Impact to Date

• 150 direct and indirect jobs created
• 1,500 tons of petroleum products saved from being burned

Product Sourcing

• Stoves are designed and build by Nishant in their factory
• Fuel pellets are produced in pellet manufacturing facilities located off-site near agricultural areas across India
• The biomass comes from local farmers

Distribution

• Nishant sells its stoves through the pellet manufacturer and its own network of distributors called Green Entrepreneurs
• Using its own employees and a network of franchise distributors who are linked to the pellet producing facilities and receive ongoing revenue from fuel sales
• The Green Entrepreneurs start small, purchasing and servicing 5-10 stoves and gradually scaling up to service 50-100, providing both maintenance and pellets
• Distributors achieve a 20%-30% profit margin

Affordability

• The biomass stoves and their associated fuel savings provide a cheaper alternative to conventional LPG stoves particularly to private customers who do not receive a fuel subsidy (such as private schools and hospitals)
• Nishant allows customers to purchase on credit and use the savings from their fuel costs to pay back the cost of the product
• Carbon credits help to offset the cost of stoves and pellet manufacturing plants

Financing

• Initially financed by borrowing from family and friends and a government grant of $4,000
• Ashden Award in 2005 worth $50,000 helped to get the company scaling more rapidly
• Sale of products generates revenue, most of which is invested back in the company
• Nishant recently entered a 10 year $4M contract with MyClimate-Switzerland  for the sale  of carbon credits

Description

• The Earth Stove is a patented pending technology with several different models and applications. The stove is made from heavy steel and is duly insulated to maintain high temperatures.
•  It has a DC blower, which provides primary, torrential, and secondary hot air to the combustion chamber.
• The stove has a fuel-feed chute and a trap door at the bottom to allow for ash removal during cooking (usually needed every 6-8 hours).
• The ES4D-AF has an automated fuel feed, which allows for very precise control of fuel feed and air, allowing the user to tailor the stove to his/her needs.

Technical Data

Fuel consumption Comparison