Question

What are the main constituents of biogas?
A) Methane and carbon monoxide
B) Butane and carbon monoxide
C) Methane and carbon dioxide
D) Ethylene and carbon dioxide

Answer 1

Hint:
Energy is required for all activities. For example, it is needed to cook, to drive machinery in industries, to propel vehicles, and to provide light and heat. Biogas is an example of a Non-Conventional source of energy.

Complete Answer:
The growing rate of consumption of energy is nowhere close to the actual rate at which these minerals are formed. As a result, our country has become increasingly dependent on fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal. Uncertainties about the security of energy supply in the future have been raised by the rising prices of oil and gas and their potential shortages. Besides, the increasing use of fossil fuels also has serious environmental threats. Therefore, there is an immediate need to use renewable energy sources like energy from waste material, solar energy, tidal energy, wind energy, and biomass. These sources of energy are called Non-Conventional sources of energy or renewable sources of energy.
India is blessed with an abundance of renewable sources of energy like biomass, sunlight, water, and wind. There are plans being made for the development of these renewable energy resources.
Animal and human waste, shrubs, and farm waste are used to produce biogas for domestic consumption in rural areas. The organic waste is decomposed by bacteria in biogas digesters to release biogas which is essentially a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide. The gas yielded by the decomposition of organic matter has higher thermal efficiency in comparison to charcoal, kerosene, and dung cake. Biogas plants are set up at individual, municipal, and cooperative levels. In rural India, the plants using cattle dung are known as ‘Gobar Gas plants’. These plants provide to the farmers the twin benefits of energy and improved quality of manure.

Thus, option (C) is correct.

Note:
Biogas is by far the most efficient use of cattle dung. It prevents the loss of trees and manure due to the burning of fuelwood and cow dung cakes and also improves the quality of manure.