To meet the power demands of rice mills, a small-scale unit based in Tanuka, Andhra Pradesh has developed a low-cost technology to generate electricity using rice husk. After three years of research, Associated Engineering Works have come up with the rice husk gasifier, which won them the department of scientific and industrial research's R&D award for 1999. The gasifier converts husk into a suitable gaseous fuel. The resultant gas is then used to generate electricity. The net carbon dioxide emissions from the gasifier are negligible and it has a system for ash removal as well as safe disposal, thus making the technology an eco-friendly one ( Nandini Chemical Journal, Vol 7, No 4).