Biogas out of Kitchen Waste – Plant inaugurated in Hyderabad

With assistance from a scientist of the Indian Institute of ChemicalTechnology (IICT), the residents of a colony in Gun Rock Enclave Colony-Phase II in Secunderabad Cantonment are turning their kitchen waste into biogas using a 'modular digester'. This project was conceived and has been executed by Johny Joseph, who works at the Bioengineering and Environmental Centre at IICT.

During the initial stages, the digester was prepared for kitchen waste disposal. However, the design of the equipment was tweaked to generate biogas. In this anaerobicdigestion process, micro-organisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen and generate methane as a byproduct.

The biogas plant does not require any technical expertise for its operation. About 40-50 kg of kitchen refuse such as vegetables/greens/fruit peels and eggshells can be dropped into the wide-mouthed feed tank. This tank is fitted with a tight lid and the garbage undergoes multistage digestion within the cascade digester. The biogas generated can be utilised for cooking purposes. Almost 50 kg of kitchen waste can generate enough biogas to take care of the cooking needs of a family of three to four.

This environment-friendly project is being funded by the Union ministryof new and renewable energy and costs approximately Rs 1.40 lakh. 70% of the funding has come from IICT and 30%, by the colony residents.

SCB chief executive officer S Balakrishna, who inaugurated the facility, said the SCB was ready to contribute in case any residential colony wants to set up the modular digester. 


Source: TOI Hyderabad