Biogas Plant - A Success Story from Trivandrum
Last couple of times when I visited
my house, I noticed one distinct thing – the number of crows and stray dogs
have reduced considerably. I realized that this was possible due to the
installation of 1m3 capacity biogas plant in my house. Biogas plant not
only provides part of the energy that is required in our house, but it also
helps to keep our house clean. I am publishing an interview with my parents who
have installed this plant in our house and making it run successfully since
then so that it can serve as an inspiration for someone to install the same in
their house.
When and why did you decide to install biogas plant in your house?
First thought of biogas plant came
when government increased the price of cooking gas and imposed a restriction on
number of cylinders. Our passion for use of non-conventional energy also played
a role. We have long back installed solar panels in our house that is used to
heat the water we use daily in our house.
These days Kerala government is encouraging people to install biogas
plant so that solid waste generated in the corporation/municipalities can be
treated at source itself. Did you get any help from the government for
installing this biogas plant?
The plant was installed by
BIOTECH – a Government of India company. The total cost of this 1m3
plant is Rs 23,000/- and the government gave us a subsidy of Rs 5,000/-. The installation
is free and has a warranty of 20 years.
Can you enlighten us more about this biogas plant in your house –
details such as how much gas it generates in a day, what type of waste needs to
be used and any other important considerations?
The 1m3 plant is ideal
for a nuclear family of four members. Almost all the waste from kitchen generated
from vegetables, fruits, food, fish and meat can be used. The liquid generated
during initial washing (without soap) can also be used. Thus 3 kilogram of
solid waste and 20 liters of wastewater (coming out of washings) is required every
day for the optimum generation of biogas. Make sure that you do not put in any
dry leaves, waste from lemon related fruits, onion peal, hard materials that is
not easily biodegradable.
Our idle time can
be used to fill the plant. No technical know-how is needed. Once these waste
materials are fed, methane gas will be produced 4 hours after application till 24 hours and under
optimum conditions, a single stove could provide gas for 3 hour duration.
How many hours a day you spend on a day to make this biogas unit work?
It just requires 30 minutes of
your time daily.
So all the waste generated in the house (other than of course plastic)
goes into your biogas plant. Now can you tell me any other advantages you have
observed using biogas plant other than three hours of cooking fuel it
generates?
Cleanliness of the surroundings
is the main advantage. There is an appreciable reduction in the stray dogs
wandering in our house. There is also huge reduction in crows or rats or houseflies around compared
to the time when we did not have a biogas plant.
You told that you are getting three hours of cooking fuel from this
biogas plant. Obviously the consumption of LPG cylinder you use to buy
regularly could have reduced considerably. Can you please tell us how many
cylinders you use before installation of biogas plant and now in your house?
Earlier we used eight cylinders
per year and also we used induction cooker daily for an hour. Now we don’t use
induction cooker at all. From the point of view of electricity we are saving close
of 45 units per month. Earlier LPG gas cylinders were purchased almost every 45
days but after installation of biogas plant, LPG cylinder last for close to 75
days. We now require only 5 gas cylinders per year instead of 8 we used to have
when we did not have biogas plant in our house.
What do you do with the slurry (waste) from the biogas plant? Is it
easy to dispose off?
The slurry obtained is a good
source of organic manure. The concentrated liquid obtained can be diluted and
is ideal as manure for banana plantation and various vegetables. We believe if
waste from vegetable market and hotels are used in biogas plant, the manure
will be more efficient. We use these manure in our backyard and we are seeing a
appreciable improvement in the growth of all the vegetables and banana plantation.
Any advice to anyone thinking of installing a biogas plant like this in
their house?
Anyone can install this in their house
if one person can spend about 30 minutes a day in preparing the feed for the
biogas plant.
Do you mind if others contact you for details?
Interested people can contact us
over phone or visit us to understand its working, space required to install it
and other technical aspects of this biogas plant. We are more than happy to
help them out. Our phone number to contact is 0471-2384950.
6 Comments:
Brijesh,
Any pointers/suggestions if I want to get this setup at my hometown (Chennai)?
Good insights of a biogas plant..
Many Thanks ! I learnt about your post from Shashi Tharoor ji's tweet. Could you please post the contact details of the manufacturers of the biogas plant? I live in Dharamsala, H.P. but basically i am from Karnataka. Thanks!
Nice reading about your set up Sir.
But I believe there are many more precautions one needs to take while feeding the system . An excess amount of feed material can cause disruption in some form. Also can you tell us ,if you are able to arrange that amount of waste everyday! . And kindly also tell about such system installers in other states say UP. Or any link for the same..Thanks..
The company website is biotech-india.org and you can contact them for more details
Another important aspect in smoother running of a bio gas plant based on solid waste is how effectively one can avoid the choking of the plant.
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