KITCHEN WASTE TO COOKING GAS

E-Weekly-3/6

Green Earth Movement

An E-Newsletter for the cause of Environment, Peace, Harmony and Justice

Remember - “you and I can decide the future”

Every year, about 55 million tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) and 38 billion liters of sewage are generated in the urban areas of India. In addition, large quantities of solid and liquid wastes are generated by industries. Waste generation in India is expected to increase rapidly in the future. As more people migrate to urban areas and as incomes increase, consumption levels are likely to rise, as are rates of waste generation.  It is estimated that the amount of waste generated in India will increase at a per capita rate of approximately 1-1.33% annually.  This has significant impacts on the amount of land that is and will be needed for disposal, economic costs of collecting and transporting waste, and the environmental consequences of increased MSW generation levels.

Most wastes that are generated, find their way into land and water bodies without proper treatment, causing severe water

pollution. They also emit greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide, and add to air pollution. Any organic waste from urban and rural areas and industries is a resource

due to its ability to get degraded, resulting in energy generation.

The problems caused by solid and liquid wastes can be significantly mitigated through the adoption of environment-friendly waste-to-energy technologies that will allow treatment and processing of wastes before their disposal. These measures would reduce The quantity of wastes, generate a substantial quantity of energy from them, and greatly reduce environmental pollution. India’s growing energy deficit is making the government central and state governments become keen on alternative and renewable energy sources. Waste to energy is one of these, and it is garnering increasing attention from both the central and state governments.

VAST POTENTIALAccording to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), there existsA potential of about 1700 MW from Urban waste (1500 from MSW and 225 MW from sewage) and about 1300 MW from industrial waste. The ministry is also actively promoting the generation of energy from waste, by providing subsidies and incentives for the projects. Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) estimates indicate that India has so far realized only about 2% of its waste-to-energy potential. A market analysis from Frost and Sullivan predicts that the Indian municipal solid waste to energy market could be growing at a compound annual growth rate of 9.7% by 2013.

The following chart explains how community gains by opting for Waste To Energy project.

Waste To Energy (WTE) BasicsOrganic waste deposited in a landfill decomposes over time, releasing a mixture of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.  Gasification controls and accelerates the natural decomposition process to create synthesis gas (syngas), which is used to generate power. This technology is not new; inthe mid-1800’s many Large cities used gasification to produce the gas used for street Lighting.

Technologies for the Generation of Energy from Waste

Biogas is produced when organic matter is broken down by microorganisms in the absence of oxygen, called anaerobic digestion. This process occurs Naturally in many environments with limited oxygen, for instance in marshes, rice fields and in the stomach of ruminants. The gas can also be produced by fermentation of bio-gradable materials.

In a gas plant the natural process is utilized by adding - or pump - organic matter into a digester, which is a completely airtight container. In the digester a raw biogas is formed plus a nutritious digestate which can be used for fertilizer, which shall not be mixed up with sludge!

The gas content comprises mainly methane (55-70%) and carbon dioxide (30-45%). It may have some small amounts of ammonia, nitrogen, hydrogen sulphide, moisture and siloxanes.

WTE STEP-BY-STEPAll technologies that convert waste-to-energy involve the same basic steps.

1. Waste pre-processing: Waste is delivered to the facility and processed for the delivery to the gasifier.2. Conveyance:  Systems will generally include some sort of conveyor to move the pre - processed waste to the gasifier.

3. Gasifier:  All technologies put the waste into a chamber that is essentially an organic waste pressure cooker.  While gasifiers are all different in some way, using multiplechambers or processing waste at differing combinations of time, temperature and pressure, all essentially perform the same function – the conversion of organic waste into syngas.  Gasification is not incineration; the oxygen content is controlled during the process to ensure that the waste is never combusted or burned.

4. Steam & Power Creation:  Syngas moves from the gasifier to a boiler where the syngas is combusted, with heat creating steam that powersturbines to generate power.

5. Treatment of Flue Gas:  Any flue gas is treated so That system emissions meet all applicable air quality systems.

The Gas Can Be Used For Different Purposes• Heating purposes, such as cooking. • Run generators and make electricity.• Be compressed and used in combustion engines.• Waste recycling when waste matter is a feedstock.

Biomethane is the generic term for gases consisting mainly of methane and produced from biomass. Biomethane is the name being referred to when biogas has been cleaned and upgraded to the same standard as natural gas (fossil gas). When this upgrading is done the methane content is about 98%. Different pollutants are removed and the gas becomes completely odorless.

Indian Government Support for Waste to Energy

The Indian Government has recognized waste to energy as a renewable technology and supports it through various subsidies and incentives. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is actively promoting all the technology options available for energy recovery from urban and industrial wastes. MNRE is also promoting the research on waste to energy by providing financial support for R&D projects on cost sharing basis in accordance with the R&D Policy of the MNRE.  In addition to that, MNRE also provides financial support for projects involving applied R&D and studies on resource assessment, technology up-gradation and performance evaluation. 

INDIA IS FAR BEHIND IN BIO-GAS TECHNOLOGY!Compared to the biogas programme In China, where seven million Household and community biogas systems have been successfully Installed. India has a long way to go to realise the benefits of biogas technology. China, through the creation of effective institutions and by placing an emphasis on training and education, has achieved widespread dissemination of biogas technology (Ruchen, 1981, Daxiong et al, 1990), though the social organisation may particularly facilitate the spread of new, community-focused technologies.

Most biogas plants which are currently in operation In India and elsewhere are designed for animal manure as Their main feedstock, and are therefore used in rural areas. Whereas in cities, a majority of the people use LPG or kerosene for cooking. The immediate benefit from owning a compact biogas system is the savings in cost as compared to the use of kerosene or LPG for cooking. The up-front cost of a biogas system is higher than for LPG, since an LPG bottle plus a two burner stove costs only INR 5,000 (spprox. USD 100) whereas the compact biogas plan plus a biogas stove costs about INR 10,000 (approx. USD 200). However, the operational cost for biogas is only about INR 2 per day if waste flour is used as feedstock, and can be zero if the plant uses only food wastes. This is much cheaper than LPG, which costs about INR 30 per day, even with the current subsidy of 50%. Biogas can easily replace 50% of the LPG used by a family. Some families who use a pressure cooker for cooking and collect food waste from their neighbours have replaced all their LPG use.

Purchasing your own compact biogas system: Cost & Payment

ARTI’s trained technicians install the biogas plants using locally available plastic tanks (commonly used For water storage) and a plumbing kit supplied by Samuchit Enviro-Tech (SET) Pvt. Ltd., a company set up by members of ARTI. SET also supplies a single burned biogas stove made of cast iron, and a gas cock. This set, consisting of the plumbing kit and a single burner biogas stove, costs INR 2350 (M.R.P. inclusive of taxes and transport anywhere in India). The total estimated cost of the compact biogas system for a typical household (around 1000-1500 lit capacity) is about INR 10,000, but the actual cost may vary based on local prices of plastic tanks and local labour costs. For more information, please contact us at arti_pune@vsnl.net  .

SEE THE NEXT SLIDE FOR THE CONTACT DETAILS OF OTHER BIO-GAS CONSULTANTS

WASTE TO ENERGY CONSULTANTS(List not exhaustive - courtesy: Internet)

1] DELHI - Envo Projects, Mobile : 9899300371, email: saleemasraf@gmail.com, web: http://saleemindia.blogspot.com 2] NEW DELHI - ASPES SOLAR ,# 532, NEW DELHI, CONTACT – 9899424681 3] MUMBAI - BHABHA ATOMIC RESEARCH CENTRE, Tel : 091-022-5505337/559389, Fax : 091-022-5505151, Email : headttcd@barc.gov.in 4] PUNE – APPROPRIATE RURAL TECHNOLOGY INDIA, Email - arti_pune@vsnl.net 5] THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - BIOTECH CORPORATE OFFICE, Phone : +91-471-2331909, 2321909, 2332179, Fax :-91-471-2332179, Email – biotechindia@eth.net, Website : www.biotech-india.org 6] KOCHI, e-mail is - svnot@ yahoo .com, Mobile 0 99 47 06 48 62 7] COCHIN - Synod Bioscience (P) Ltd, Ph: 0484 4070404, Mob: +919995994291, Email: info@synod.in 8] KANYAKUMARI - Vivekananda Kendra, phone: 04652 246296 and 04652 -247126. cell. 9486942769 ; e-mail - vknardep@gmail.com 9] HYDERABABD - Renewable Energy and Environmental Service Enterprise(REESE), Email: kartheek@getreese.com, Mobile: +91-99897 99892 10] CHENNAI - EAI - Energy Alternatives India, Tel. + 91 90435 39679, Email : madhavanv@eai.in 11] SALEM - Arjun Energy Corporation, Ph: +91 427 2417121/51/91. +91 94433 75577, energyexperts1@gmail.com 12] BANGALURU - Scalene Greenergy Corporation Ltd, Tel: +91 (0)80 2546 77 88, Fax: +91 (0)80 2549 55 66, www.scalenegreenergy.com , info@scalenegreenergy.com

This PowerPoint Presentation is prepared by GEM (Green Earth Movement) Team.

Other GEM PowerPoint Presentations are: 1. Zero Garbage2. Solar Energy

3. Junk Food4. Twenty Tips To Save Nature

5. Plastic – a boon or bane 6. Green Passion.

7. Think before your drinkThese PPP CDs may be downloaded from our website:

www.stfrancisxavierpanvel.in – refer GEM sectionOr contact : gemenewsletter@gmail.com,

panvelchurch@gmail.com