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| Vanimel Panchayat, Kozhikode |
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While at other places, disposal of solid waste is a problem to be solved, staff at the Vanimel Panchayat Office and the nearby merchants are concerned about something else. They are anxious whether enough solid waste would be available in the Panchayat to run their newly commissioned biogas plant.
Theirs is the 2nd such plant in Kerala and is capable of converting 250kg of organic waste into electricity everyday. The 3 to 5 Kilowatts of energy generated by the plant is used mainly to light 24 CFL lamps in the Panchayat Office and nearby streets. In addition, the electricity is used to run the machinery in the plant.
Earlier even strikes had been witnessed over the disposal of waste from fish market and meat shops. From such a sorry state to a situation where waste is not to be seen at all, is an exciting transformation. And the organization that gave the technical inputs to the Panchayat in this venture was Biotech, a nodal agency of the Central Department of Non Conventional Energy Sources.
The working of the plant is very simple. Collection of decaying organic waste is followed by segregation of such waste from sand and stones. The big organic pieces are chopped into small bits by the machine and are mixed with water before being fed into the plant. Gas generated by the action of micro-organisms is cleaned and fed into the generator to produce electricity.
The byproduct of the process, the waste water that is generated, is odourless and can be used in the plant itself in lieu of water. In due course, this waste discharged from the plant can be used as good manure.
The total cost of the 5 KW plant was Rs.7.95 lakhs.
Courtesy: Prakash Mathew, Malayala Manorama, September 7, 2004
Contributed by: Administrator
