Waste produced in this market lights up 170 shops3 min read

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It must have been long since you have gone to a vegetable market. But, do you remember how it was? Apart from the vibrancy of the calls of the vendors, and the haggling, the marketplace is also generating an enormous amount of waste on a daily scale. What exactly can we do with all this wet waste?

Here’s an answer to that solution!

The Bowenpally market in Hyderabad uses vegetable waste to power street lights and shops. No, we’re not joking.

The market uses 10 tonnes of waste to produce 30 kilograms of biogas, and 500 units of electricity daily. It powers the shops, street lights, and a cold storage unit. The biogas has also replaced the LPG cooking gas in the market canteen.

The whole market uses 800-900 units of electricity. 80% of its needs are met through this renewable source!

How did it start?

Hyderabad-based Ahuja Engineering Services Pvt. Ltd, an organisation that has been setting biogas plants all over India, has set up an entire unit of biogas plant in an allocated space of 30 meters by 40 meters in the market. This plant was the first plant of such a huge capacity that the company planted.

The plant was set up under the guidance of the Chief Scientist of the Council Of Scientific and Industrial Research–Indian Institute Of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT), Dr A Gangagni Rao. 

What is biogas?

Biogas is a mixture of gases made by breaking down organic matter (animal excreta, plant waste etc) in the absence of oxygen. This mixture is a biofuel, and can be used to generate electricity. It can also function as a vehicle fuel!

Earlier, a model using the same technology was attached to a poultry farm in Hyderabad with a capacity of 250 kilograms. This spurred further research on ways to convert vegetable waste to biogas in 2006. By 2011, the process was tested confirming its applicability.

How does it work?

The waste is collected from the market by a designated team on a daily basis. This waste is then brought to the plant where it is treated.

The waste is first converted into a slurry. After this, it is acted upon by bacteria (bacteria consortium) to release methane. In separate tanks, the resultant biogas is collected and supplied directly to the kitchen for cooking. The biofuel is directed to a 100% biogas generator which is used to power shops, street lights, and storage rooms.

This process also generates strong manure that can be used for farming.

Think with Owliver:

Have you ever wondered where the organic waste from your kitchen goes? If you have the space, how would you like to create a garden out of this waste? You can do that by simply composting. Watch the video below for the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of composting!

Sourced from The Better India