CHENNAI: It may come as a surprise to many that a train in Sweden is powered by biogas. Yes, it is the world’s first biogas train, a 60-seater carrier that runs from Linkoping, south of Stockholm, to Vastervik, at a speed of 130 km per hour for approximately 600 km. Apart from this, all the 70 buses in Linkoping and about 400 cars and SUVs run on biogas, said Sivaraman Pandian, a researcher with Linkoping University, Sweden.
Speaking on the sidelines of the conference on “Waste to Energy”, he said about 25 per cent of vehicles in Sweden use biogas as fuel. And there are huge opportunities for India to learn from Sweden.
He said the Swedish government encourages people to use biogas as fuel. These include 50 per cent reduction on vehicle tax, and a subsidy of 1,000 euros. It also gives a subsidy of 30 per cent to invest in biogas production.
He said given India’s huge generation of sewage, there is phenomenal potential to generate biogas from sewage sludge. In fact, there is a pilot study being undertaken by the Swedish Gas Association, along with Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency and Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CWSSB) to look at the possibility of replicate the Swedish experience to run MTC buses on biogas.
Though the CWSSB chairman Shivdas Meena said it is still at a conceptual stage, the study commenced in March 2009, and is likely to be completed only by January 2010.
Pandian said Chennai’s existing sewage plants, after upgradation, would be able to generate enough methane to replace 30,000 litres of diesel to run approximately 450 buses. The buses will need minor modification so that they can run both on biogas and diesel, as biogas generation is generally hampered during rains.
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