We crib about how dirty Bangalore has become over the years but the Institute of Wood Science and Technology (IWST) has decided to put the garbage to good use. IWST has installed a biogas plant.
SK Sharma, head, Wood Properties and Engineered Wood Division, IWST, is in charge of the plant. He said it takes care of all the cooking gas needs of its cafeteria, though only 10 per cent of the total kitchen waste is converted into biogas. “We have 80 to 90 quarters and a bucket is given to every house to store kitchen waste. A person from our office collects these buckets every day and stores them in a large container, which is later used for conversion into biogas. We also collect organic waste like dead trees, leaves, flowers, grass, etc and convert it into bio compost, which we again use in our nursery,” he said.
While the biogas plant that manages kitchen waste is four months old, the institution has been managing dry waste in its bio compost plant for a year now. They also have a neat process to clean up plastic and paper waste. Residents on campus sore out plastic and paper waste. Every two to four months, the accumulated plastic and paper are sold.
When asked if large scale implementation of the biogas project is possible, he said, “It is better to implement it on a large scale. Every day it can serve enough cooking gas for 200 to 300 people, with no recurring expenditure and is ideal for large establishments.” A biogas plant for industrial purposes will cost Rs 6.5 lakh.
— durbaduttabhaumik@gmail.com