biogas plant to fuel its energy needs

Biogas Plant (Gobar Gas Plant)

In what could be termed as a commendable effort in the field of green energy usage, Arul Anandar College at Karumathur near Madurai has come up with a biogas plant in its campus that uses human and kitchen waste to produce cooking gas.
Located on the outskirts of the city, the college in collaboration with the Sulabh International Social Service Organisation has set up the facility that endorses the use of clean energy. The biogas plant was inaugurated during the 42nd college day celebrations on Friday, March 23. This biogas plant was the first of its kind in a college set up.
Speaking about the initiative, Principal Xavier Vedam said, “Along with various rural development activities taken up by the college, we thought of coming up with a biogas plant to use green energy from kitchen and human waste generated on the campus. Sulabh International has been installing such plants in many parts of the country but were collaborating with a college for the first time.”
Sulabh contributed Rs 5 lakh of the Rs 9 lakh project. The plant became operational from February and the monthly LPG usage has come down by 30 per cent. “We will be happy to guide others who want to install a similar kind of biogas plant in their institutions,” Vedam added.
Environ India, a Nagercoil based industry involved in setting up the biogas plant, installed the plant in the college. “The biogas plant uses anaerobic processes to produce methane from kitchen and human waste which is then used for cooking purposes. Organic waste management is a concern and if not disposed properly. Hence, setting up a biogas plant can be very useful for even a small household. The biogas plant made of FRP (fibre reinforced plastic) requires zero maintenance and is leakage-free unlike the conventional iron domes used earlier,” Selva Baskar of Environ India said.