Biogas production, Modachinnapally, near Hyderabad

Written by Abishek Bharadwaj / 12 January 2009 / Read Abishek Bharadwaj's latest blog entries.

Biogas production is a solution we have come across again and again across India, utilising a wealth of different organic waste feed-stocks in each location. One of the most exciting examples has been bio-gas cooking in the village Modachinnapally, on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

With the rising costs of L.P.G and the additional transportation costs, the villagers discovered the most pragmatic way of cooking, using the bio-gas. All they needed is a resource they already possessed, the GOBAR. The mixture of gobar and water is fed into an underground cemented tank where bacteria promotes catalytic breakdown of molecules to release bio-gas which is supplied through a tube to the kitchen after which they can control the flow of the gas using a conventional regulator. This is a flawless example of sustainable development.

In the video created about our visit to this solution, Chaitanya Kumar, our Hyderabad city coordinator for Indian Youth Climate Network, explains the simple beauty of a biogas plant in a village nearby to Hyderabad. He explains that biogas is able to be a solution to so many issues. By using cow dung more effectively and capturing methane (a greenhouse gas, six times more potent than carbon dioxide), while also reducing biomass being cut down from local forests and burned inside the home, use of biogas is a clear climate solution. But it also reduces indoor air pollution from burning wood indoors, reduces the time of women and children spent collecting fuelwood, and saves local forests (and watersheds). Plus, for people already using gas to cook, they don't have to purchase it any longer, saving thousands of rupees a year!

There are amazing biogas plants all across India, and this is one example of one of the most exciting solutions that we found in India. We also found incredible organizations and most excitingly young people that are implementing biogas plants, including students at the Vellore Institute of Technology and graduates of BITS Pilani who founded NextGen PMS. Using biogas for large scale energy generation or household scale cooking use is an exciting and inspiring solution to climate change, and local enviornmental issues, too. Kartikeya spent a year looking at biogas applications across India and shared some exciting solutions found during his experiences, too.