Telangana generates electricity from vegetable waste
PM Modi Praises Hyderabad’s Bowenpally Sabzi Mandi innovative efforts at ‘Man
Ki Baat’~
The
Bowenpally Vegetable Market has caught Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attention
for its innovative waste management system. PM praised the one-of-its-kind
bioelectricity, biofuel and bio-manure generation project during one of Mann Ki
Baat episodes. Stating that the market’s waste is now being turned into wealth,
PM said, “We have observed that in
sabzi mandis, vegetables rot due to multiple reasons, spreading unhygienic
conditions. However, traders at Hyderabad’s Bowenpally Sabzi Mandi decided to
produce electricity out of waste vegetables. This is the power of innovation.”
A few
years ago, generating electricity from vegetable waste would have been a
far-fetched idea, but not anymore. Hyderabad’s Bowenpally Vegetable Market has
turned this into reality. Nearly 10 tons of waste is collected every day in the
market, which earlier used to end up in landfills, but is now the major source
of electricity for the vegetable market.
Srinivas,
Secretary, Bowenpally’s vegetable market, highlighted that every ounce of
vegetable and fruit waste collected from this market is used to generate around
500 units of electricity and 30 kg of biofuel. The electricity generated
provides electricity to streetlights, 170 stalls, an administration building,
and the water supply network. Meanwhile, the biofuel produced is pumped to the
market's commercial kitchen. The Biogas plant is now called the "path to a
sustainable future”. The canteen in the market is being run by the electricity
generated through the plant established. The market yard requires 650-700 units
of power and about 7-8 tons of vegetable waste generated to produce 400 units
of electricity on average. As a result, the marketplace is also kept clean and
pollution free. Various international delegates have also visited the plant and
appreciated our efforts.”
Bowenpally’s
waste-to-energy plant generates employment for women by providing opportunities
for them to work in various roles such as sorting and segregating waste,
operating machinery, and managing administrative tasks. This plant offers women
workers a steady income along with an opportunity for skill development.
According to Bowenpally market officials, on average, 10 tons of waste is
generated per day. This waste has the potential to generate approximately 6,290
kg of CO2 per annum which could be more damaging to the environment. To address
this issue, Bowenpally vegetable market officials decided to turn this waste
into energy.
Bowenpally’s Biogas Plant
The waste
generated (rotten and unsold vegetables) in the Bowenpally vegetable market and
nearby yards are collected from across the city. The vegetables are chopped
into smaller pieces and run over the conveyor belt to the shredder. The waste
then undergoes a shredding process where all the vegetables are crushed into
smaller and uniform sizes and sent to a grinder. This grinder further crushes
the content into pulp, which is also called slurry and passes them to the
anaerobic digesters.
The gas generated is
collected and stored in balloons until further use. Bio Manure is obtained,
apart from the gas, as a by-product. In a separate tank, biogas is collected
and via a pipeline system sent for cooking. The biofuel is then supplied into a
100% biogas generator which is used to power the cold storage rooms, water
pumps, shop, street lights, etc.
The
Biogas plant funded by the Department of Biotechnology and Department of
Agriculture marketing Telangana, Geetanath (2021) was set up under the guidance
and patented technology of CSIR-IICT (Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research–Indian Institute of Chemical Technology) executed by the
Hyderabad-based Ahuja Engineering Services Pvt Ltd.
Impact
Around 30 kg of bio-fuel generated per day is supplied to the kitchen
facilities near the unit. 400- 500 units of electrical power is being utilized
by the administrative building, market water supply network, around 100
streetlights, and 170 stalls of the market.
This biogas unit helps reduce the
electricity bill by half (previously Rs. 3 lakhs per month on average). The
liquid bio manure is being used as fertilizer in the farmers’ fields. Upon
realizing its efficiency, the Department of Biotechnology announced further
funding to establish five more similar plants in different market yards with
varying capacities (Gudimalkapur, Gaddiannaram -5 tons/day, Erragadda, Alwal,
Sarrornagar- 500 kgs/ day) suitable for the generated market waste.
This innovative practice of converting waste into energy at Bowenpally
vegetable market has created large-scale awareness of the use of a sustainable
system to generate biofuel, but also encourages more and more cities to take up
similar projects for the transformation of urban landscape.