Officials from Punjab Energy Development Authority (Peda) and the civic body recently visited the biogas plant of Haibowel, India, to study how to run it at full capacity, to prevent dairy waste from running into the Buddha Nullah, which is the seasonal water stream that runs through the Malwa region of Punjab.

The waste flowing in from the dairy units via the sewers is currently not reaching the biogas plant and running into the nullah instead. 

“Cow dung from Haibowel dairy complex is processed further into compressed biogas. We see a capacity to process at least 225 tonnes of cow dung but at present, only 100-125 tonnes of dung are reaching the biogas plant.  The complex has nearly 37,000 cattle heads and it produces 350 tonnes of cow dung,” the officials stated.

Instead of transporting the dung to the biogas plant, the dairy farmers currently dump it into the Buddha Nullah. The officials decided in the meeting that the municipal cooperation and the Punjab water supply and sewerage board will create a link with the dairy farmers to know the hitch in taking dung to the biogas plant, so that this problem could be solved.

The officials will encourage the dairy farmers to dump cow dung at one place, so that it can be transported to the biogas plant.

The officials also visited Tajpur Road site where another biogas plant is proposed. Tenders have been floated to install a biogas plant with 300 tonnes of capacity that can also produce bio-CNG. There is a proposal to install a CNG-filling station there.

About 4,000 kilograms of CNG will be produced in the city daily along with 37 tonnes of organic manure for farming. 

The project is worth Rs19 crone and will be completed in two years.

Source : Bioenergy News June 7 2022