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City boys start system to convert waste to biogas

Green Power System converts 100kg kitchen waste to 14-15 cubic metres of biogas, which is equal to 7 kg of LPG.

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At a time when waste management is becoming a serial headache in the city, two young engineers have started a system that converts kitchen waste into biogas, which can then get piped back into kitchens for use.

Mainak Chakraborty and Srikrishna Shankar researched for over two years before their project could get commercial wings.

The system that they have put together is primarily for wet waste that is generated in mass kitchens including those in hotels, malls, restaurants, corporate and college canteens; and is compact, needing just 100-200 square feet of space to get installed. It can be set up either on the terrace or the open ground surrounding the establishment.

"The idea is to enable bulk waste generators to have a viable waste treatment solution," says Chakraborty.

Once the system is installed, establishments would need to make daily deposits of their wet waste and operators from Green Power System, (the company Chakraborty and Shankar started) would come and convert the waste to biogas, which can then get piped back into the kitchens.

Thus the breakdown of the waste and its conversion to biogas would happen at the site of the mass kitchen. The residue that is left behind can be used as a soil conditioner.

As per their calculations, every 100 kg of waste can generate 14-15 cubic metres of biogas, which in turn is equal to 7 kg of LPG that is normally used in kitchens.

The cylinders used in residences and households equal 14 kg of LPG, while those used in mass kitchens normally amount to 19 kg of LPG.

Rough estimates suggest the kitchen of any big restaurant, hotel or corporate canteen would generate anywhere between 300-500 kg of kitchen waste daily.

Currently, Green Power System is selling this idea primarily to mass kitchens.
Data shows Bangalore goes on to generate approximately over 2,000-2,500
tonnes of kitchen waste every day, with almost 25% coming from mass kitchens.

Green Power System, which started as an idea when Chakraborty and Shankar were pursuing their MBA at IIM Bangalore, took shape as a pilot at the Oxford engineering college in Bommanahalli in early 2011. For two years, the two friends focused on fine-tuning the idea, researching and putting together the system.

"We had put up the pilot system at the Oxford campus and we realised there was no odour that the system would emit. That is when we felt that it could get successfully installed within campuses of establishments," says Chakraborty.

As part of their future plans, they are looking at associating themselves with NGOs in the field of waste management. They want to set up a de-centralised system that can collect wet waste not just from mass kitchens, but also residences and post the breakdown, bottle the biogas in high pressure cylinders which can then be sold in the market.

"That, of course, will take some time," says Chakraborty. Earlier in the year, Green Power System received a grant of Rs50 lakhs from the Departement of Biotechnology, which is under the Union Science and Technology ministry for being a project of national importance.

Green Power is also one of the finalists for the MIT (US) Technology review for India and the Sankalp Forum, both of which recognise upcoming ventures.

@priya3014

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