Biogas to light up Bangalore soon

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided to light up the streets, parks, hotels, restaurants and households of the city with power generated from biogas. The project will be initiated soon with the Palike planning to set up a biogas plant near City Market by next week.

Nataraj said that the BBMP was surveying a suitable place for installing the plant. “About 10 tonnes of wet garbage is produced in City Market daily. It will be used to generate 400 kilowatt of electricity which can light 150 sodium bulbs. This will solve the electricity problem in the city,” he said.

The idea of biogas-powered electricity came after a BBMP team headed by mayor SK Nataraj visited Mumbai recently. The delegation of corporators and engineers visited the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai and Pune garbage plant to study solid waste management. During its visit to Mumbai, the BBMP team also visited a plant run by Hanjer Biotech which has a processing unit with the capacity to process about 500 tonnes waste.

The technology for the proposed biogas plant in the city will be installed by BARC through an agency which will maintain it for three years.

“By this, the transportation cost of the waste to the landfill will be reduced and the waste will be properly utilised at the local level making the area clean,” said Nataraj.

A fully-automated plant will also be installed in Jigani in Bangalore South.

“The plant will be installed in 10 acres which will dispose 500 tonnes of garbage,” said the mayor.

The BBMP’s earlier project to generate electricity through waste in Mandur village is yet to start for various reasons.