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Biogas Plants to be Installed in Schools Across State

Monday, 23 December 2013 00:00 administrator
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The New Indian Express             23.12.2013

Biogas Plants to be Installed in Schools Across State

The students of government and aided schools across the state will now learn something new on solid waste management other than what they have learnt from their textbooks.

The Agriculture Department in association with the Department of Education is installing biogas plants on the premises of schools across the state. The primary aim of the project, being implemented at a cost of Rs 8 crore, is to provide cooking gas for preparing mid-day meals in schools and effective biowaste management. The solid waste management through biogas plants would also give insights to children on keeping the premises of schools clean.

“This might not help in providing sufficient cooking gas to meet the demand for preparing full meals of a day. But it would be possible to meet part of the demand which would be of great solace to the schools. The students would also learn on how to keep the school premises clean in a more effective way,” Agriculture Department director R Ajithkumar told Express.

Providing enriched organic manure to the school vegetable gardens and creating a learning atmosphere for students to convert residues from vegetable gardens into biogas and organic manures are also the objectives of the project.

The Agriculture Department has vegetable gardens in 2,500 schools across the state. It is expected that the waste from the cultivation and food waste can be effectively processed through the biogas plants.

The tender process to install the plants had begun and the project would be rolled out by February next year.

In the first phase, it has been proposed to establish 3,825 portable biogas plants in the same number of schools. It would depend upon the availability of waste in schools and the interests of students and teachers. The selection of schools for the construction of biogas plants would be done by the Education Department while the agency to construct the plants would be selected by the Agriculture Department.

 

Hostel to cook food with bio-gas

Friday, 20 December 2013 06:15 administrator
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Deccan Herald             20.12.2013 

Hostel to cook food with bio-gas

Soon, the inmates of the hostel at Government Deaf and Dumb School, Tilak Nagar, in the city, will savour food prepared with an alternative source of energy. 

The Mysore City Corporation (MCC) has plans to install a 100-kg capacity biogas plant at the school at an estimated cost of Rs 8.5 lakh.

Sources in the MCC told Deccan Herald, the project, being funded by the civic body, will be implemented with the technical expertise of the National Institute of Engineering (NIE), Centre for Renewal Energy and Sustainable Technologies (CREST), based in the city.

The said plant is anticipated to reduce the burden of energy requirement by at least 10 per cent of its daily requirement. Now, the hostel uses a large quantity of LPG cylinders to keep the hearth running at the hostel, located on the school campus. A minimum of 19 LPG cylinders to a maximum of 25 are used for cooking food every month. The hostel, which has a strength of 90 students, provides food three times a day — breakfast, lunch and dinner — besides beverages during the evening hours. During festivals, it will be a sumptuous treat for the appetite with a mix of sweets and side dishes, Superintendent of the School H R Srinivas told this paper.

At present, the hostel generates kitchen waste of up to two kg a day. To fill the gap (as the plant needs 100 kg of waste), MCC will be diverting wet wastes like used vegetables, refuse or even peels of vegetables collected from different parts of the city; from both domestic and commercial sources. On an average, 400 tonnes of waste is collected from 65 wards of the city daily, comprising 60 per cent dry waste and 40 per cent vegetable waste.

Other plants

Recently, the Postal Training Centre at Nazarbad, in the city, commissioned a 60-kg biogas plant for its canteen, with the technical expertise provided by NIE-CREST. Similarly, Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Administrative Training Institute (ATI) and K R Hospital boast of a 100-kg plant each.

 

LED to replace sodium vapour lights on streets

Tuesday, 10 December 2013 11:55 administrator
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The Times of India             10.12.2013

LED to replace sodium vapour lights on streets

RANCHI: Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) and the urban development department are busy preparing a plan to ensure that all roads of the city are lit with LED lights which will replace the sodium vapour lights currently in use. The engineers of the urban development department have been directed to design a blueprint to make the transition possible soon.

At present, there are around 16,000 sodium vapour lights installed across the city as opposed to 1,100 LED lights in Harmu bypass road and Bariatu.

Deputy chief executive officer of the RMC, S K Lal said, "We had sent the proposal to the urban development department. Once its design is approved, LED lights will be bought and installed."

At present sodium vapour lights are installed on poles measuring nine metres, at a distance of 30 to 40 metres. The LED lights, on the other hand, will be installed on seven-metre poles, at a distance of 15 to 20 metres. "The lights will also be computerized and they can be switched on and off automatically," said Lal.

Replacing sodium vapour lights with LED lights will be decrease electricity consumption and benefit the environment. Lal explained, "LED lights consume half the electricity of sodium vapour lights. At present around Rs 3 crore is being spent annually on street lights but with the LED lights, this amount will decline to Rs 1.5 crore every year."

 
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