waste (15)

Amritsar based research institute, namely, Guru Arjan Dev Institute of Development Studies, added another feather to her cap. Today institute released its second annual publication of the year. The book entitled India’s Water Crisis: Time for a Rethink is authored by the renowned agricultural economist and Director General of the institute Dr Gursharan Singh Kainth. The book with 9781646617852 as ISBN  is published by Xpress Publishing – an imprint of Notion Press.

Earlier book entitled Recycling of waste water and reuse system published by Bharati Publication, New Delhi was released by the institute. Three books are entitled Education for Sustainable Development; Technology led Financial Inclusion and Elementary Education: Needs Renewed Push are likely to be released by the institute before the end of current year.

Water poised itself the centre if civilization since time immemorial. The limited amount of useable water on this plant is becoming scarcer with growing industrialization, population exploitation and irrational use. This captivating book “India’s Water Crisis: Task Ahead” takes readers through insights of water management required for sustenance of humanity and analysis of sustainable development in the context of Indian water resources. It brings together the information on the technological advances in water management.

There is well known adage – Waste not, Want not. The book added, Waste not the Waste and do not untouch an untouchable.  Giving human touch to technology has never harmed anyone.

Sh  G Nageswara Rao Chairman Atomic Energy Regulatory Board Mumbai in his forward to the book added that the book would be very beneficial towards spreading awareness on the crucial aspects of water management required for sustenance of humanity. It provides the statistics and brings together the information on the technological advances in water management.  It will be very good reference to the key stakeholders as well as academicians and research scholars.  The wide range of topics covered is a testimony to the dedication and commitment of the author to the nation.

 

 8222_cover_0902736001567072909.pdf

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Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a New Delhi based non-profit institution, is currently seeking Deputy Programme Manager (DPM) for its Solid Waste Management (SWM) Programme. 

CSE is one of India's leading public interest research institutes. It is known for its rigorous research and advocacy on environmental and sustainable development issues.  

SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME OF CSE
The SWM programme at CSE addresses policy and practices for effective and affordable waste management in India and other developing countries. The programme works with national governments to bring policies that support sustainable solid waste management including plastics and biomedical waste management. The programme works with city governments in India and few African countries to implement solid waste management projects based on segregation at source and decentralized processing. The programme also runs a ‘Forum of Cities that Segregate’, to exchange knowledge and build capacity to achieve effective and affordable waste management in Indian cities. 

The nature of the work of the team is extremely dynamic and includes research, advocacy, implementation and capacity building. 

WORK PROFILE 
The candidate will be required to substantially contribute to the team’s research, advocacy and implementation work. Major work responsibilities include: 

  • Managing and monitoring implementation of projects in states and cities.
  • Preparing reports (both with and without technical inputs), policy briefs, etc.
  • Reviewing policy, rules and regulations.
  • Writing on issues / development related to waste management.
  • Communicating with national and state level officials.
  • Engaging with various stakeholders at the national and state levels to disseminate information and build knowledge/awareness about solid waste management;
  • Organize national and state level meetings and workshops and training programmes to improve SWM policies and practices. 

SKILLS

  • Strong relationship building skills;
  • Excellent programme and team management skills;
  • Good interpersonal skills and experience in working effectively in a multi-cultural environment, with sensitivity to diverse opinion
  • Ability to interact with a variety of stakeholders, including government officials, urban local bodies (ULBs), NGOs, communities.
  • Understanding of other organizations groups, and individuals in the waste and sanitation sector including government policies / reforms. 
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills.
  • Must be able to communicate in both English and Hindi.
  • Must be willing to travel to monitor implementation work.
  • Ability to perform and deliver under tight deadlines. 

QUALIFICATION AND WORK EXPERIENCE
Candidates with a PhD/post graduate in planning, engineering, waste management, sanitation or environment related field with at least 5-8 years of work experience. Candidate should have experience of research, advocacy and training. The candidate should be able to work in a tight-knit and dynamic team that works on wide range of issues related to urban waste management. He/she should have strong networking and liasoning skills, willingness to travel and fluency in both written and spoken English/Hindi.  

SALARY: Salary will be commensurate with qualification and experience. 

LOCATION: New Delhi 

APPLICATION DEADLINE: May 21st, 2019 

HOW TO APPLY: 

Candidates can send applications online (preferable) or by postal services, as convenient. 

For online submission: Please visit http://jobs.cseindia.org and choose ‘DPM – SWM Delhi’. 

Or Post it to: 

Ms. Jagdeep Gupta,
Executive Director- Planning & Operations
Centre for Science and Environment
41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area,
New Delhi – 110062
Tel: 29956394/6339/5124, Fax: 29955879

NP: Only short listed candidates will be informed. The shortlisted candidates will be called for an interview and written test.

Weblink: https://www.cseindia.org/deputy-programme-manager-for-municipal-solid-waste-management-programme-9386

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Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) is pleased to invite you to attend a five-day training programme on ‘Integrated Waste Management’, to be held from January 8-12, 2018.

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) recognises that focus on waste management needs to shift to processing and resource recovery. The objective of the training is thus is to get a better understanding of main features of the management of Solid, Plastic, Bio-medical, E-waste and C&D waste, the technologies involved in their treatment, the key legislative frameworks and the stakeholders involved. Some of the main takeaways for participants from this training shall be: existing status of waste management in India, major provisions of the new Waste Management Rules 2016 and their status of implementation, role and responsibility of different stakeholders, inventorisation and Extended Producer Responsibility, decentralised waste management, use of IEC for behaviour change and site visits to learn about best practices.

We hope you can nominate yourself and/or your colleagues for this 5 day training programme.

For more information, kindly visit the advertisement below:

http://cseindia.org/content/training-programme-integrated-waste-management

Training Methodology

Lectures, case studies, class exercises, discussions and field visits.

 

Course fee: 

Rs. 35,000/- INR (Includes Tuition fee, External expert lectures and sessions, Boarding and lodging, Transport from New Delhi to AAETI and back, Training material). Scholarships available

 

Venue:

Anil Agarwal Environment Training Institute 
(a Centre for Science and Environment initiative), 
Nimli (near Alwar),
Tijara, Rajasthan
 
Last date for applicationDecember 27, 2017
For queries please contact:
Mobile - +919833216072
Phone - +91-11-2995 5124 / 6110 (Ext. 251);
Fax: +91-11-2995 5879

 

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With rapid urbanisation and rising incomes, India is facing a massive waste management challenge. Urban population of India generates 62 million tonnes of municipal solid waste per annum. Only 43 million tonnes (MT) of the waste is collected, 11.9 MT is treated and 31 MT is dumped in landfill sites. India generates about 1.7 million tonnes of electronic waste and only 1.5% of the total e-waste generated is recycled. Biomedical waste generation is about 484 tonnes per day. It is the need of the hour that focus of waste management shifts to processing and resource recovery.

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) recognises this need and is organizing an advanced five-day training programme on “Integrated Waste Management”. The objective of the programme is to get a better understanding of main features of the management of Solid, Plastic, Bio-medical, E-waste and C&D waste, the technologies involved in their treatment, the key legislative frameworks and the stakeholders involved. Some of the key takeaways for participants from this training shall be

  1. Existing status of waste management in India

  2. Major provisions of the new Waste Management Rules, 2016 and their status of implementation

  3. Role and responsibility of different stakeholders

  4. Inventorisation and Extended Producer Responsibility.

  5. Decentralised waste management

  6. Use of IEC for behaviour change

  7. Use of IEC for behaviour change

  8. Site visits to learn about best practices

TRAINING METHODOLOGY: Lectures, case studies, class exercises, discussion and field visits

SCHEDULE 

Course Duration: January 8-12, 2018

Time: 10 AM - 5:30 PM 

Course fee: Rs.15,000 for urban developers, government officials and consultants, Rs.10,000 for academicians, NGOs and researchers, Rs.7,500 for students Note: Accommodation can be arranged nearby the training centre, would incur extra charges

Last Date for Applying: November 30, 2017

OPEN FOR: Waste management practitioners, officials from central and state urban departments, municipalities, urban & town planners, village panchayats, academicians, students, NGOs

A certificate of participation will be awarded at the end of the programme


Note: Accommodation can be arranged nearby the training centre, would incur extra charges

Weblink: http://www.cseindia.org/content/training-programme-integrated-waste-management


For details contact:

Neha Walani, Programme Officer, 
Environmental Governance Unit (Waste Management), 
Centre for Science and Environment, 
41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi-110062
Ph: 91-11-2995 5124 / 6110 (Ext. 204); Fax: 91-11-2995 5879
Mobile: +91 9833216072, 
Email: neha.walani@cseindia.org,

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NOT IN MY BACKYARD: Solid Waste Management in Indian Cities

patna-bihar.jpg

Book Release and workshop: Patna, Bihar
 

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi is conducting a half day programme in Patna, Bihar on Solid Waste Management on 14th December, 2016 to release its report ‘Not in My Backyard: Solid Waste Management in Indian Cities’ and discuss the agenda for a clean Bihar.

We have been to some of the cleanest cities across the country and have rated them. The system for rating cities was to determine who is the cleanest of them all in terms of solid waste management. It is clear that cities that are segregating their waste have been able to effectively process and treat it and have achieved the status of zero landfill cities. While, some cities are doing - part segregation and part treatment. And then, there are a few cities, that are visibly clean but dumping their waste. We have incorporated all our findings in our book: ‘Not in My Backyard’.

The objective of this programme is to discuss the roadmap for a Swachh Bihar. It is clear that waste management needs to be reinvented in our cities. In light of the new Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, segregation at source is imperative and the shift needs to be towards treatment and processsing. The meeting shall discuss the existing situation of state in terms of solid waste management, the new rules and some of the best practices across the country on solid waste management.

The programme is ideal for regulators, practitioners, consultants, academicians and NGOs working in solid waste management.

Date: December 14, 2016 
Timing: 9.30 AM-2.30 PM 
Venue: Auditorium, AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies, Patna, Bihar

Limited seats, for registration kindly write to Dr.Sonia Henam at sonia.henam@cseindia.org, +91-9871960493

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What direction should waste management take in North East India? What does the future hold in store? Are landfills the answer? Is Waste-to-energy technology still a good bet? Why segregation is the key? These are some of the questions that come to our minds when thinking about the fragile ecosystem of North East India.

Of the 14 cities, that CSE rated, we have rated Aizawl, Agartala and Gangtok from North-East. The system for rating cities was to determine who is the cleanest of them all in terms of solid waste management. It is clear that cities that are segregating their waste have been able to effectively process and treat it and have achieved the status of zero landfill cities. While, some cities are doing - part segregation and part treatment. And then, there are a few cities, that are visibly clean but dumping their waste.

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Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi is releasing its book ‘Not in My Backyard: Status of Solid Waste Management in Indian Cities’ in Guwahati, Assam. The book release shall be followed by a discussion with municipal commissioners, regulators, urban planners, consultants and NGOs on the need to have zero landfill cities across North East India.

DATE: August 10, 2016

TIMING: 5 PM to 8 PM (Kindly join us for dinner after the programme) 

VENUE: Auditorium, NEDFi Convention Centre, Guwahati, Assam

Limited seats, for registration kindly write to Swati Singh Sambyal,Programme Officer, EG- (MSW) at swati@cseindia.org, +91-9711605091,9910496283

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Dealing with solid waste in rivers and lakes

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The picture is of a floating barrier made to arrest floating trash or garbage, designed by Bengaluru based AlphaMERS (patent applied).  This does not treat chemical or dissolved pollutants. This design, originally made with River Ganga in mind, will now be applied to lakes and water streams with flowing waters. Long sections of such barriers are connected end to end, running from the riverbank or shore, laid diagonally across the flowing waters, and held in place by anchors. The water flows past, while trash is arrested by the barrier. Smaller particles are allowed to flow past to keep the resistance to water flow reasonably low.  This trash slowly slides to the shore or bank from where municipal channels takeover and can easily recover /dispose. The water body now starts  to look cleaner.    

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The Waste Capital, Delhi

While the almost every well-read urban Indian youth is today, in some way, involved in advocacy or activism, none seems to be too keenly interested in being responsible citizens or Environmentally conscious and we've a proof of that.

Perhaps one would expect the young, all one-third of the total to be a little more responsible in their actions. Quite the contrary, as we observed to our utter dismay. Welcome to Vishwavidyalaya metro station premises, in the core University area, a hub of Delhi youth. 

http://www.theunknownpen.com/editors-desk/the-other-side-of-delhi/

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hazardous_waste.jpg

With industrialization and development, there is a growing concern over the hazardous waste generation. The levels of dangerous wastes continue to grow. Industries and individuals continue to be largely unaware of this major environmental problem. With pitiable landfill management facilities there is a growing concern over the management of hazardous waste.

Centre for Science and Environment recognises this need and has developed a hands-on three-day training programme aimed at giving practical exposure to participants on hazardous waste with specific reference to characterization of hazardous waste, design of landfill, incinerator facilities and hazardous waste
manangement.

The programme will cover:

  1. Exposure to the status of hazardous waste in India
  2. Characterisation, recycle and reuse of hazardous waste
  3. Understanding of hazardous waste management governing laws in the country
  4. Better understanding of the environmental and social impacts of hazardous waste
  5. Design of a landfill site, incineration and best practices involved
  6. Good practices involved in the management of hazardous waste
  7. National and international best practices

SCHEDULE

Course Duration:

Date: June 24-28, 2013

Venue: CSE, 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi -110062

Time: 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM daily

Course fee: Rs 9,900 (For industry, environment consultants and regulators) 25% discounts for NGOs, academicians and students

Last Date for Applying: June 18, 2013

For Registration kindly contact: swati@cseindia.org

OPEN FOR:
NGOs, Regulatory Institutions (such as SPCB, State Environment Impact Assessment Authority), Environment Consultants, Students, Decision Makers and Industries

A certificate of participation will be awarded to all at the end of the programme.

COURSE CONTACT

Swati Singh Sambyal, Industry & Environment Unit
Industry & Environment Unit, Centre for Science and Environment
Tel: + 91-11-29955124/ 6110, Extension: 281, |
Fax: + 91-11-29955879 Mob. No.: +91 9910496283
E-mail: swati@cseindia.org

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Dear All,

Centre for Science and Environment  has developed a hands-on three-day training programme aimed at giving practical exposure to participants on hazardous waste with specific reference to characterization of hazardous waste, design of landfill, incinerator facilities and hazardous waste
manangement.

The programme will cover:

  1. Exposure to the status of hazardous waste in India
  2. Characterisation, recycle and reuse of hazardous waste
  3. Understanding of hazardous waste management governing laws in the country
  4. Better understanding of the environmental and social impacts of hazardous waste
  5. Design of a landfill site, incineration and best practices involved
  6. Good practices involved in the management of hazardous waste
  7. National and international best practices

SCHEDULE

Course Duration:

Date: January 28-30, 2013

Venue: CSE, 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi -110062

Time: 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM daily

Course fee: Rs 8,000 (For industry, environment consultants and regulators) 25% discounts for NGOs, academicians and students

Last Date for Applying: January 20, 2013

For Registration kindly contact: swati@cseindia.org

OPEN FOR:
NGOs, Regulatory Institutions (such as SPCB, State Environment Impact Assessment Authority), Environment Consultants, Students, Decision Makers and Industries

A certificate of participation will be awarded to all at the end of the programme.

COURSE CONTACT

Swati Singh Sambyal, Industry & Environment Unit
Industry & Environment Unit, Centre for Science and Environment
Tel: + 91-11-29955124/ 6110, Extension: 281, |
Fax: + 91-11-29955879 Mob. No.: +91 9910496283
E-mail: swati@cseindia.org

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Training Programme on Hazardous Waste Management

solid_hazardous.jpg

With industrialization and development, there is a growing concern over the hazardous waste generation. The levels of dangerous wastes continue to grow.  Industries and individuals continue to be largely unaware of this major environmental problem. With pitiable landfill management facilities there is a growing concern over the management of hazardous waste.

Centre for Science and Environment recognises this need and has developed a hands-on three-day training programme aimed at giving practical exposure to participants on hazardous waste with specific reference to characterization of hazardous waste, design of landfill, incinerator facilities and hazardous waste manangement.

The programme will cover:

  1. Exposure to the status of hazardous waste in India

  2. Characterization ,recycle and reuse of hazardous waste

  3. Understanding of hazardous waste management governing laws in the country

  4. Better understanding of the environmental and social impacts of hazardous waste

  5. Design of a landfill site, incineration and best practices involved

  6. Good practices involved in the management of hazardous waste

  7. National and international best practices


Schedule

Course Duration:

Date: January 28-30, 2012

Venue: CSE, 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi -110062

Time: 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM daily

Course fee: Rs 8,000 (For industry, environment consultants and regulators) 25% discounts for NGOs, academicians and students)

Last Date for Applying: January 20, 2013

For Registration kindly contact: swati@cseindia.org

Open For:

NGOs, Regulatory Institutions (such as SPCB, state environment impact assessment authority, Environment Consultants, Students, decision makers and Industries A certificate of participation will be awarded to all at the end of the programme.

Course Contact

Swati Singh Sambyal, Research Associate
Industry & Environment Unit, Centre for Science and Environment
Tel: + 91-11-29955124/ 6110, Extension: 281, |
Fax: + 91-11-29955879 Mob. No.: +91 9910496283
E-mail: swati@cseindia.org

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solid waste management

Dear everyone,I am looking for some basic reports (latest survey reports/research papers, if any) on solid waste generation from human population (Municipal/rural), agricultural waste (per crop type) and livestock waste(per livestock type). I request the experts to kindly throw light.thanks & regards,Bhavna
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How to compost at home using container pots

One of my favourite green practices is to recycle my veggie and fruit peel waste into valuable nutrients that can be returned to the soil. As more and more people in urban settings live in smaller and smaller spaces, here is a simple and effective way to do composting even in a tiny apartment. 

http://www.ecowalkthetalk.com/blog/2010/07/21/part-1-how-to-compost-at-home-using-container-pots/
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E-Waste

Every one of us asking the Government to make some rules, regulation and law to takle the problem of E-waste. This is a wrong approach. We should ask the Government to create facility for collecting the E-Waste. Facilities should come first and education of the people to make use of the facility and why e-waste should be recycled (benifts and income from e-waste and harm it can do if we dont recycle) only when people dont make use of the facility, the rules, regulations and laws should come to decipline the people. Governments in India are notorious of making rules and people in government and politicians make use of such law to harase the people and make money (Bribe). Courts and Lawyers join in to dicide what punishment should be given to people who are honest and dont want to bribe and get away from punishment. I think environmentalists job is to educate the people and force the Government to create facilities needed and not help make rules, regulations and laws to punish our citizens. Lets not waste time on rules, regulations and laws, but spend time on educting the people and forcing the government to create facility for collection, recycle and recover materials from E-waste. It is a profitable business to recycle (recover whatever material from it for reuse) e-waste. Electronic Industry pays tax and duties, buyers pay taxes and duties on purchase. Employees working in electronic industry pay income tax. What for these taxes are collected? Is it for buying new cars and furnishing and remodeling and foreign tous of Ministers? This attitude should stop? It is time that educated think of forcing the government for creating facilities first and then educating the people on how, why and benifits of using such facilities, then make rules if people dont use the facilities created.

We pay huge tax on Cars, pay road tax, Pay insurance premium, Pay huge tax (+40%) on Petrol/Disel and then pay Tols on Roads, Pay panalty or bribe when you voilet road laws because of congestion in Road (resulting from non availability of good roads and wide roads), create accidents because of non availability of good and wide roads, die as a result and make our families suffer. We then blame ourselves that we voilated the rules? What are we doing about the Governent, Police, Courts, Politicians?

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Food Waste to Energy - Indian Perspectives

 

Food Waste to Energy Conversion - Indian Perspectives

 

 

Setu Goyal 

 

 

 

 

 


 

Introduction

The problem of waste management runs across geographies and its gravest causal agent, i.e. urbanism, is a global phenomenon. However, its ramifications are relatively more pronounced in developing nations on account of improved standards of living and changing consumption patterns. The growing population and increasing consumer demand is leading to excessive consumption of available resources and generation of tremendous amount of different kind of wastes, which is emerging as a chronic problem in urban societies. Their efficient management is needed at the earliest to avoid numerous problems related to public and environmental health.

The waste management hierarchy suggests that reduce, reuse and recycling should always be given preference in a typical waste management system. However, these options cannot be applied uniformly for all kinds of wastes. For examples, organic waste is quite difficult to deal with using the conventional 3R strategy.  Of the different types of organic wastes available, food waste holds the highest potential in terms of economic exploitation as it contains high amount of carbon and can be efficiently converted into biogas and organic fertilizer.

Market Size

A consistent growth rate of 8 to 10 percent for India is symbolic of its increasing production and consumption trends.  The main reasons for such trends have been the increasing disposable incomes and the growing consumerism and urbanism. All this has significantly contributed to the growth and economic development of the country, apart from tremendous increase in waste generation across the country.

The amount of waste generated by any country is directly proportional to its population and the mean living standards of the people.  As per the last census of India, the Indian population was 1027 million with about 5161 urban cities and towns contributing up to 28% of the total population.  A constant rate of increase of about 30% per decade in the number of town/cities urbanized is something to be considered with utmost diligence, since it is the urban areas, which mostly contribute to the waste generation. The situation grows even starker from the observation that the per capita waste generation in India has been rising by about 1-1.3% annually over the past few decades and the population itself has been rising at an annual rate of 1.2-1.5%.

With organic or food waste being one of the main constituents of the total urban waste generated,  it not only makes it essential to seek means for its safe disposal but at the same time, reiterates the huge business potential that ensues the proper utilization of such a widely available potential energy/power resource.

Anaerobic Digestion Technology

Anaerobic digestion is a proven and commercially available technology to handle wastes having high carbon content. It is widely acknowledged as the best means to deal with organic waste in rural as well as urban areas. One of the major benefits of anaerobic digestion is its almost negative impact on the environment since it saves on emissions which would have been caused if the organic waste was dumped into landfills or an equivalent amount of power would be generated using conventional fossil fuel based resources. Another important feature is its scalability and ability to accept varied types of biomass. World over, the technology has been reaching newer and higher scales, with plants of capacity 300 tonnes per day and above already in operation in countries like Austria, Germany, Sweden and Italy.


Process Description

The feedstock to be utlized, e.g. organic waste from various sources, is first collected and then passed through a shredder to reduce the minimum particle size. The homogenated mass is then moved to a mixing tank, wherein it is mixed with the recirculated digestate to bring it in contact with some of the wore out/used microbial biomass to increase the rate of biochemical degradation in the subsequent steps and also to make the input feed more acclimatized to the system or process requirements. This homogenate along with the recirculated digestate from the mixing tank, which is responsible for maintaining the adequate solid content in the feed in terms of volume, is then transferred to a storage tank. The main purpose of placing another tank in between the mixing tank and main bio-digester is to maintain an input reservoir in order to account for a few days of unavailability in feedstock. In certain cases of large-scale power application of this technology, waste heat is utilized from the gas engine exhaust and fed to the storage tank to double it up as a pre-digester by facilitating the growth of thermophilic bacterias and elimination of any pathogens.

 

 

The feed is then directed into the anaerobic digester. The most commonly used biogas plants for power generation using biogas are the Continiuous Stirred Tank Reactors (CSTR). These reactors involve anaerobic digestion at mesophillic temperaturres and generally have a retention time of about 20-25 days. For smaller scales and other domestic and thermal applications of biogas, other reactors are also commercially available like the floating drum KVIC model, fixed dome type model by TERI, the Janata model or the TERI Enhanced Acidification and Methanation (TEAM) setup which is essentially Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactors (UASB).

The quality and quantum of biogass depends on a variety of factors like the technology used, type of waste, moisture content, volatile matter, ash content, C/N ratio etc. An important consideration while generating power using biogas is the desulphurization of the gas. Anaerobic process results in the formation of H2S which on combustion generates SO2. It is not only corrosive to the gas engine but also harmful to the environment. To tackle this situation, chemical or biological desulphurization is carried out. The chemical desulphurization involves the use of FeCl2 in which chloride is replaced by sulphur owing to the higher affinity of the latter with Iron. Biological desulphurization on the other hand, utilizes the sulphur oxidizing bacteria and converts hydrogen sulphide into elemental sulphur, in the presence of air.

An important component of a typical biogas facility is the gas holder which is used to maintain a buffer between the production and consumption rates of the biogas. The gas is drawn into the gas engine from the gas holder and the waste heat generated is utilized to improve the overall efficiency of the system by directing it through the pre digester and the main digester.

Since the water effluent from such a process is expected to possess high BOD and COD characters, the need of a dedicated effluent treatment plant is ineluctable.  This waste water is mainly obtained after the dewatering of the slurry obtained from the above process. The solid content in the slurry increases after going through the de-watering stage in multiple stage screw-presses and it can be sold as high quality compost in the market.

Present Scenario

Although the Municipal Solid Waste Management Directive (2000) mandates source segregation of waste which is easily biodegradable in nature, in reality it has not been able to find widespread implementation till now. The major reasons include lack of proper implementation and reporting mechanism, and lower degree of awareness among the people in general. In addition, urban waste in India is also mixed with a huge amount of rubble, construction and demolition waste and other such wastes, which render the food-waste unsuitable for subsequent conversion to energy.

Most of the organic waste generated in the country is either being dumped into the landfills or composted or sent to piggeries. It is a sheer waste of such biodegradable waste capable of generating energy to be sent into the landfills. There it is not only responsible for large scale green house gas emissions, but also becomes a health hazard and creates terrestrial pollution.

There are numerous places which are the sources of large amounts of food waste and hence a proper food-waste management strategy needs to be devised for them to make sure that either they are disposed off in a safe manner or utilized efficiently. These places include hotels, restaurants, malls, residential societies, college/school/office canteens, religious mass cooking places, airline caterers, food and meat processing industries and vegetable markets which generate organic waste of considerable quantum on a daily basis.

Conclusion

The anaerobic digestion technology is highly apt in dealing with the chronic problem of organic waste management in urban societies. Although the technology is commercially viable in the longer run, the high initial capital cost is a major hurdle towards its proliferation. The onus is on the governments to create awareness and promote such technologies in a sustainable manner. At the same time, entrepreneurs, non-governmental organizations and environmental agencies should also take inspiration from successful food waste-to-energy projects in other countries and try to set up such facilities in Indian cities and towns.

References

  1. http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Newsletters/Newsletter_Links/eci_2.htm
  2. http://www.scribd.com/doc/27348441/Urbanization-in-India
  3. http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/swm_in_india.pdf
  4. http://www.adb.org/Documents/Events/2005/Sanitation-Wastewater-Management/paper-kumar.pdf
  5. http://www.nls.ac.in/CEERA/ceerafeb04/html/documents/Muncipalsoildwaste.htm
  6. http://www.teda.gov.in/page/Bio-wastetoenergy.htm
  7. http://www.worldsecuritynetwork.com/showArticle3.cfm?article_id=13488
  8. http://www.uperc.org/olduperc/Explanatory%20Memorandum.pdf
  9. http://www.mnre.gov.in/annualreport/2009-10EN/Chapter%205/chapter%205_1.htm

 

About the Author

Setu Goyal is pursuing Masters Program in Renewable Energy Engineering and Management at the TERI University (New Delhi), and has an entrepreneurial zeal to improve waste management and renewable energy scenarios in developing countries. He can be reached at setu.goyal@gmail.com

 

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