Fueling Change With Bio-CNG

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With India’s small cities now making the list of most polluted places, solutions can’t just focus on the usual suspects. Indore’s plan to power city buses with Bio-CNG from organic waste could set a new standard—if waste segregation doesn’t derail it. As more cities consider similar approaches, can clean fuel truly become the future of urban transport, or will practical hurdles keep it from taking off?

India's first bio-methane bus by Tata Motors | Source: Financial Express

As per the State of Global Air Report 2022, which released last month, India is home to 18 of the 20 cities with the most severe air pollution levels.

The report further reveals that it is not just big cities like Delhi and Kolkata but small cities like Etawah and Rewa as well that are breathing unhealthy levels of pollution.

Even though air pollutants come from various sources, vehicular emissions are one of the significant contributors. To curb the rising air pollution levels, India is taking significant steps to promote alternative low-carbon fuels that are cleaner for transportation. One such important step is using green fuel Bio-CNG for transportation.

In February 2022, Indore announced it would run its 400 city buses on Bio-CNG generated from the newly inaugurated Devguradia waste plant.

The buses that are currently running on diesel would be converted to operate on Bio-CNG in a phased manner. In its full capacity the plant is expected to process 550 tonnes of organic solid municipal waste per day to produce 17,000 kg of bio-CNG and 100 tonnes of organic compost.

Source: newsriveting

Asia's largest Bio-CNG plant at Devgurdia landfill site, Indore

Around 75 major municipal governments are expected to get such Bio-CNG plants over the next two years that would help make Indian cities pollution-free and move towards clean energy. Considering that tonnes of solid waste have been piled up at land masses across cities, this is an important step forward.

Source: Rawmatt

Production of Bio-CNG from Municipal Waste

However, according to solid waste management experts, its success is not guaranteed, because to yield the desired outcomes, waste segregation at source is a must. The success rate of biogas technologies based on municipal solid waste has been poor since the waste is not segregated into organic and inorganic parts at source.

But in the case of Indore, this might not be a problem, as the municipal corporation has ensured 100% household waste segregation since 2016. Research suggests that India has a big scope for Bio-CNG and can replace 4,000 tonnes of the country’s diesel consumption per day if harnessed correctly. To know more about Indore's efforts, read.

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