With the slogan “Kachda lao, biogas le jao”, the government is aggressively promoting biofuel usage in the villages. It has allocated Rs 10 crore to launch biogas plants at a subsidised rate in these villages, said P S Ojha, State Coordinator, Bio-Energy Mission, Planning Department. The commercial operation of the scheme is expected to commence from March 31, 2009.

Envisaged as being a community-driven project, the Bio-Energy Mission has proposed that entrepreneurs from each village will invest 25 per cent of the total project cost; the rest will be funded through loans from banks or financial institutions. The government will offer a maximum of Rs 5 lakh as capital subsidy, which will amount to 25 per cent of the total project cost.

“We have already received 158 applications from places like Sultanpur, Kabirnagar, Hardoi, Chitrakoot and Agra and are in the process of launching advertisements to draw more entrepreneurs,” said Ojha.

With this, traditional cooking in these villages will get a facelift as chulhas will be replaced by modern stoves and clean fuel.

A single biogas plant with a capacity of 100 cubic metres consumes 1,875 kilograms of agro-waste to produce 80 kgs of methane gas per week. Agro-waste includes cowdung, kitchen waste, water hyacinth and other biodegradable household waste. Methane produced per week by one such unit per village will be sufficient for all its households to cook for seven hours daily.

The mission has also designed a superior biofuel generator — “Gram Urja”. Yet to be patented, the generator accepts any agricultural waste, not just cowdung. It produces biogas within a week, at one-tenth the speed of other biogas units. Claiming to be an improvement on contemporary models such as the KVIC and Deen Bandu, Ojha said it also addresses the burner jamming issue by the introduction of burners with larger holes.

The project will be rolled out in two phases. In its first phase, the project will aim to deliver gas for cooking and lighting gas lamps. The next stage will involve the setting up of electricity generators at the village level.

Socio-economic outcomes of the project could include direct and indirect employment, sustainability, as well as self-reliance. Each plant will become a hub of economic activity, providing employment to four youths.

Compost produced from drying the slurry obtained as a by-product can be sold for Rs 4000 per tonne. Farmers will also be given carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol norms, said Ojha.