Navi Mumbai eyes power from waste
It works like this. EcoMethane will lay a perforated pipeline across the garbage dumping site at Turbhe in Navi Mumbai, which will suck out gas the waste generates. It will be collected in a central system which will then be used as fuel for generating electricity. The project will also solve another problem, that of the obnoxious odour emanating from the garbage heap, which is making life such a suffering for people living nearby. The proposed project will help mitigate this to a great extent. The gas generated (landfill gas) is primarily Methane, an environmental hazard. United Nations Convention for Climate Change has identified Methane as one of the six greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. One tonne of Methane emission is equivalent to burning of 21 tonnes of CO2 (Carbon Dioxide).
Collecting and burning landfill gas is a well established technology. Almost all garbage collecting sites in UK have similar plants. Around 24% of UKs electricity comes from non-conventional energy sources, landfill gas being
Municipal Body Ties Up With British Co To Generate Power From Landfill Gas …..Girish Kuber MUMBAI
THIS is one project that aims to dig out gold from dirt. In a first-of-its-kind exercise, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation is set to launch next week a project in association with EcoMethane, a British company, to capture landfill gas from garbage dumping sites to generate energy. The project will also generate carbon credits that can earn an estimated Rs 55 crore a year for the NMMC.
It works like this. EcoMethane will lay a perforated pipeline across the garbage dumping site at Turbhe in Navi Mumbai, which will suck out gas the waste generates. It will be collected in a central system which will then be used as fuel for generating electricity. The project will also solve another problem, that of the obnoxious odour emanating from the garbage heap, which is making life such a suffering for people living nearby. The proposed project will help mitigate this to a great extent. The gas generated (landfill gas) is primarily Methane, an environmental hazard. United Nations Convention for Climate Change has identified Methane as one of the six greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. One tonne of Methane emission is equivalent to burning of 21 tonnes of CO2 (Carbon Dioxide).
Collecting and burning landfill gas is a well established technology. Almost all garbage collecting sites in UK have similar plants. Around 24% of UKs electricity comes from non-conventional energy sources, landfill gas being
one of them, UKs senior trade and investment advisor Jitendra Jain told ET.
According to NMMC, its a win-win situation for various reasons. First, all the necessary investment will come from the EcoMethane. We dont have to make any capital investment. And it will also generate 6,80,000 Carbon Credits for us, working out to Rs 54-55 crore a year, an NMMC official associated with the exercise said.
Carbon credit is a mechanism devised after the 1997 Kyoto conference to set up a market for reducing greenhouse emissions by giving a monetary value to the cost of polluting the air. Its agreed that every country must absorb all the CO2 it creates. If any country produces more CO2 than it can absorb, it must purchase an absorption ability from another nation. The carbon credit is this new currency. Simply put, developed countries can offset their CO2 generation by buying carbon credits from developing countries. One carbon credit is equal to one tonne of CO2 and is called CO2e.
At present, no municipal body in India sells carbon credits. The proposed project in Navi Mumbai is seen as an excellent opportunity for municipal corporations to earn money and contribute towards a better environment. Considering that India, on an average, generates 42 million tonne of municipal waste per year and has more than 300 big municipal bodies, the development opens up a new opportunity. Mumbai generates 8,000 tonne of garbage per day and disposing it is a serious challenge. NMMC seems to have shown the way, a corporation official said.