Biogas from kitchen waste

Abstract

India’s economic growth is contributing to a massive increase in the generation of solid waste. Approximately 55 million tones of Municipal Solid Waste is generated annually by urban areas in India. Over 59% of homes in urban India use Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) supplied in portable cylinders for their cooking needs. However, due to our country’s dwindling petroleum reserves and increased costly imports of petroleum, non conventional energy resources are slowly gaining importance. The use of biogas using kitchen waste as feedstock can help solve the problem of energy deficit and at the same time, allow the safe disposal of kitchen waste which is often unscientifically dumped or discarded. Our institute canteen (AIKTC) utilize several LPG cylinders and also generates large amounts of kitchen waste. The kitchen waste generated has high calorific value and moisture content; hence it can be anaerobically digested. The biogas produced can be used to supplement the fuel requirements of the campus kitchens that generate the kitchen waste. This study consists of carrying out survey, characterization of kitchen waste and exploring it’s potential to be used for biogas production.