The fast depletion of non-renewable energy sources and exponential increase in the energy demand impose the need to develop alternative fuels. With the objective of producing clean alternative energy from renewable energy sources in a sustainable manner, the Centre has extensively worked on biogas production using various kinds of wastes ranging from cow dung, food waste, vegetable waste, leaf biomass of different plants abundantly available in rural areas, to the formation water from exhausted oil wells, industrial wastes like distillery spent wash and microalgal biomass cultivated in sugar mill effluents.
Augmentation of biogas yield through the process of co-digestion using various substrates available in rural villages and especially microalgal biomass with other organic wastes from sugar mill such as pressmud, bagasse etc. was successfully demonstrated. Furthermore, it was also established that the addition of bacterial consortia promoted the pre-digestion of the substrate, which reduced the duration for the onset of methanogenesis.
Different types of biogas systems, suitable for the substrate used for biogas production were designed and developed. Further, an innovative digester with translucent dome was designed and fabricated to enhance the methane production in cooler regions especially in hilly areas. This dome helps to maintain the temperature inside the digester leading to enhanced biogas yield.
