The Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) has given the green light to a project for producing biogas from solid waste.
The project, implemented by Munshiganj-based Lauhajang Biogas CNG Filling Station Ltd, will initially collect waste from the capital’s Jatrabari area.
The company officially approached to the DSCC in October last year with its proposal, which was cleared during the DSCC Board meeting on Jul 25.
“The proposal by Lauhajang Biogas has been approved as we find it an efficient way to treat waste,” said Assistant Engineer AHM Abdullah Harun of the DSCC Waste Management Division.
Lauhajang Biogas will collect 60 tonnes of waste every day, which will be transported to its plant in Munshiganj, capable to produce 4,695 cubic metre of gas and 18,630 kg of organic fertilizer a day, according to DSCC officials.
The plant will be able to produce 1.71 million cubic metre of gas and 6.8 million kg of fertilizer annually, they added.
Biogas can be used as fuel for vehicles and also used to produce heat and electricity as well without depleting non-renewable resources. The biogas process also gives bio-fertilizer as byproduct which can replace the use of harmful chemical fertilizers while optimizing agricultural production.
Lauhajang Biogas says they will be using Finnish technology to produce gas and fertilizer from household waste.
“Finland has several plants for producing power, gas and fertilizer from solid waste. Their case is they do not have enough waste, but here in Bangladesh, the authorities have a tough time handling it. We want to turn the waste in to a resource,” Lauhajang Biogas Chairman Anwar Hossain told Bangla Tribune.
The Tk 450 million plant in Munshiganj, partially financed by Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL), is expected to go in production by late 2018.
IDCOL is the state-owned non-bank financial institution that finances renewable infrastructure projects.
European nations have set up biogas as vehicle fuel projects. It is the case of Sweden, France, Switzerland, Iceland and Italy who started in the 90’s for country’s public transportation.
In the UK, biogas is estimated to have the potential to replace around 17% of vehicle fuel.