Most of the Indian cities are suffering due to the illegal dumping of waste. Municipal bodies are struggling with the increased costs of collecting and transporting wastes. A major part of this waste is organic waste. It causes landfills and generates a greenhouse gas named methane. Food waste, paper waste, green waste, sewage, manure, human waste, slaughterhouse waste, etc. are examples of organic waste.
Statistics reveal that there are around 67 million metric tons of food waste annually are generated in India, which is valued around INR 92,000 crore. Also, it is growing at a rate of 8-10% per year. We can solve this problem by generating biogas from organic wastes.
Biogas is a kind of biofuel that is generated from the decomposition of organic waste in the absence of oxygen (anaerobic environment). It releases a mixture of gases, primarily carbon dioxide and methane. This biogas that is generated, can then be used as a fuel used as an alternative to the traditionally used fuels, which will serve as a source of green energy. Biogas will provide energy in the form of heat and electricity for the local grid. Many startups of today, both nationally and internationally, are trying to extract biogas and use the same to reduce the abuse and the depletion of fossil fuels.
So, let us discuss such biogas startups in India.
Biogas startups
1. Carbon Loops
2. Vaayu-Mitra
3. GPS Renewables
4. Yellow Haze Energy
5. Jsamey Biotech
6. Carbonlites by Carbon Masters
7. Quantum Green
8. Banyan Nation
Conclusion
Biogas startups
Biogas technology enables us to utilize organic wastes in an effective way. We can create productive resources with the help of that. The production of biogas from organic waste reduces the generation of greenhouse gas such as methane. Also, the production of biogas on farms can reduce the insects, odors, and pathogens related to conventional manure stockpiles. Some of the biogas startups in India are given below.
1. Carbon Loops
Carbon Loops was founded by Kern Agarwal and Ranjani Prabakaran in 2017. The headquarters of the company is situated in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The company works towards to tie up with educational institutions and corporates to segregate waste and make compost. This compost is sent to farmers in rural areas to improve the fertility of the soil.
They started the business by sending the generated compost to farmers in Chennai. After, they progressed to making biogas plants to power the canteen kitchen at Loyola. The company had a turnover of ₹2 crores in the last 2 years. Today, they are planning to set up community biogas plants in Tiruvallur. It can be utilized to light up streets in the city.
Yash Gupta
2. Vaayu-Mitra
Vaayu-Mitra was founded by Priyadarshan Sahasrabuddhe. He is an IIT-Bombay alumnus. The headquarters of the company is situated in Pune, India. The startup is putting forward the idea of making your own green fuel. They launched a product named Vaayu in 2017. It is a biofuel plant, which can install in homes easily. It is used to generate methane gas from organic waste.
That can be utilized for cooking and other heating purposes. By using ‘Vaayu’, we can generate about 800 liters of biogas per day. It meets more than 70 percent of the fuel requirement of a house. That enables us to save about six LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas) cylinders per year.
Parnas Ghosh
3. GPS Renewables
GPS Renewables was founded by Sreekrishna Sankar and Mainak Chakraborty in 2012. They have a cloud-based plant health monitoring system. It makes sure <1% plant downtime at minimum operational cost, without the requirement of maintenance staff and operations. The company has entirely reinvented conventional biogas plants.
Those biogas plants have a production efficiency in the range of 70 kg of LPG-equivalent per ton of waste. The headquarters of the company is situated in Bangalore, India. GPS Renewable offers a biogas plant named BioUrja. It produces double the biogas without the need for water. It is able to set up in 1/3rd the area requirement as compared to other conventional biogas technologies. Also, there will be no smell in the vicinity.
PV Vyshnavi
4. Yellow Haze Energy
Yellow Haze Energy was founded by Jaideep Singh Shaktawat and Vibhav Vyas in 2018. The headquarters of the company is situated in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The company started with an aim to catalyze a shift to sustainable technologies via innovation in technology, delivery, and finance models.
The company mainly helps corporates and large industries to minimize the carbon footprint by incorporating different sustainable technologies like solar thermal for process heat, zero liquid discharge, solar power, etc. Also, the company provides solutions to convert food waste into biogas for institutions that have in-housing dining for more than 500 people and large food-mess.
Arbaaz sayed
5. Jsamey Biotech
Jsamey Biotech was founded by Amey Marathe in 2018. The headquarters of the company is situated in Hyderabad, India. Amey Marathe worked as a chef for more than 14 years. Also, he is the vice president of the Telangana Chefs Association. He had the intention to do something with food waste.
The company started with the aim of curb the food waste produced from the restaurants in India. They collected food waste from different restaurants and hotels in Hyderabad. Then, they converted that waste into biogas & nutritious organic fertilizer via the fermentation process. They sell compressed biogas at 48 INR per kg and organic manure at 8 INR per kg.
Arbaaz sayed
6. Carbonlites by Carbon Masters
The startup named Carbon Masters is trying to decrease the amount of waste heading out of Bangalore. The company has joined up with residents and local authorities to collect kitchen waste and convert that into biogas. This generated fuel is sold to IT parks, local restaurants, and corporate campuses.
It is enabling to replace conventional fossil fuels used in cooking and decrease the emission of methane from landfills. Also, it helps to keep the city cleaner. Carbonlites Cylinder is a product of the company. It is the first branded, bottled bio-CNG of India. Also, it can be used for cooking purposes instead of LPG. Carbon Masters was founded by Kevin Houston and Som Narayan. Today, the company has offices in India, UK, and Ecuador.
7. Quantum Green
Quantum Green was founded by Vinayaka Kashyap & Vinod Jaganathan in 2014. The headquarters of the company is situated in Bangalore, India. The company is mainly engaged in the design, installation, and supply of biogas plants for different applications ranging from household cooking to industrial cogeneration purposes such as bio-CNG bottling plants and power generation.
Also, the company offers portable biogas plants for industrial canteens, individual households, hotels that produce wastes up to 40 to 60 Kg per day. They have provided their service for Indan Navy, ISRO, Mother Dairy, Automotive Axles Limited, Spandana Hospitals, Acharya Institutes, etc.
Vidhi Punamiya
8. Banyan Nation
Banyan Nation is one of India’s first vertically integrated plastic recycling companies that helps global brands use more recycled plastic instead of virgin plastic. Our proprietary plastic cleaning technology converts collected post consumer and post industrial plastic waste into high quality recycled granules – Better Plastic™ – comparable in quality and performance to virgin plastic. Our award winning data intelligence platform integrates thousands of informal recyclers into our supply chain and also helps cities manage their waste more effectively.
India produces hundreds and thousands of metric tonnes of plastic each year and unfortunately, this leads to an array of issues for every living organism that exists. So, restoring the ecological balance by reducing the usage of single-use plastic is essential to trot towards sustainable living.
Conclusion
Biogas is an eco-friendly and renewable source of energy. Biogas plants are useful for the environment and agriculture. It is also beneficial for consumers of electricity and heat. It is considered as an important method of waste management. The growth of the biogas industry will fulfill the preferences of agriculture and energy policies. Also, it can create new job opportunities and increase revenues from local taxes.