With the State Government deciding to set up one lakh gobar gas plants, Chief Secretary JK Mohapatra has directed the officials concerned to ensure that methane, harvested from cow dung, is used for cooking purpose in rural areas by establishing biogas plants.
Mohapatra, at a meeting to discuss strategies of the project “Methane Farming in Odisha”, stressed the need to understand the process of methane emission so that it can be utilised as a nonconventional fuel for cooking purpose.
The participants at the meeting highlighted the need to reduce methane emission from cow dung in milk shed areas.
According to official sources, the Methane Farming Project would cover two lakh dairy farmers, who are members of dairy cooperative societies and possess approximately four lakh crossbred cows. As estimated, the four lakh dairy cows account for emission of 4 Gg of methane from cow dung manure storage.
The cow dung from these animals is the potential source of methane farming to the tune of 46 lakh cubic metre per annum. About 90 cubic metre of biogas can be harvested from one dairy crossbred cow per year, which is equivalent to 45 litres of petrol amounting to `3,195.
Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Commissioner-cum-Secretary Bishnupada Sethi stressed setting up one lakh biogas plants for methane farming in the next four years which would lead to harvesting of 1.5 lakh cubic metre biogas for cooking purpose in rural areas. This would reduce pressure on lPG consumption, thereby saving around `128 crore annually, he said.
OREDA Deputy Director Choudhury Ashok Kumar informed that around two lakh biogas plants have been set up during the last 25 years and a 10 per cent of those are still functioning. He also explained the need to construction four lakh more biogas plants.
OMFED Chairman-cum-Managíng Director Sanjay Rastogi stated that the members of the dairy cooperative societies would be encouraged to construct biogas plants. The Chief Secretary advised the OREDA to ensure post-commissioning services for effective utilisation of biogas plants.
It was decided that one lakh biogas plants of 1 and 2-cubic metre capacity would be targeted to be commissioned during the 12th Five-Year Plan period. In the year 2014-15, a target of 15,000 has been fixed keeping in view the capacity of the OREDA.
The target would be scaled up in the second and subsequent years. The plants would be constructed in milk-shed areas in clusters for better follow-up and monitoring. In this process, some areas should be saturated with plants to make the programme impact visible, it was decided.