Relevance: GS III (Environment & Energy) | Source: The hindu

1. What is the Big News?

A major Compressed Biogas (CBG) plant has been opened at Brahmapuram in Kochi, Kerala.

• The Story: Just a few years ago, this exact place was in the news for a massive, toxic garbage fire. Today, it has been transformed into a modern facility that turns city waste into wealth.
• The Impact: Built by Bharat Petroleum, this plant will daily consume 150 tonnes of wet city waste and convert it into clean cooking and transport gas.

2. How Does It Work? 

To understand this for your UPSC notes, just remember these three simple steps:

• Working Without Air (Anaerobic Digestion): Daily wet waste (like leftover food and vegetable peels) is locked inside massive tanks with absolutely no oxygen. Here, natural bacteria “eat” the garbage and release raw gas.
• Cleaning the Gas: Raw biogas has impurities like carbon dioxide. The plant cleans this gas and presses it tightly (compresses it). This final CBG is extremely powerful and works exactly like the regular CNG we use in autos and cars.
• Zero Waste (Circular Economy): The leftover waste inside the tank is not thrown away. It is turned into rich organic fertilizer and sold to farmers.

3. Why is this Important for India?

• Cleans Our Cities: Plants like this eat up the daily garbage of a city. This stops the creation of massive garbage mountains (landfills) that cause pollution and catch fire.
• The SATAT Scheme: The government of India runs a scheme called SATAT. The goal is to set up 5,000 such green plants across India to produce cheap, pollution-free fuel.
• Saving Money: If India produces its own gas from local garbage, we do not have to buy expensive petrol and gas from other countries.

UPSC Value Box

With reference to Compressed Biogas (CBG) and related government initiatives, consider the following statements:

1. Raw biogas is purified by removing impurities to produce Compressed Biogas.
2. The SATAT scheme was launched to promote the production of CBG from organic waste.
3. The production of CBG relies on the aerobic (oxygen-rich) breakdown of biomass.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer: (b)