Chennai: The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is planning to introduce biogas plants in its schools to promote clean cooking fuel and educate students about sustainable ways of managing waste, reports The Economic Times.
The proposal will focus on school campuses that have centralised kitchens preparing meals for more than one institution. Officials said this approach would help make the best use of food waste and the cooking gas produced from it.
Corporation Commissioner J. Kumaragurubaran said the civic body plans to work with interested non-governmental organisations, individuals and residents’ welfare associations to roll out the initiative. He said the project is expected to cut down the use of LPG cylinders and reduce cooking fuel expenses in schools.
As a pilot initiative, the GCC is considering installing biogas plants at four cloud kitchens where large volumes of vegetable and food waste are generated daily. These sites are proposed to have integrated composting and biogas units that can be set up at reasonable cost and operated without the need for long maintenance hours.
The plan follows the successful commissioning of a biogas plant at a Corporation higher secondary school in South Chennai last month. The 75-kg capacity unit was installed with the support of a local residents’ association and a service organisation at a cost of ₹5.7 lakh. The school has a kitchen that prepares breakfast for about 10 Corporation schools. At present, the plant is connected to a single stove and processes nearly 15 to 20 kg of food waste each day, producing gas that meets part of the kitchen’s fuel needs.
Officials said the system is expected to save one LPG cylinder every two months. Around 250 students at the school benefit directly, and the plant is also used to explain clean energy and waste management concepts as part of environmental awareness activities.
A similar biogas unit was installed last year at another Corporation school in Adyar with support from a residents’ association and an environmental group. School authorities said the plant helped save seven LPG cylinders over a 10-month period. During this time, about 3,200 kg of food and wet waste was diverted from disposal, and the gas produced was used for cooking for nearly 270 hours.
Apart from reducing LPG use, the biogas plants produce slurry that can be converted into compost. This manure can be used for gardening and small-scale food cultivation on school campuses, helping create a self-sustaining system that links waste management, energy production and environmental learning.
