In India, Institute of Chemical Technology scientists in Mumbai are setting up a new plant that will produce biofuel by treating sewer water from the Barapullah drain. This is a first of its kind project in the country and the plant will produce 4.15 tons a day of biogas, which will be further processed to obtain one ton of methane (bio CNG) per day; 1.26 tons a day of fertilizers and nine lakh liters per day of reusable water.
Arvind Lali, professor of chemical engineering at ICT and head of DBT-ICT Centre for Energy Biosciences, told Hindustan Times that “Waste should be considered as a resource. This is a next-generation technology for waste management, which is at least 20 times faster than the existing technology.”
Lali told Hindustan Times that “The carbon in the drain water will be captured in the filtration process and will clean water, which is fit for reuse in irrigation, toilets or can be released in the river. The CLT technology, for which we have a patent, will process solid waste into CLT oil. The oil will be further processed to produce fertilizers and biogas, and methane in the last stage.”