Wedoany.com Report on Mar 3rd, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the Compressed Biogas (CBG) plant of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) at Brahmapuram near Kochi. This project marks Kochi as the first city in the state to have a dedicated CBG plant for processing biodegradable municipal solid waste.

The new facility can process 150 tonnes of source-segregated biodegradable municipal solid waste per day and is expected to produce 5.6 tonnes of CBG and 28 tonnes of organic manure daily at full capacity. This initiative establishes a partnership between BPCL and the Kochi Municipal Corporation, allowing BPCL to expand its clean energy portfolio while providing the city with a long-term solution to its waste challenges.

The plant employs a systematic waste-to-energy process: workers first remove non-biodegradable materials like plastics and metals, then the biodegradable waste is sorted, shredded, and mixed with water to form a slurry. The slurry is fed into large anaerobic digesters where microorganisms break down the waste in the absence of oxygen, producing biogas and digestate. The biogas is upgraded to compressed biogas, while the digestate is processed into nutrient-rich organic manure, thereby converting urban waste into clean energy and valuable agricultural inputs.

Building on this milestone, the Kerala government plans to establish similar CBG plants in Kozhikode, Kollam, Palakkad, Thrissur, and Kottayam. Once operational, these facilities are expected to significantly improve the state's biodegradable waste management and clean energy production. The Brahmapuram CBG plant demonstrates the potential for collaboration between public sector energy companies and local bodies to address environmental challenges, supporting circular economy principles and reducing reliance on landfills by converting waste into renewable fuel and organic manure.