NRL and OIL to set up compressed bio gas plants. Here's what it means

Guwahati: Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) and Oil India Limited (OIL) are establishing eight to ten compressed bio-gas plants in various districts of Assam and other Northeast Indian states to create wealth from waste and address the growing problem of waste management in towns and cities in the region. 

Collaboration with urban local bodies for municipal solid waste collection has been initiated, and the OIL township at Duliajan is being developed as a SMART city with modern living amenities, solid waste disposal, treatment, drainage system carrying capacity, and waste segregation at the source. The legacy waste of Tinsukia is also being handled with active support from OIL.

So how is biogas produced and how could it help the region?

A plant to produce the energy-rich biogas runs using anaerobic digestion continually stirred tank reactor (CSTR) technology. The conditions for big-gasification need to be anaerobic, for which an enclosed process vessel is required. Retention time for solid wastes can last from a few days to several weeks. The Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) scheme on compressed biogas, launched by the centre in 2018, envisages a target production of 15 million tons of biogas from 5,000 plants. Biogas is a renewable, as well as a clean, source of energy that encourages a circular economy.

Bhaskar Jyoti Phukan, MD of NRL, stressed the need for an effective ecosystem where various industries support the collective initiatives of the Pollution Control Board of Assam in finding solutions to environmental issues in terms of funding. "Young entrepreneurs to hone their entrepreneurial spirit and take up start-up ideas to provide solutions to micro issues in this domain", he said.

Dr. B. Kalyan Chakravarthy, Principal Secretary to the government of Assam's Skill, Employment and Entrepreneurship Development, has appreciated the efforts of OIL and NRL for their efforts in waste to wealth management in the region.

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