Government looks to turn biogas into CNG

The AAP government is exploring the possibility with the Swedish government to convert biogas into CNG. The project, a first for the city, will see biogas generated at sewage treatment plants being converted into CNG. Swedish ambassador Harald Sandberg, who recently met Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, has reportedly offered a technology to convert biogas into CNG through sewage treatment plants. A business delegation from Sweden was also in the city for the project.

City transport minister Gopal Rai and PWD minister Satyendra Jain had recently visited Sweden to study its transportation system. A senior officer said that the Delhi government was also exploring possibility to use biogas to run DTC buses in the national capital.

It is learnt that the Keshopur sewage treatment plant has been selected for the project because it is located close to a CNG-filling station and a CNG-fuelled power grid. The sewage treatment plant, functioning partially at present, can treat 72 million litres of waste water per day. The Delhi Jal Board is currently renovating it to make it fully functional as part of the Yamuna Action Plan. At full capacity, the plant will emit enough raw gas for the biogas plant to generate around 25,000 cubic metres of compressed biogas per day. This is enough to fuel 120 buses.

The official said the plant will receive raw gas emitted by the sewage treatment plant and upgrade it so that it can be used to propel vehicles. The project, once completed, will earn the capital city the distinction of having the country’s first public transport fleet that will run on two types of clean fuel — biogas and CNG.

Sweden has developed the technology that converts biogas into CNG to run public transport system. Sweden is considered a pioneer in biogas technology for heating, power generation and fuelling vehicles. More than 40 per cent of the biogas generated in the country is used to run vehicles. The compressed biogas is almost similar to CNG, the main constituent of which is methane. Thus it can be directly injected into CNG cylinders for vehicular use or fed into CNG-fuelled power grid. It can be mixed with CNG and used.