Food waste generated from restaurants has helped light the stove at the noon-meal kitchen of an elementary school in Pallavaram.
A biogas plant was set up at Cantonment Elementary School in Pallavaram by the St. Thomas Mount-cum-Pallavaram Cantonment Board, a couple of months ago. Through the simple process of fermentation of degradable waste, the plant produces methane gas from food waste. Through a pipeline, the gas reaches a conventional stove in the noon-meal kitchen of the school.
The plant was inaugurated by S. Prabakaran, chief executive officer of St. Thomas Mount-cum-Pallavaram Cantonment Board, in the presence of elected representatives recently.
Hand-in-Hand, an NGO associated with the board’s solid waste management (SWM) project from 2009, has installed the plant, which costs Rs. 28,000. “This was our second such unit for the schools. The earlier one, inaugurated at a school at St. Thomas Mount in January this year, has resulted in significant savings in LPG usage,” said Mr. Prabakaran.
Peter Durairaj, health superintendent, said the plant would also be used to spread awareness amongst school children on the waste-to-energy concept.
Mr. Prabakaran also released a video document on the ‘Solid Waste Management’ initiatives at Cantonment Board, St. Thomas Mount-cum-Pallavaram. ‘Green Friends’ (the persons engaged in the SWM project), whose efforts are vital for effective solid waste segregation in the Cantonment locality, were appreciated and Mr. Prabakaran presented them with awards,
