Methafficient: Upgraded Bio gas from food waste in Villages

  I am from Hunza, located in Gilgit Baltistan, in the north of Pakistan.  

My community does not have access to gas pipelines. We bring CNG from the western part of Pakistan. That is why it is expensive. 

 Also, in Pakistan, food waste disposed openly, has been a very big problem which produces green house gases and odour. This pollutes the environment in many ways due the fact that food waste is biodegradale. When the waste is degraded, leachate gets mixed with the fresh water bodies.

we are working on producing upgraded methane from food waste. We will install our reactors in the areas where there are no gas pipelines. We will increase the yield and calorific value of methane. We will manage the food waste to decrease the energy crisis and will increase the water quality of Pakistan. Not just that, our product will decrease the greenhouse gas emissions. 

My community at does not have access to gas pipelines.  We buy CNG in cylinders for domestic purposes. This gas happens to be so expensive due to its transportation prices from western parts of Pakistan. 

Also, due to lack of Proper waste management system food waste is a big problem. People get affected from the odour and greenhouse gases produced by food waste dumped openly. 

The food waste will converted into Bio gas. Methane content will be increased by electro-chemical anaerobic digestion process in order to increase the calorific value of Bio gas. Electro-chemical reactors will be installed in the community to serve bio gas for them, so that they get a renewable  and cost effective fuel and get their food waste managed properly. 

The population of Gilgit Baltistan is about 2 millions. None of them have access to gas pipe lines. We are trying to create awareness in them through training on waste segregation. If Food waste will be segregated properly, collection of required waste on time will be easy. 

If Electro-chemical Bio gas reactors will be installed, the calorific value will be increased. This will make the product an alternative for natural gas. This will improve their lives because the gas will be easily available in the area. Also, they will be served with a bio gas which will be cheaper and sustainable than natural gas. 

Bio gas will be produced in electro-chemical anaerobic reactor. The raw material used will be food waste. Food waste will be loaded in the anaerobic reactor and a low voltage will be created through electrodes, where it will be anaerobically digested by methanogen microbes and enhanced methane content will be achieved. That bio gas having high content of methane will be collected in tanks. From these tanks it will be supplied to the community. 

Conventionally, bio gas is been generated which has a low methane content i-e- 60-65 %. we will use electro-chemical process in which in addition to  acitogenotrophic bateria, Hydrogenotrophic bacteria are also made active due to the presence of electrodes. 

Bio gas will be produced in electro-chemical anaerobic reactor. The reactor is basically designed in a way that it uses the CO2 produced in the reactor to produce methane from it by hydrogenotrophic methanogens. The raw material used will be food waste. Food waste will be loaded in the anaerobic reactor and a low voltage will be created through electrodes, where it will be anaerobically digested by methanogen microbes and enhanced methane content will be achieved. That bio gas having high content of methane will be collected in tanks. From these tanks it will be supplied to the community.

We have read 50+ research papers which support the increase in methane through electro-chemical process. I have designed my reactor using all the knowledge we have gained.

Our team member is currently studying on an entrepreneurship exchange program in University of Utah. She has been selected on the basis on this idea. So, she after studying and presenting in front of different people of diverse backgrounds for two months,  thinks our project can work successfully. 

About installing the reactors, there always have been small project of conventional methane production projects that are run at small level. Our reactor is efficient so we can increase the yield and commercialize it. Our team leader is from Gilgit, She knows about the problem faced by community, she has interviewed several people.  People would love the reactors to be installed in their area. 

We have not installed the reactors yet. We need capital cost. We will install in 2020 in Gilgit. We will initially serve 0.5 million people. In the next five years, we will extend our project to rural areas of Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab. In five years about 10 million people will be served. 

In the year 2020, we are planning to install 20 reactors in Gilgit. In the next five years we plan to serve the whole country by installing about 200 reactors.

Pakistan is not good at waste management practices. Waste is not segregated at the source. We face difficulty in collecting the required food waste at large scale.

We are environmental engineers and we have less knowledge about entrepreneurship. We need to learn more about commercializing our idea. 

We are all student researchers right now. We are about to graduate and we do not have funds to start commercializing our idea. Also, we will need to give more community training on segregating food waste which needs funds again. 

We will collect funds and arrange training for people on waste segregation.

We apply for entrepreneurship programs to learn about startups on a broader terms. Two of us are already on exchange programs of entrepreneurship in USA. We have already learnt many things. 

Currently we are five researchers, our supervisor in Pakistan and our two team members' adviser in USA are working on the project. Also, an Economist from Gilgit.

We as a team have a versatile group of people from different back grounds.

Our team leader has a bachelors degree in environmental engineering and is about to graduate with a masters degree of Environmental engineering, her thesis project is methane production from food waste.  she works on the sustainability of project and making it more eco-friendly.

Two of  our team members have a bachelors degree of Chemical engineering and are about to complete their masters in Environmental Engineering. They work more on optimizing the parameters of methane production. 

Our fourth member has a worked as a mechanical engineer. He know about the parts of reactor. He knows more about the pressure and temperature that is to be maintained in the reactor. 

Fifth member of our team is an industrial Engineer. She now is doing her masters in environmental engineering. She knows how to run both industry and environment together.

Our sixth member is an economist who will be dealing with the accounts and finances of the project. She has also studied environmental economics.

US Pakistan Center for advanced studies (USPCAS) is the organization we study and research in. 

Purpose and social Impact :  We will manage the food waste and a small fraction of sewage sludge produced in Gilgit to produce bio gas. and other cities and rural areas of the country if the project becomes overwhelmingly successful in Gilgit, we will produce upgraded methane which will have increased calorific value and yield. We will sale the Biogas with low prices than all other fuels.   Food waste will be managed which will decrease the odour problems. it will decrease the waste realated diseases caused by bacteria, rodents and vectors like flies and mosquitoes. This will decreas the emission of greenhouse gases like CH4 and CO2 emitted from openly dumped food waste which ultimately leads to greehouse effect and global warming. The prices of methane will be alot lesser than the other fuels currently used in the area. The fuel produced will be renewable and clean fuel.

Customer Segment:  1.Domestic use of bio gas by people who have no gas pipelines in the rural areas and who buy gas at high process.  2. Industries who will be willing to use clean cost effective fuel. 3. Domestic use of people. 4. Rickshaw drivers who will be using our product as a fuel. 

Right now need fundsfor our capital investment.  We have been applying for funds. Our team member has been granted  Us $. 1000 for her research on methane production. We keep applying for renewable energy solution challenge so that we will be able to raise the required amount of US$. 5000.