Mangaluru : It is four years now since the biomethanation plant of Mangaluru City Corporation at Urwa Market here started functioning using bio-waste. But its proposal — to use the energy (methane) generated at the plant to light up 75 streetlights in the vicinity — has remained in cold storage.

The “Nisargruna” biomethanation plant — set up using the technology developed by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai — became operational in 2011. It was planned to use the energy (methane) produced to run 75 streetlights through a generator from November 1, 2012. Though the plant has a 15-kVA capacity generator, its proposal has not become a reality.

H.N. Gopalakrishna, corporation Commissioner, told The Hindu that if the proposal was to become a reality, the civic body might need another Rs. 20 lakh for a project to store the gas produced, in balloons. Once the gas was stored, it would have to be fed to the generator to produce electricity constantly during night. Streetlights could be lit up only if the gas was fed constantly without break. The civic body is yet to allocate funds for it.

An environment engineer at the corporation said that the proposal to use the gas for lighting up streetlights has now been taken up with Mangaluru Electricity Supply Company officials who would have give permission to it. The talks were in the initial stage.

The plant had been set up for reducing the quantity of bio-waste transported to the corporation’s compost plant at Pachchanady from the wards near the market. The plant has a capacity to process up to two tonnes of biowaste a day, that can produce between 100-160 cubic metres of methane. It could produce up to 200 units of power.

It had been set up by Wipro Eco Energy under the guidance and technology provided by Sharad Kale, professor, Homi Bhabha National Institute, and Head, Pesticide Residues and Soil Science section Nuclear Agriculture and Biotechnology Division, BARC, as a pilot plant.

The lifespan of the plant was 15 years. The civic body spent about Rs. 35 lakhs for it, including the generator. The corporation had plans to set up more such plants for the decentralised use of bio-waste in the city if the pilot project became a success.