Monitoring – Chipiya Biogas Plant Project, India – EWB-USA Central Houston Professional Chapter

LOCATION:

The project is located in Chipiya, Madhya Pradesh, India approximately 78 km from Ujjain, 135 km from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, and 800 km from Mumbai, India. The project site has good access to neighboring towns of Ujjain, Indore, and Mumbai via car and flight.

Community Details:

The community primarily consists of local Sondhiya tribesmen. They are keen to implement technologies for rural development projects and have cordial interactions with the Reliance Foundation, a major non-profit arm of Reliance Industries, which is very active in this region. The CBO is the ‘Shri Ganesh Gaushala’ committee (Gaushala is Hindi for cow shelter) and Chipiya’s Village Development Council (VDC). The local NGO is Avantika Atma Nirbhar Krashak Producer Company Limited (AANKPCL), a locally promoted producer organization.

The current economic situation is that a commercial farm in the area provides jobs for the majority of the people in Chipiya. The village status is poor, having average net annual income INR 24,000 (USD 400). The main source of income for the villagers is agriculture; livestock, artisanship, rearing and daily wages.

Project Summary:

This program’s primary goal is to bridge the gap between lack of supply of fuel and the increasing demand for the fuel. During the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) in Chipiya village, by reconnaissance visits and problem analysis exercises with the community, it was found that there is a shortage of biomass due to deforestation, high exploitation of the natural resources and lack of external sources for use. There are high shortages of fuel and fodder tree. The gaps between demand and supply were discussed amongst the community and a consensus was made to construct a 200 cubic meter capacity size biogas in Shri Ganesh Gaushala in Village Chipya. The Gaushala has 700 cows, which yield about 3 Tons of cow manure per day. The proposed biogas plant and distribution center will be used to provide natural gas (methane) for household cooking use and slurry for agricultural use. There is sufficient cow manure feed and water available for a 200 cubic meter plant.

The beneficiaries of this project will span the entire community. First, the project will help and provide apprenticeship to any villager who participates in the construction and operation of the digester units, giving the community members new skills that they can use towards the implementation of future projects. Per a vendor, 2 people would be needed to operate the biogas plant.

Second, the project will benefit the entire village by giving us an option to dispose of cow manure safely and in a health-risk free fashion.

Third, the availability of cooking gas will save time for the women preparing the food and save time for anyone involved in handling cow manure for cooking purposes by eliminating that process entirely.

Finally, the digested cow manure can be used in agricultural activities, saving money and the hassle of finding alternative fertilizer sources. Once built, the project will also provide the village with an economic development opportunity by creating a new business related to gas that can be later expand based on our village’s needs and even nearby villages’ needs.

Project Adoption Date:

June 2014

Project Status:

Monitoring – In the Summer of 2019, the India Project Team implemented the biogas digester project. They are now in post Implementation and Monitoring phases for the project.

Impact: 600 people provided with sustainable clean cooking fuel decreasing potential for pulmonary diseases and a less labor intensive and safer means to prepare food.

You can see the video of the Project Implementation below. The video was produced by Bechtel Corporation, the primary sponsor of the project.