Farmer's technology turns chicken dropping to electricity
By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 01 June 2010, 15:52 IST   |    29 Comments
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Farmer's technology turns chicken dropping to electricity
Namakkal: The methane gas which is produced out of chicken droppings is converted into electricity using a patented technology of a local farmer turned entrepreneur. The farmers sell the dried slurry and using an Israel technology, the liquid scum is converted as liquid NPK (nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium) fertilizer, reports S Sujatha from the Economic Times Bureau. At a farm in Goundampalayam in Namakkal district, chicken droppings produce methane. After that, using a patented technology of a local farmer-turned-entrepreneur, it is converted into electricity. The farmer converts the remaining liquid scum as liquid NPK (nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium) fertilizer, employing an Israel-based technology. The farmer sells the dried litter slurry generated as a residue as manure for farmers. Chennai-based GK Bio Energy also produced power from poultry litter in Namakkal a few years ago. With 80 percent of poultry business concentrated within the 50 km radius in the city, Namakkal is known as the poultry hub of India. The district produces 2.5 crore eggs a day, which generates a turnover of around 7 crore per day. By collecting and processing the total poultry litter in the district, nearly 16 mw power per hour can be generated along with 800 tonne manure and 10,000 litres of liquid fertiliser as by-products, said S Durairaju, MD, Subhashri Bio Energies (SBEL). The farmers are benefitted from it as they can earn around 13 per layer bird in its lifetime from just its litter. According to SBEL Executive Director D Salai Sivaprakasam, SBEL uses 10 percent of the power generated for captive purpose to run these processes. The indigenous method was a concept of Durairaju, and in 1998, a pilot project was put in place with an investment of 1.5 crore. After that, the existing project was sanctioned by the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES), and besides giving tax exemption to import of machinery, the ministry chipped in with 6 crore as government subsidy. For the last one year, the organic manure (PSO6) from SBEL is being sold through primary agriculture credit societies in Tamil Nadu, said A Sankaralingam, Tamil Nadu Co-operative Marketing Federation (Tanfed) special officer.

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