Biogas plant: New door to possibilities
I grew up in Dhaka city, the city that I love most. My favourite city. During our childhood, Dhaka was so beautiful. I believe it was more beautiful than many other cities I travelled. The community back then was full of life. Everyone in this city was close to one another; people were so cordial with each other. Gradually, the population in the city continued to grow. And distance started growing between one another. At present, Dhaka city has more than 20 million people. The unusual increase of population has made Dhaka a city very different from what we used to know. We see people dump garbage wherever they wish. Most of the people don't know where the garbage should be dumped. Roads, parks, open spaces - all have become free dustbins. In 2016, Dhaka City Corporation placed around 11 thousand mini-dustbins on the road. I thought the scenario will surely change. But I was wrong. We destroyed the mini-dustbins in two years. The primary education we talk about has to start from family and then comes the school learning.
The whole world is now worried about industrial waste management. Waste management is a big challenge for the farming sector, especially the poultry waste is a big concern. If waste is not properly managed, the poultry farm becomes an adversity for the environment. Besides, there are many uses of cattle waste or cow dung. Similarly, there are multipurpose uses of poultry waste too which small farmers are not aware of. However, many farmers preserve poultry waste and use it as organic fertilizer in the field. Many people also use poultry waste as the raw material for vermicompost. About 10 to 12 years ago, Omega, a modern poultry farm, planned waste management programme. Even though the method was not completely automated, it was an effective initiative for waste management.
Creating organic fertilizer, biogas from poultry waste is an old news. I worked on biogas production during the 90s which was aired on BTV's Mati O Manush (Soil & People) programme. As a result, a large population was benefited. People learned about making small biogas plants at home using cow dung through which they could cook and get electricity. I was assisted with information from BCSIR. I still recollect those days when people used to send me so many letters and my wife Shahana helped me in replying to all those.
During the past three decades the world has changed a lot. Science has progressed at a tremendous speed. But an alternate environment friendly and safe technology of biofuel is yet to be discovered. Developed countries are also turning to producing electricity from biogas (bio) power plant. There are two important aspects of it. First, it is playing an important role in waste management. Second, it is possible to contribute mentionable amount of electricity to the national grid.
A few days back, I visited Paragon Poultry Limited, located in Gazipur area. Mashiur Rahman, managing director of the organization, has also established a bio power plant. This plant uses only poultry waste and is a new initiative in the context of Bangladesh. Paragon is a successful and well-known organisation in the poultry sector of Bangladesh. By introducing their waste management programme, they revolutionized the poultry sector. They have made an instance of commercial, social and environmental industry management.
Mashiur Rahman tells me he took initiative to set up a bio power plant after being aware of its prospect through a programme on Hridoye Mati O Manush (Soil and People in Heart). Now 350 KW of electricity is being produced from waste of 250 thousand parent stock of chicken. With it, he is able to meet the demand of 14-hours of electricity. At the same time, the produced organic fertiliser is being used in the cultivation of different crops. 100% poultry waste is being used in the power plant. This management is completely automated. Because of automated arrangements, there is no labour cost. I saw the same in Germany's Gelsen's organic power plant and gas production centre. The owners of the company are two friends - Pipa and Pepe. Now the automatic system is followed everywhere. In 2016, when working with the excellence of poultry industry, I saw the same scene in China's Shandong Province. Large poultry farms are running automatically there. They also use modern waste management method in their poultry farms.
Paragon's chief Mashiur Rahman says that he is benefiting greatly from connecting such a bio power project with the poultry industry. If large poultry farms follow this system we would be able to contribute to our national grid as well. Many other benefits can also be enjoyed. This can be an example to follow for the whole poultry industry.
Agricultural farm management is combined with industrial management worldwide. Modern agricultural entrepreneurs look forward to this. To materialize this, new technology is needed. If this system of power generation from poultry waste is followed by large poultry farms, a part of the country's electricity needs may be met from this sector, along with supply of quality organic fertilizers. If we become aware and work hard on this, then waste itself can open the door of immense possibilities.