KATHMANDU, May 5: Two houses in the valley recently installed household biogas plants and 200 other houses have shown interest, according to the officials at the Alternative Energy Promotion Center (AEPC). The demand for the technology has surged after “Waste to energy bazaar 2013” was organized in the capital last week by AEPC.
“Chief secretary Lilamani Poudel and AEPC Executive Director Govinda Prasad Pokhrel have been using the gas produced through kitchen waste. Around 200 households have demanded the technology. They will get the system installed within a month,” said Samir Thapa, assistant director at AEPC.
“We had organized the event to bring awareness among people and it seems to have worked,” he added.
The government had announced to extend subsides for biogas installation in urban areas in March. AEPC, the focal government body to promote alternative energy, launched the event to sensitize the stakeholders about the incentives of choosing to install waste to energy plants.
The government provides subsidies to both individuals and institutions depending on the scale of the project. To turn kitchen waste into energy, it costs Rs 35000, out of which, 10,000 would be borne by the government.
“Poudel and Pokhrel sirs have installed the technology at their houses. This saves at least one third of LPG usage at their homes. This technology is hassle free and reliable,” said Thapa.
It needs at least two and a half kg of biodegradable waste to generate biogas needed to cook for around 2 hours, hence, the technology is considered suitable for joint families.
Thapa informed that after the small scale gas generation reaches to certain households, AEPC would expedite work on institutional waste. “Even electricity can be generated through institutional waste,” he said.
According to AEPC executive director Pokhrel, ever growing power crisis in the valley and elsewhere in the country calls for renewable energy technologies and this is not going to be successful without good investments from the private sector.
“The results after organizing the energy week have been encouraging. However, there is need to make more and more people and private sector aware and willing to embrace renewable energy,” he said.
Source : Republica
