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How a Gujarat dairy district is turning cow dung into cheaper fuel and carbon credits

Every day, 100 tonnes of cow dung are brought to the plant. This produces between 1.5 and 1.8 tonnes of natural gas, and every day, 350-400 vehicles fill their tanks with gas.

I recently found myself surrounded by tons of cow dung in the small town of Bhukhala in Banaskantha District, north Gujarat. Tractors filled with three to four tonnes of the stuff rolled through the gates of the area’s only industrial facility. Strangely enough, this was a place I’d wanted to visit since Suzuki Motor Corporation Chairman, Toshihiro Suzuki, spoke about the facility during the Japan Mobility Show last year. 

Because this cow dung, after being mixed with water and sent into a giant tank, is ‘digested’ to produce methane, or as you might know it, natural gas. In this case, to be exactly precise, biomethane. After being purified, this gas is stored and much of it is sold to vehicles at a Bio-CNG dispensing station right outside the facility.

This plant, built for Rs 45 crore, operates under a tripartite agreement between Banas Dairy, the local district Dairy Union, the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and Suzuki Motor Corporation through their wholly-owned subsidiary Suzuki Research and Development India (SRDI). SRDI invested Rs 45 crore on building the plant, NDDB provided the technology and operational expertise and Banas Dairy provided the land and will eventually take over operations. Profits, if any, are shared between SRDI and Banas Dairy.

Every day, 100 tonnes of cow dung are brought to the plant. This produces between 1.5 and 1.8 tonnes of natural gas, and every day, 350-400........

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