Geetanjali Krishna: What a waste of waste!

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These days I have developed a very healthy respect for, umm...excreta. Left in sewers, it rots and suppurates and emits powerful greenhouse gases that burn large holes in our ozone layer. Patted and dried into cakes, it's one of the commonly used fuels in India's hinterlands. Innovative people have even made paper out of it (only elephant poo though). But its bio gas plants and methane digesters that delight me the most.

Just think about it. In one stroke, bio gas plants consume methane; eliminate the need for firewood; cut down respiratory disorders caused by smoke from cooking with firewood "" that they also produce a clean-burning fuel is almost like an added bonus! Moreover, the sludge left over after bio gas has been extracted is excellent fertilizer, much more potent than the original constituent wastes.

Also, from what I've read, setting up a bio gas generator is not very difficult "" in theory at least. In the good old days before electricity, bio gas was drawn directly from the underground sewer pipes in London and burned in street lamps (which is why they came to be called gaslights). Modern bio gas generators are not substantially different, All it takes is a sealed pit full of organic goop (basically shredded plant material) and dung "" connected to a storage tank. In the first few days the contents of the pit ferment, and use up all the oxygen. Once the oxygen is all used up, bacteria that function without oxygen take over. They decompose the organic material in the pit and produce methane "" the chief constituent of bio gas. The gas rises to the top of the tank in large bubbles, piped out and used...or so I believed with my new found theoretical knowledge.

But things always sound elegant and simple on paper "" and very different in practice. Last week, I was in Mirzapur, where someone I know has a large dairy and farm. "I've wanted to set up a biogas plant for the longest time," said he, "not only for the fuel (which of course will be most welcome since our power supply is practically non-existent) but also for the fertilizer which is the end product of biogas generation." That was a great idea, I cried enthusiastically... how come he hadn't implemented it yet? I raved about its environmental benefits and the beauty of consuming fuel that was self-generated before I realised I was preaching to the converted.

"I know all that," said he impatiently, "we've all read about the benefits of biogas and gobar gas generation and how the government is offering so many subsidies for such projects in rural areas, Mirzapur included." The problem, said he, was that in spite of the hype and hoopla surrounding bio gas, there was very little practical information that he could source. "I sent my people to the government agencies in Mirzapur, as well as to Khadi and Village Industries "" but nobody could help us set up a gobar gas plant!" Eventually, he managed to locate one person with expertise in bio gas technology. "However, he couldn't show me any plants that he had designed that were still working," said he wryly, "but I have over 120 cows in the dairy with perfectly healthy bowels...so I'm still really keen to find someone to set up a gobar gas plant for me!"

On our last evening in Mirzapur, I took the kids out for a drive. My sadly citified daughter wrinkled her nose and said, "look at that stinky pile of cow potty by the roadside!" Of course all I could do was rue... at this monumental waste of waste.