India’s first solid waste to hydrogen power plant in Pune
Recently, the first solid waste-to-hydrogen plant will be set up in Pune, Maharashtra. A total cost of Rs. 430 crore will be incurred on this.
- The plant will be set up by The Green Billions Ltd (TGBL), which has tied up with the Pune Municipal Corporation for 30 years.
- It will treat 350 tons of solid waste per day by next year. The company plans to make 10 tons of hydrogen per day from 350 tons of solid waste.
- The waste will include biodegradable, non-biodegradable and household hazardous waste and will be segregated at the TGBL center in Pune using optical sensor technology.
- Wet waste from the facility will be used to produce bio-fertilizers containing humic acids believed to be superior to traditional bio-fertilizers with low-carbon emissions.
- The fuel obtained from the waste will be used to generate hydrogen using plasma gasification technology.
Refuse derived fuel-
- Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) is produced from household and commercial waste, which includes biodegradable materials as well as plastics.
- Non-combustible materials such as glass and metal are removed from the waste, and residual material is re-shredded.
- Waste-to-energy plants are viable only when the plant can process at least 300 units of waste per day, according to the Task Force on Waste to Energy, 2014, by the erstwhile Planning Commission, now known as NITI Aayog. This thing has been said in the report of the force.
- Therefore, it is considered practical to set up waste-to-energy plants in large cities with a population of more than 2 million.
- Based on this, the project will manage 350 TPD of waste for Pune, which has a population of over 7 million.
Hydrogen –
Hydrogen is one of the most abundant elements on Earth for a clean alternative fuel option.
The type of hydrogen depends on the process of its formation:
- Green Hydrogen: Produced by electrolysis of water using renewable energy (eg solar, wind) and has a low carbon footprint. Under this, water (H2O) is split into hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O2) by electricity. Byproducts: Water, water vapor.
- Brown Hydrogen: Produced using coal where the emissions are vented into the atmosphere.
- Gray Hydrogen: Produced from natural gas where the associated emissions are vented into the atmosphere.
- Blue Hydrogen: Produced from natural gas, where emissions are captured using carbon capture and storage.
Source – Business Standard
