Biogas Digesters in India

Sintex Industries introduces new home-use digester unit to solve India's waste and energy problems

Sintex Industries, a plastics and textile company located in Gujarat, India, has produced a new biogas digester unit that can help households manage their waste, whether it be human feces, livestock manure, or organic scraps from their kitchens. In India, human and livestock waste is a huge environmental hazard. Also, energy from conventional sources is either unaffordable or inaccessible for millions of Indians. Although Sintex's new biogas digesters will cost US $425, a sizable sum for most Indians, the Indian government has agreed to subsidize one third of the cost of these single-family digesters to help more Indians capitalize on this opportunity.

The biogas digester unit has a volume of a single cubic meter and can use the waste from a family of four to provide all the energy necessary to cook its food. The sludge that results from the anaerobic processes in the digester can also be used as fertilizer.

Even though Sintex has only installed 100 of these biogas digesters to date (February 28th, 2008), the company plans on expanding its biogas division by least ten times over the course of 2008. In the long term, as larger buildings employ this technology, whether it be Sintex's or some other firms, biogas use in India will surely see widespread use even in its largest cities.

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