Fuel from Garbage to be used in Pubic Buses
Published On Dec 21, 2016
Pune will soon be home to public transport buses running on fuel generated from garbage. A total of 45 buses will be a part of the pilot project in the city.
Kunal Kumar, Pune Municipal Corporation commissioner, said, "The aim is to promote green fuel, which will reduce pollution.” He added, “The Pune Municipal Corporation and Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal have given this project the go-ahead.”
The construction of the plant located at Talegaon which is dedicated to producing Bio-Compressed Natural Gas (Bio-CNG) from garbage has already been completed. Authorities also claim to have completed the paper work required for setting up the required fuel pumps. Pune alone generates around 1,500 tonnes of garbage on an everyday basis.
Civic officials told that sanctions required for running these public transport buses have come from Automotive Research Association of India, road transport ministry and Vehicle Research and Development Establishment.
“We have a tripartite agreement with a private firm. A fuel pump for our buses is being set up near Nigdi. We aim to complete it in a month’s time, after which the buses can start using bio-CNG,” said Suresh Jagtap, head of PMC’s solid waste management department.
Bio-CNG, generated from garbage at the Talegaon plant has already been tested and found suitable to be used in the buses. This Bio-CNG fuel will be supplied to PMPML depot located in Pimpri from the Talegaon Plant. PMPML may also use the network of Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited, as the latter has shown interest in helping PMPML with their existing network.
Pune, presently has more than 1000 transport buses plying on its routes and only 500 out of these use CNG as fuel.
