Wealth from waste
A timely editorial was published in our local financial English daily on March 16th. about the interesting contract between the government and an Italian firm, for generating power and producing organic fertiliser from municipal waste. I believe most readers will be interested to know more details about the project… the time frame within which it is expected to be functioning and completed.
The amount of power generated though small is all a blessing, since no traditional geological liquid, solid or gases will be used.
I am also sure that most readers will be interested to keep track of this unique process. In this context, I would further request the government to take steps to generate methane gas from solid toilet waste that is now flushed down to WASA sewage plant, and then after treatment dumped into the rivers of Bangladesh.
Generating of methane gas as a fuel from toilet refuse is going strong in Bangkok, Thailand. It is piped as kitchen fuel and the by-product fertiliser, which is produced by the digester, is sold all over the city.
They have sited a number of organic digester-based gas plants alongside large public buildings, like hospitals, office blocks, police and army camps, dormitories and hotels; for generating methane.
We should do the same in our cities where flushed toilets are installed, to begin with. The government should take initiative to set up the first digester at, say at Azimpur government quarters block, to begin with. Once it starts functioning, many such methane gas producing digesters can be set up in Dhaka and other cities all over the country.
I would request our news media to follow up and create the needed awareness of the government for full utilisation of this worthwhile fuel source.
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