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    Siddarth Goenka helps villages fight global warming with biogas plants

    Synopsis

    The 30-year-old, who studied in Birmingham & worked with JM Morgan Stanley believes non-renewable energy such as LPG is not sustainable.

    ET Bureau
    Villages on the city's periphery fall short of even basic facilities to cook a meal. Bengaluru-based restaurateur Siddarth Goenka, an alum of Bishop Cotton Boys' School, hopes to correct just that. The 30-year-old who studied in Birmingham and worked with JM Morgan Stanley believes non-renewable energy such as LPG is neither viable nor sustainable.

    Having seen the hinterlands while extending his family's dairy business in Rajasthan in 2010, Goenka started the Pragathishali Rural Development Charitable Trust in 2014 to promote and develop biogas production and usage in rural areas.

    The trust is an active partner in implementing the National Biogas and Manure Management Programme and working on the LPG-Mukt Gav Abhiyaan.

    Image article boday


    Goenka has completed 60 units and 30 more are in the pipeline (Image: BCCL)


    "LPG is a westernised solution that is a non-renewable resource," he says.

    Realising that villages just outside India's IT capital are struggling to cook on firewood, which poses both health and environmental hazard, Goenka started his first project in Kottur, Chikkaballapur taluk, under the guidance of Dr V Venkatesh, an agricultural scientist from Gandhi Krishi Vignan Kendra.

    His Trust has come a long way .Goenka has completed 60 units and 30 more are in the pipeline.The units that cost anywhere between Rs 25,000-Rs 30,000 are built with central and state government subsidies, the labour of villagers and monetary and building expertise from the Trust. "In India, freebies don't work well. We make the biogas user contribute in kind because we want them to take ownership of the project," Goenka says.

    Each biogas unit, which takes about 5-6 days to start working, has a lifespan of 50 years. While it saves the environment by curbing direct exposure of methane gas through dung or human waste, the slurry that comes out of the plant makes it a great manure for agricultural purposes. "Biogas is a sustainable way of life. Not only is it environment friendly , it also makes the cow an economically viable option as they don't end up in slaughterhouses when they get older," says Goenka.

    Says Dr Kumar Gouda, Project Co-ordinator, regional biogas development and training center, at GKVK: "Projects like these have an immense impact on the everyday lives of rural people. Since cow dung is readily available, it can be used for the biogas plant. It also goes a long way in reducing global warming."


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    ( Originally published on Mar 14, 2016 )
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