Team Mangalorean Photographs by Rajesh Shetty Mangalore, July 6: It was not the need that drove Cyril Richard Fernandes to innovate, but sheer genious and compulsion to break away from the system. This rebellious middle aged Cyril of Kadri Shivabag has demonstrated how bio gas could be produced by using vegetable waste. Please hold your breath- for last six months Cyril uses biogas produced by him for cooking in his house. This is not just free but also environmental free, however some little labour is needed and some one time investment. Mr. Fernandes had been persuaded by some students of the social work school in Mangalore to go in for bio-gas for cooking a year back, following the suggestions Mr. Fernandes developed his own model of bio gas production with a difference. He uses only the vegetable waste to produce the bio gas unlike in the traditional bio gas units where other types of waste are used. He spent some 10,000 rupees for construction of this unit, all he needed was couple of large drums to store the waste, some pipe and some regular maintenance. He says each unit will last for 25 years and in less than two years the unit pays back the investment in the form of savings from burning LPG. Mr. Fernandes displays how he does it. The kitchen waste or the waste from the vegetable market should be stored into a bucket with water when the waste material petrifies it is stored into the huge tanks for producing gas. Every bucket of waste will give gas for two families for one whole day. It is the same blue flame that the LPG gives out he points out. Mr. Fernandes has also used this gas to run a generator. The pipeline that goes out from the bio gas unit is connected to the fuel input line of the generator with a help of a low pressure kit. This will run the generator for not less than 2 hours. Mr. Fernandes told Mangalorean.Com that he is also researching further into the applications of the gas unit and is also thinking of a more refined model of the unit. Mr. Fernandes had worked in Dubai Municipal Corporation where he got the experience of innovation. If Mr. Fernandes' model is adopted by each one of us there is no doubt that all of us will be able to save the fuel charges and also get rid of the garbage problems and also learn to classify garbage. _________________________________________________________________ Missed your favourite programme? Stop surfing TV channels and start planning your weekend TV viewing with our comprehensive TV Listing http://entertainment.in.msn.com/TV/TVListing.aspx
