Tribune News Service
Amritsar, November 14
Every year the checks to curb paddy burning issue go up in smoke as the agricultural waste disposal has become an issue of national importance. Recently, NASA issued satellite images of the state engulfed in heavy smoke cloud and a small effort by a group of students lead by a teacher in Jabowal has given a probable solution.
Sanjeev Sayal, a science teacher at Government Senior Secondary School, Jabowal, is using a simple process to convert agricultural waste into biofuel. A self designed charring drum with a chimney and vent is used to burn paddy and make biofuel. Sanjeev shares the concept and the purpose behind this effort, “Paddy burning is an important issue in Punjab as it’s a threat to the environment as well as the fertility of the soil. The issue has not been tackled as there is no awareness amongst farmers about any alternatives. But this project makes use of pyrolysis or compact burning of biomass in absence of oxygen,” he said
Converting dry leaves, agricultural waste, paddy into bricklets of biofuel, the model made by the team has been circulating as a mobile science project in several schools across the district. “When burnt, we retrieve the char which is then crushed and mixed with binders of the required amount and molded into bricklets. The bricklets when sun dried could be used as fuel at home or industrial use,” he explains. “One, the partial burning allows us to reuse the waste as fuel and second, less smoke is emitted during the process. Also, since it converts agricultural waste into energy efficient fuel, it provides a healthy alternative,” he adds. Promoting healthy alternatives to dispose agricultural waste, Sanjeev says these simple ideas and concepts needs to be converted into big mass projects for implementation. “These things require funds and proper resources to get implemented in large scale. Till now, we have been promoting it in schools and institutes, but I hope to get some help from the district administration to make it happen on a big scale.”
Having been already won the Inspiration Award held for all government-run schools in the country for the project, he has also worked on another green energy concept of bio cooker which uses heat or energy from biochar to cook.