Goa, India, 10 November 2016
Goa, India's smallest state, is also one of the country's most popular travel destinations. What began in the late 1960s with the arrival of hippies and people seeking an alternative lifestyle from the West has since developed into a tourism hotspot on the subcontinent, thanks to its idyllic beaches and exotic landscapes. Unfortunately, this has also brought negative developments. Over the decades, environmental problems have increased alongside the growing number of holidaymakers, the facilities serving them and the local population.
Shortcomings in waste disposal in particular had reached dramatic proportions, ultimately prompting local politicians and authorities to take appropriate action. Under the government's “Make in India” programme, the foundation stone for India's most advanced waste treatment plant was laid on 21 November 2014. The plant was completed in around 18 months using German expertise and with substantial involvement from ARCHEA Biogas, based in Hessisch Oldendorf. The Chief Minister of Goa, Laxmikant Parsekar, and India's Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar, recently inaugurated the showcase facility.
The plant is based on a combination of mechanical and biological treatment processes (MTB), which first cleanly separate organic from inorganic waste. While the latter is sent for recycling, ARCHEA's plant technology enables the conversion of organic residues into valuable end products such as biomethane, providing an environmentally sustainable, decentralised energy source. Electricity generated from a portion of the biogas in a combined heat and power unit is then used to meet the electricity needs of the entire facility. Organic fertiliser is also to be produced by composting and maturing the dewatered digestate. Around 40,000 tonnes of household waste can be processed annually in this way.
Computer-controlled equipment allows a wide variety of input materials to be processed while maintaining high safety standards for employees. The plant's control system was supplied by long-standing partner company Eckel Steuerungstechnik from Rinteln.
The plant was designed to minimise odour nuisance and potential groundwater contamination through seepage. It is also intended to serve as a learning centre to raise awareness among the Indian population of the positive effects of modern waste disposal systems.
Oliver Nacke, founder and Managing Director of ARCHEA, sees this flagship project as confirmation of his company's approach: developing decentralised solutions to specific problems faced by municipalities in emerging economies, with the involvement of local people, politicians and businesses. Outside Europe, ARCHEA has already successfully completed similar projects in Brazil, among other countries. These deliver a dual benefit by addressing serious shortcomings in waste management while generating energy, making municipalities, regions and companies more self-sufficient. Oliver Nacke pays particular tribute to the commitment of the Indian partners on site and his employees, who worked tirelessly and with great dedication to ensure the project was completed on schedule, despite climatic conditions that were at times extreme for Central Europeans.
Follow-up projects in India are in preparation. Here, too, the aim is to combine environmental and economic considerations to create decentralised waste disposal and utility infrastructure for villages without sewerage or a connection to the electricity grid. ARCHEA also intends to continue contributing to the fight against human-induced climate change in Germany and is working, among other things, on virtual power plant concepts based on solar power, wind power, biogas and battery storage.
