Report

on

Pilot Project with Detailed Design of

Environmentally Sustainable Technology (EST)

for

Converting Waste Agricultural Biomass into Resource”

Prepared By

Society for Environment and Economic Development Nepal

(SEED Nepal)

39, Siddharth Marg, Anamnagar

Kathmandu – 32, Nepal

in Collaboration with

Madhyapur Thimi Municipality (MTM)

with Support of

UNEP, DTIE, International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC)

Osaka, Japan

February 2010

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Table of Content

Abbreviation ........................................................................................................................................... ii

1. Background .....................................................................................................................................1

2. Availability of WAB..........................................................................................................................3

3. Existing Problems............................................................................................................................3

4. Technology Description ..................................................................................................................4

5. Process Flow Chart..........................................................................................................................5

6. Technical Feasibility ........................................................................................................................6

7. Financial Viability ............................................................................................................................7

7.1 Fixed Asset Investment .................................................................................................................7

7.2 Annual Operating Costs ................................................................................................................8

7.3 Working Capital Requirement.......................................................................................................8

7.4 Sales Revenue ...............................................................................................................................8

7.5 Annual Profit .................................................................................................................................9

7.6 Total Capital Investment and Financing........................................................................................9

8. Environmental and Social Benefits .................................................................................................9

9. Conclusions ...................................................................................................................................10

Annex – 1: Details of Technology Offer ................................................................................................11

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Abbreviation

'

- Minutes "

- Seconds %

- percentage 0C - Degree Celsius

B. S. - Bikram Era

DTIE - Division of Technology, Industry and Economics

EST - Environmentally Sound Technology

GHG - Green House Gas

GHG - Green House Gas

IETC - International Environmental Technology Center

mm - millimeter

MSW - Municipal Solid Waste

MTM - Madhyapur Thimi Municipality

nos - Numbers o

- Degree

S. No. - Serial Number

SEED Nepal - Society for Environment and Economic Development Nepal

Sq. km. - Square kilometer

sq. m. - Square meter

Sqft - Square feet

SSFA - Small Scale Funding Agreement

UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme

VDC - Village Development Committee

WAB - Waste Agricultural Biomass

1

1. Background

Nepal is an agricultural country and almost eighty percent of the household depend on this

occupation for their living. During the Tenth Plan period (2001/02 - 2006/07) the average

annual growth rate remained low at 3.4 percent; 2.7 percent for the agricultural sector and

3.8 percent for non-agricultural sector. During the plan period, the contribution of

agriculture sector to GDP has decreased from 37.4 percent to 33.1 percent showing the

structural change in the economy.

Recently changed from a Kingdom to a Republic, the interim three year plan (2007/08 –

2009/10) of the country aims to raise the living standards of Nepali people living in poverty,

state of deprivation, exclusion and underdevelopment. The main objective of the plan is to

generate an experience of change among people by reducing unemployment, poverty and

inequality and by contributing to establishment of durable peace.

The Plan has also emphasized the development of alternative energy systems for improving

the living standards of people in rural areas. The Plan gives priority to the use of

environmental friendly fuels.

Under the Environment and Waste Management Program the interim plan has stated that

special effort will be made towards establishing a processing center for the management of

biodegradable wastes in Kathmandu valley. Initiative will be made towards modifying and

updating the National Policy, 1997 for waste management with the participation of

concerned stakeholders. The municipalities and urbanizing Village Development

Committees (VDCs), those geographically nearer and connected to transportation for easy

accessibility, shall work jointly in community awareness building, management of landfill

sites, organic fertilizer production and energy development. Efforts shall be made towards

increasing private sector participation and promotion of public-private partnership in tasks

relating to waste management such as, collection, storage, transport, sorting, recycling and

processing of wastes.

The Madhyapur Thimi Municipality as the Project Area

Madhyapur Thimi Municipality (MTM) is one of the highest urbanizing towns. It is located in

the district of Bhaktapur inside Kathmandu Valley in Bagmati Zone, Central Development

Region of Nepal. Madhyapur Thimi got its municipality status only in 1996 (B.S. 2053). Five

Village Development Committees namely Bode, Chapacho, Balkumari, Dibyaswori and

Nagadesh prior to this declaration were amalgamated to form this municipality.

MTM has an altitude of 1,326 meters from sea level and is surrounded by Bhaktapur

Municipality and Duwakot VDC in the east, Kathmandu Metropolitan City in the west,

Mulpani and Gothatar VDCs in the northand Lalitpur & Balkot, Dadhikot VDCs in the south. It

lies between 27o40' 0" and 27

o 42'0" north latitude, and 81

o 22"30" and 85

o 25'0" east

longitude.

The municipality has a land area of 11.453 sq. km. Primarily, Agriculture area is predominant

consisting of about 78 percent of the land, residential area consist of 12 percent, industrial

area 2 percent, Institutional and water bodies 5 percent and forest area consist of 3 percent.

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The maximum and minimum temperature of the municipality lie between 35oC and 1

oC; and

maximum and minimum rainfall are 409.1 mm and 6.3 mm per year.

Population as per the Census of 2001 was 47,751 (male 24,747 & Female 23,004) with

average household size of 5 (household number is 9,551 and population density of 4,298 per

sq. km). The working age population (15-59) is around 65 percent with children (below 15

years of age) 28.5 percent and elderly (60+) 6.5 percent. The projection of population is

62,879 for the year 2008.

The municipality is predominantly inhibited by Newars (61%) and Chhetri, Brahmin and

Tamang are other major casts.

Out of the 39,564 population 10 years of age and above 21,790 (male 13,958 and female

7,832) have been found to be economically active. Out of the total 9,551 household, 3,675

households have Agricultural land only, 36 have livestock only, 52 have poultry only, 508

have land and livestock, 266 have land and poultry, 9 have livestock and Poultry, 151 have

land livestock and poultry, and 4,854 have none of these all.

The municipality has been found to generate 20 MT of solid waste and nearly 84 percent of

this waste is from agricultural source and most of this is presently being disposed in open

fields.

Project on Waste Agricultural Biomass

With the Small Scale Funding Agreement (SSFA) of UNEP, DTIE, IETC with SEED Nepal, SEED

Nepal has been implementing the project on Converting Waste Agricultural Biomass (WAB)

into material / energy resource with the support of IETC with a view to build local capacity in

the identification, selection and implementation of Environmentally Sound Technology (EST)

for the conversion of WAB into resource.

This report has been prepared to develop Pilot Project including Economic and

Environmental feasibility of identified and selected EST for the demonstration in the

Madhyapur Thimi Municipality (MTM).

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2. Availability of WAB

The baseline study carried out in the MTM has shown that the main WAB being generated

in the Municipality are the Rice Straw, Wheat Straw, Maize Stalks and Waste Vegetables

remaining from the farm; Rice Husk from the rice mills and beaten rice mills; and waste

vegetables from the Vegetable market facilities. The quantity of WAB is given in the table

below:

Table 1: Total WAB in MTM

S. No. Type of WAB Quantity in Tons

1 Rice Straw 861.994

2 Wheat straw 147.982

3 Maize stalks 4.385

4 Waste vegetables 2,021.639

5 Rice Husk from Processing units 744.000

6 Waste Vegetables from Commercial Facility 153.000

Total 3,932.965

Out of these WAB, rice straw, wheat straw, and rice husk are all used or sold as they have

sale value. Maize stalks are also used to some extent but are also openly burnt in the field

itself before plantation of new crops. Only waste vegetables are heap dumped for

composting in the field. Waste vegetables from commercial facility i.e. vegetable markets

are transported and dumped with Municipal Solid Waste. Therefore, such waste vegetable

have been targeted in this project for converting to resource. The total availability of such

waste vegetables is 2,174 MT per annum.

3. Existing Problems

With regards to WAB and specifically the waste vegetables from farm, the existing problems

are:

• Heap dumping in the field to produce compost – these results in generation of

Methane and emission to atmosphere to act as Green House Gas (GHG) that is 21

times more effective compared to carbon dioxide.

• Sundried WAB is also openly burnt again emitting carbon dioxide, a GHG to the

atmosphere. The heat generated from this burning is wasted and not utilized.

• Open dumping of vegetable wastes has adverse impact on the aesthetic value. This

also attacks flies, mosquitoes and other small insects resulting in public health

effects

Similarly, waste vegetables from the commercial facilities i.e. vegetable markets are

transported to containers of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) or dumped to open areas near

rivers. This results in the following problems:

• Municipality has to bear significant cost of collection and transportation of the waste

vegetables

• Nuisance and unpleasant aesthetic due to open dumping

• Generation of Methane, GHG

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4. Technology Description

The solution to the problems mentioned in the section 3, is to utilize the waste

vegetables in a biogas plant. This will produce biogas energy source as well as bio-

fertilizer. Thus, nothing will go as waste. The wastewater will also be used to irrigate the

farm or garden. Brief description of technology of such as biogas plant is presented

below:

The segregated organic waste will be brought to the plant site. It will further be crushed

through shredder / crusher along with suitable quantity of water to form slurry. This

slurry will be fed into the Inlet cum recycle chamber. The slurry will be mixed properly

and then pumped to the anaerobic digester. In the digester the organic waste is

converted into biogas, bio-manure (waste solids) and treated overflow (slurry). Part of

this slurry will be recycled in inlet cum recycle chamber and the remaining will be

discharged suitably. The bio-manure (waste solids) will be periodically removed from the

digester, dried and will be used as good organic manure or soil conditioner. The Biogas

generated from the anaerobic digester will be collected in biogas holder and suitably

pressurized. The pressurized biogas will then be used for cooking applications. If the gas

will not be used, it would be necessary to flare the same as it is not permitted to let it

out into the atmosphere. Thus, this process is based on a “zero garbage disposal”

concept.

The picture of the technology is given below:

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Details of the technology including the components are given in the offer from the

manufacturer in the Annex – 1.

5. Process Flow Chart

The flow chart of the process is presented below:

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6. Technical Feasibility

The technology and the plant require 150 kg per day of segregated organic waste. This

quantity of WAB will be easily available even from the wholesale vegetable market of MTM.

The plant requires hard strata, which can take up a load of 15 ton and this can be ensured

easily. Three phase electric power supply can also be ensured for the total load of 7 hp or

around 20 Ampere.

As the plant is pre-assembled and factory tested, it can be installed and commissioned

immediately. The plant is also very compact and requires minimum of space for installation

and operation. The total space required for the plant is only 20 square meters, which will be

easily available.

The operation of the plant requires only one operator. A short training to be provided by the

plant supplier will be sufficient for operator to continue operation of the plant. Also the

maintenance is easy.

As there is no sophisticated operation procedure, the technology is feasible.

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7. Financial Viability

7.1 Fixed Asset Investment

The total fixed asset investment is estimated at NPR 1,820,000 (USD 1 = NPR 74) as given

below:

7.1 Land Requirement

1

Half a Ropani or 2592 sqft. of land will be sufficient and this will be provided

by the Municipality or the Cooperative -

7.2 Building and Civil works 280,000

1 Shade 20' X 24' = 480 sqft. @ 500/- 240,000

2 Boring and Water Supply including pump and tank 25,000

3 Electricity Supply Connection, Cable and Fittings 15,000

7.3 Machinery and Equipment 1,440,000

1 150 kg per day WAB plant from Mailhem INR 7.5 Lacs 1,200,000

2 Transportation, Customs & Tax etc. @20% 240,000

7.4 Furniture and Fixtures 10,000

Table, Chairs, tool box and almirah

7.5 Three wheeler Rickshaw 1 nos @20,000/- 20,000

7.6 Pre-operational Expenses 70,000

Erection, Installation and Training of Operator

Total Fixed Assets Investment 1,820,000

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7.2 Annual Operating Costs

The annual fixed operating costs and the annual variable operating costs are estimated at

NPR 181,000 and NPR 119,520. Thus the total Annual Operating Cost will be NPR 300,520 as

given below:

8.1 Fixed Costs 181,000

1 Depreciations 162,000

5% on Buildings and structures 14,000

10% of Machinery 144,000

20% of Vehicles 4,000

2 Amortization of Pre-operating Expenses @10% 7,000

3 Office Overheads@Rs. 1,000 per month 12,000

8.2 Variable Costs 119,520

1 Labour Costs 78,000

Operator 1 @ 4,000/- per month 48,000

Rickshaw puller 1 @ 2,500/- per month 30,000

2 Electricity Costs

8 units per day X 300 days * Rs. 7.30 17,520

3 Repair and Mainenance @ 2,000 per month 24,000

8.3 Total Annual Operating Cost 300,520

7.3 Working Capital Requirement

The working capital requirement is estimated at NPR 32,880 as given below:

1 Office overhead for 3 months 3,000

2 Labour cost for 3 months 19,500

3 Electricity cost for 3 months (say) 4,380

4 Repair and maintenance for 3 months 6,000

Total 32,880

7.4 Sales Revenue

The total annual revenue from the sales of Bio-gas and bio-fertilizer and service charge from

the waste collection is estimated at NPR 327,000 as given below:

1 Bio-gas equivalent to 120 Cyl LPG @ 1100/- 132,000

2 Bio-fertilizer 5 Tons X @ Rs. 15 per kg. 75,000

3 Service Charge from 100 households X 100/- X 12 120,000

Total 327,000

9

Besides, the municipality will save a significant amount of expenditure on the

management of the waste agricultural biomass.

7.5 Annual Profit

If we deduct the annual operating cost from the annual revenue, we get the annual profit as

NPR 26,480.

Annual Financial Benefits (10 - 8.3) 26,480

7.6 Total Capital Investment and Financing

The total capital investment required will be NPR 1,852,880. This amount will be financed as

given below:

Total Capital 1,852,880

1 Fixed Asset Investment 1,820,000

2 Working Capital Requirement 32,880

Financing 1,852,880

1 UNEP, IETC through SEED Nepal USD 20,000 1,460,000

2 MTM 200,000

3 Operator Organization 192,880

8. Environmental and Social Benefits

The implementation of the technology will have numerous benefits for the environment as

well as the social fronts. In the environmental aspects, the benefits are:

• Improvement in the aesthetic

• Reduction in GHG Methane emission

• Use and promotion of organic bio-fertilizer

• Discourage flies and other insects – improves sanitation and healthy conditions

• Reduction in the cost of waste disposal for the municipality

In the Social front, the project will have the following benefits:

• Improves habit of waste segregation among the households in the municipality and

this will demonstrate and provides opportunity for replication in other areas

• promotes cleanliness

• promotes use of good organic fertilizer

• Success of this pilot demo project will promote replication of similar projects in other

areas and regions.

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9. Conclusions

It is vivid from the project analysis and evaluation given above that the pilot project is

technically viable, financially lucrative, as there is support for technology. Also there are

tremendous benefits in terms of Environment and for the society. There will also be

significant saving for the Municipality presently being incurred for the management of

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). For the replication of such projects, the technology must be

transferred so that the plant could be fabricated locally in the country. That will bring down

the cost of the plant and the technology.

Further, it is strongly recommended that the government should support for the installation

of the technology. The environmental and social benefits must be accounted to provide

subsidy for the technology. Government as well as the development agencies or donors

must support the transfer of technology to manufacture similar plants locally and the

operators must be supported for the installation of the plants.

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Annex – 1: Details of Technology Offer

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