Coimbatore :

A farmers’ organisation in Erode held a demonstration using a tractor and a motor cycle powered by biogas at a city college. Around 200 farmers attended the demonstration and some even tried their hand in operating the exhibits on Sunday. The purpose of the demo is to encourage the use of biogas, one participant said.

A tractor and a two-wheeler powered through methane were exhibited at the college grounds. Their tanks were removed and modified for the purpose. Methane gas used was extracted from vegetable and animal wastes. To pump the gas requires expensive equipment costing Rs20lakh. As this was not available an extra can was fixed with the gas for the purpose of demonstration.

C Nallasamy, secretary of the Federation of Tamil Nadu Farmers Association said that they had come up with this demonstration so that the public could know that there is an alternative to petroleum. “Methane gas as well as ethanol can be used to substitute petroleum. This will decrease air pollution,” he said. This is also beneficial to farmers as they can get better prices for their agricultural produce, he added.

Dr P Ayyappan, a retired pharmacologist with the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS), who designed the vehicles said that they had used 100 percent methane for the two-wheeler and 80% for the tractor.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore / TNN / March 24th, 2014