Chennai Corporation Plans Biogas Plants in Schools to Cut Cooking Costs
In a move to reduce cooking fuel expenses and promote clean energy, the Greater Chennai Corporation has announced a new initiative to install biogas plants in its schools. The project aims to utilise kitchen waste to generate cooking gas, lowering dependence on LPG cylinders and promoting sustainable waste management awareness among students.
The initial phase will focus on campuses with large, centralised kitchens that prepare meals for multiple schools. By efficiently processing food and vegetable waste, these biogas units can meet a significant portion of daily cooking requirements.
According to Chennai Corporation Commissioner J. Kumaragurubaran, the civic body is open to collaborations with NGOs, individuals, and residents’ welfare associations to implement the project. The initiative is expected to substantially reduce recurring cooking fuel costs.
The Corporation is also planning biogas plants in four cloud kitchens that generate high volumes of food waste. These units will be integrated with low-cost, low-maintenance composting systems to ensure efficient waste utilisation.
The initiative follows the success of a recent biogas plant installed at a Corporation higher secondary school in South Chennai. Built at a cost of ₹5.7 lakh with support from a residents’ association and a service organisation, the plant processes 15–20 kg of waste daily and saves one LPG cylinder every two months. Around 250 students benefit directly, and the system is used as a practical environmental learning tool.
A similar biogas facility at a Corporation school in Adyar has saved seven LPG cylinders in 10 months, diverted nearly 3,200 kg of wet waste, and provided biogas for about 270 hours of cooking.
The leftover slurry from these plants will be converted into organic manure for school gardens, helping create a self-sustaining green model that integrates waste management, renewable energy, and environmental education.
