May 2019

VOLUME 110 | ISSUE 116 | MAY 2019 Page 4 3,000-kg garbage collected from Mt Everest, as Nepal's clean campaign gathers momentum A total of 3000-kg of solid waste has been Established by H.H. Dr. Syedna Environment Wellness & Lifestyle Monthly Newsletter collected from Mt Everest since Nepal launched an Mohammed Burhanuddin (RA) ambitious clean-up campaign aimed at bringing back tonnes of trash from the world's highest in 1992 peak, which has lately turned into a garbage dump. The 45-day Everest Cleaning Campaign led The Tourism Department Growing interest in new environment-friendly fuel alternative by Solukhumbu district's Khumbu Pasanglhamu estimates that around 23 Rural Municipality began on April 14 which was million Nepalese rupees will Biogas is a mixture of different gases produced by the breakdown of agricultural the Nepali new year and aims to collect 10000-kg be spent for the campaign. waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste, or food of garbage from Mt Everest. waste, in the absence of oxygen. When this mixture is further purified and processed, it is called bio-compressed natural gas (bio-CNG). It is similar to natural New UN warning: Mass extinctions likely within decades gas in terms of its composition and properties, and is a cleaner alternative to fuels such as petrol and diesel. Up to a million of Earth's estimated 8 million species face extinction, many of them within In India, bio-CNG has immense scope, specifically as a replacement for the more decades, according to a UN report. widely used CNG and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Besides, bio-CNG can cater to diverse segments of the market with applications in commercial (hotels, canteens, The big picture: The 1800-page report by 400 bakeries and resorts), industrial (glass and ceramic, metal processes, cement and scientists says the pace of species loss is already textiles) and automotive (public transport and private vehicles) processes. tens to hundreds of times higher than it has been, on average, over the last 10 million years. From biogas to bio-CNG : Save trees & fossil fuels + Control pollution Humans are undermining Earth's capacity to produce fresh water, clean air and productive soil. The direct causes of Nature's degradation — in order of importance — are shrinking habitat and land-use change, hunting for food or illicit trade in body parts, climate change, pollution, and predatory or disease-carrying alien species such as rats, mosquitoes and snakes. But the biodiversity crisis and dawning of the Sixth Great Extinction (this one driven largely by us), have until now garnered less global attention and focus from world leaders. This report is meant to change that. Recycled Paper Used Recycled Paper Used BURHANI FOUNDATION (INDIA) Amatullah Manzil, 65 Bazargate Street, Fort, Mumbai-1. Phone: 22678480 / 22634326 Youtube: Burhani Foundation India Channel Website: burhanifoundationindia.org Facebook: Burhani-Foundation-India Email: [email protected] Twitter: BFI_environment [email protected] Instagram: burhani.foundation

Page 2 Page 3 From biogas to bio-CNG Turning The Tide Against Plastic Pollution Save trees & fossil fuels + Control pollution Cleanup at Mithi River and Daana Pani Beach, Mumbai in March & April 2019 Bio-CNG is produced from biogas, through a simple process involving desulphuriza- tion, upgradation and compression. First, biogas is desulphurised if the hydrogen sulphide content is over 1,500 ppm. Then the desulphurised biogas is upgraded to make its composition similar to CNG, followed by the compression and bottling of the resulting bio-CNG. The high methane content and calorific value combined with the low quantity of moisture, hydrogen sulphide and impurities makes bio-CNG an ideal fuel for automobiles and power generation. The low emission levels of bio-CNG also make it a more environment-friendly fuel than biogas. Food industry waste becomes profitable biogas in Sweden Cleanup Drive in Stanley Park, Canada in May 2019 Huge gains can be made by using waste from the food industry for biogas An informative and inspiring Talk Session was production, no matter whether the biogas is used in vehicles or to produce electricity held on 9th May, for members of the local and heat. This is the conclusion of researchers from the Biogas Research Center at Dawoodi Bohra Jamaat by Mr. Afroz Shah. Linköping University, in a recently published article. The food industry is the second largest industry in Sweden. Production is highly efficient, both with respect to energy consumption and use of the primary raw materials. The way in which the organic by- products can create the greatest benefit – for the economy, the environment and energy conservation was investigated. In all three perspectives, biogas is the better alternative. In four of the five cases, biogas that has been upgraded to vehicle fuel gives the highest economic gains and is most profitable. The conclusion drawn by the researchers is that in terms of care for the environment and conservation of energy, the food industry is the most equipped when decisions are made about how organic by-products are to be dealt with. Collaboration between other industries, the energy sector and the public sector is desirable, since there is a huge and profitable potential for the use of biogas ,not only for the environment and the energy sector as a whole, but also for the economy. Recycled Paper Used Recycled Paper Used