Adyar School gets biogas plant to power students’ kitchen

The famous Chennai High School in Adyar has unveiled its new biogas plant which has been named ‘Vayu.’ This initiative was made possible through a collaboration between the Residents of Kasturbanagar Association (ROKA), the Environmentalist Foundation of India (EFI), and Avris Environment Technologies, the firm responsible for installing the biogas unit as part of its CSR outreach.

Instead of discarding food waste in roadside bins, the school will now utilize the biogas plant to fuel its midday meal program. ROKA secretary Janani Venkitesh explains held that the biogas plant can process 75kg of food waste within a 24-hour period, converting it into biogas.

Arun Krishnamurthy, founder of EFI, shared that their goal is to promote community-level conservation through collaboration, fostering local action for a cleaner and greener future.

Food circulates three times a day on campus. The breakfast is brought in for over 200 students from a community kitchen, and lunch and snacks are prepared in the school’s own kitchen. The food waste collected from the campus will now power the biogas production that, in turn, fuels the campus kitchen, creating a circular food and energy system.

This initiative serves as a hands-on demonstration of sustainability for the students, complementing other green practices already in place on campus.

ROKA has had a positive engagement with the school for years, having established a kitchen garden and provided voluntary environmental education, including lessons on plastic waste management and composting.

The biogas plant was inaugurated in the presence of representatives from UNICEF, UNDP, India NGO, and CHEER. Additionally, local environmental enthusiasts, officials, and Kasturbanagar residents showed their support at the event, according to a statement from ROKA.