Can kitchen waste replace LPG? This Indian startup thinks so

Like many, Priyadarshan Sahasrabuddhe has been “distressed” astir India’s vigor script for decades. From his days pursuing mechanical engineering astatine IIT Bombay, to beryllium precise. “It was successful assemblage that I saw the documentary An Inconvenient Truth, and it was my archetypal vulnerability to clime change,” says the Pune-based clime entrepreneur who went connected to motorboat Vaayu Biogas a fewer years later. 

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After graduating from IIT successful 2008, Priyadarshan went the societal enactment way and worked successful National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) for a mates of years that helium present recalls arsenic an “introspective journey”. “In 2011, I joined my parents’ concern - manufacturing automobile components and furniture. I learnt a batch astir management, businesslike operations, and besides however to negociate waste.” Elaborating connected the latter, helium explains however helium came up with a solution to tackle the unit’s “lunch” discarded by converting it into biogas. 

“This was successful 2015,” says Priyadarshan, “I happened to conscionable idiosyncratic Dr Anand Karve during this signifier and made the archetypal works nether his guidance wherein I eliminated the request to crush the nutrient discarded earlier processing, and besides utilized abstracted retention balloons for the gas. This process was wholly aligned with the aboriginal we needed to build.”

And thus, Vaayu was launched successful 2019, connected Earth Day (April 22). 

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Kitchen discarded to biogas

Now successful his seventh twelvemonth of operations, Priyadarshan has 2 solutions that usage his waste-to-energy technology: Vaayu Biogas and Rajhans. “At the former, we person nutrient discarded to biogas and instal the strategy for idiosyncratic families, nutrient businesses, institution canteens, and lodging societies. We besides enactment with developers for caller projects,” helium says, adding that Rajhans is for toilet discarded h2o management. “This strategy treats the toilet output and the discharge tin beryllium utilized straight for gardening, and it besides generates biogas. Till day we person installed 450 systems, a bulk successful and astir Pune, with a fewer successful Uttarakhand and Vishakhapattanam,” says the clime entrepreneur.

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He explains however our fuels are finite, but “we are gathering our civilisations arsenic if these resources are infinite”. And the caller LPG situation is proof. “It is not conscionable astir cooking gas, but each substance supplies. What if our petrol supplies are deed successful a akin fashion? We cannot foretell the aboriginal but we privation to support doing what we are doing and support talking astir it,” says Priyadarshan, who received implicit 1,500 requests for his cleanable vigor systems since the LPG situation deed successful March 2026.

“At present, we are taking up lone Pune orders, which are astir 200. To instrumentality connected much orders pan-India, we request to person a work squad successful spot to supply timely aft income support, and we are moving connected this.” 

A important shift 

Highlighting occurrence stories, the clime entrepreneur says helium has saved 10 LPG cylinders since 2019 by cooking wholly connected biogas. “There are astir 5 specified families successful Pune who usage Vaayu and are LPG-free. These families (with 2-7 members) get discarded from their neighbourhood, and astir 200 radical usage our tiny Vaayu module which manages their integrated room discarded and saves astir 15% of their cooking gas,” helium explains. In addition, the squad has installed the biogas strategy successful the homes of 50 discarded pickers and members of SWaCH, a cooperative of discarded pickers successful Pune. 

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With a compact 9 subordinate team, Priyadarshan explains however they are present shifting to a caller rented store wherever toilet h2o volition not beryllium flushed retired to the drainage. “We program to beryllium 100% zero-discharge by increasing a scope of plants, vegetables, creepers, and bamboo connected this reused water.”

Looking ahead, Priyadarshan hopes to physique a ample assemblage “which volition beryllium innovating connected their lifestyles to unrecorded sustainably”. He adds, “We anticipation to travel up with galore much solutions which volition instrumentality america person to the cyclic processes of Nature”. As for the LPG crisis, helium says, it has exposed however susceptible these fuels person made america adjacent for halfway basal needs of cooking food. He concludes, that this has made it easier to person radical to marque the switch.