Thanks to this startup, farmers in India save money (and the planet) by converting animal poop into energy

Although India is the third-largest producer of electricity in the world, 300 million Indians have no access to energy. Poor pipeline connectivity, insufficient production of energy despite availability of resources, and inefficient revenue systems are only a few of the several reasons contributing to inefficiencies in the Indian energy sector.

According to a report by World Resources Institute and International Finance Corporation, the lack of access to energy resources has forced villages to rely on informal markets, and they often end up paying more money. For, instance Yogesh Kadam, a dairy farmer, struggled to feed his large family of 13 and at the same time maintain his 12 acre-farmland in a small village in Maharashtra. His monthly income obtained from the sale of crops, and milk from his herd of eight cows, was insufficient.

“To feed a family of 13 people we required 300 kg of firewood, and one LPG gas cylinder each month. Sometimes we didn’t have enough energy to even cook and heat water,” the 40-year-old farmer says.

Santosh Holkar (51), another dairy farmer from the same region, was struggling to expand his business. As the sole breadwinner of his family of four, Santosh was heavily dependent on the sales of milk produced by his 30 cows. Further he spent Rs 1,200 every month on diesel in addition to buying 50 kg of wood and 15 kg of LPG for his household’s energy needs.

“I had been planning to make dairy products like mawa (milk solids), which require a big and continuous flame and that was expensive. To fulfil my dream meant getting hold of huge energy access which in turn required a lot of money due to the increasing prices of diesel and LPG,” Santosh tells YourStory.

The challenges faced by small farmers moved Alex Eaton, CEO of Sistema.bio.

“Growing up on a small farm, I learnt that there is a lot of hard work that goes into maintaining a farm. I realised small farmers face many challenges while obtaining energy and fertilizer. This became the major problem that I wanted to resolve,” says Alex.

The global chain started their India office in Pune in 2018 and, over the past year, has installed over 200 units of biodigesters, a hybrid reactor digester system that converts agricultural waste to generate biogas, across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Bihar, impacting over 1,000 households.

Explains Piyush Sohani, India Country Director of Sistema.bio,

“A Sistema.bio biodigester is a system that receives organic waste and produces renewable energy in the form of methane-rich biogas. The system utilises naturally occurring bacteria within the sealed, anaerobic ‘reactor’ to break down organic waste such as animal manure, and other farm waste."

The by-products of this process include biogas that can be used for cooking, heating, or to generate electricity, and as a safe and potent organic fertiliser that can support local agriculture. The system displaces the time and cost of traditional fuel sources, allows for sustainable mechanisation, and increases crop yields.

Also read: What clean energy startups are doing to ensure every home, business and farm in Indian villages is electrified

The global network

Growing up on a farm, Alex has been familiar farming since his childhood days. Despite having a career in journalism, all he really wanted to do was to work for sustainable development while helping to solve farmers' problems. Along with co-founder Camilo Pages, Alex began to work out in his garage to create biodigester system pilots.

“I realised that biogas technology had not evolved over the last 50 years. There was an opportunity to provide better products, finance and service. We want to make small farmers around the world more efficient and productive by making the technology that they require more affordable and reliable,” Alex says.

Alex first introduced his innovative biodigestor machine to small farmers in the Central Mexico region. After customising the product according to their needs, the company began to create multiple variations of the machine in order to serve farmers of all sizes. Each system impacts six people and reduces five tons of carbon emissions per year while creating savings for families as well. Within a year, their product became popular. It even caught the attention of Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, former President of Mexico, who endorsed the product, saying,

“Sistema.bio is fundamental because it is a project with many benefits. It uses organic waste that, through the fermentation process, produces biogas, and using this biogas in cookstoves generates savings for families, and helps us all protect the environment. So it is good for health, good for the economy, and good to fight against poverty.”

After tasting success in Mexico, Alex turned to India last year.  Farmers globally, he says, face numerous climate and market challenges including problems like drought, floods, fluctuating price of milk etc. Hence by focusing on building a strong global network and leveraging the growing entrepreneurship ecosystem of India, he began to work in Pune with Piyush.

“India has deep and innovative agriculture technology. It is being recognised in the organic food movement. Indian farmers are also open to try new technologies when they see it working,” Alex says.   

Also read: Harnessing the sun: startups who are lighting the way ahead for India’s renewable energy sector

The India project

In India, Sistema.Bio partnered with CInI and conducted a technology trial in Gujarat in 2017. Over three months, the organisation worked with more than 60 households and impacted over 500 lives in Gujarat. Their technology helped to displace 299 tons of carbon dioxide while saving 123 trees annually. Explains Piyush,

“Farmers are very intrigued by the technology as it converts animal waste to energy. They never thought that animal waste could be used for cooking. Even in our field office in Sangvi, Phaltan in Pune, they get very excited to see the biodigesters’ demonstration.”

After witnessing the success and acceptance of the product in Gujarat, the nine-membered Sistema.Bio team began to reach small farmers across Maharashtra through rural promotional events, and farmer exhibitions. Their field office in Phaltan, Pune, served as a retail point for farmers to purchase their products. Farmers in Maharashtra and Karnataka, Piyush says, are aware about bioslurry or biofertilizers, hence breaking this market was easy.

“We believe in the idea that small farmers, families, and rural communities will invest to make their small farms more productive, efficient and ecologically sustainable through waste-to-energy technology. We offer a package of technology, education, and financing that provides a high return on the economic investment to the farmer as well as health, environmental and social impact,” Piyush adds.

Also read: From solar power products to wastewater management, these nine women entrepreneurs are working to change lives in the energy domain

Way forward

While multiple clean energy startups like ONergy, Simpa Networks, Mlinda, among others, are working in rural India with an aim to provide access to clean and renewable energy resources at cheaper prices, Alex believes that Sistema.Bio has a market advantage of providing “turnkey systems with service and financing.” For instance, a farmer can opt to pay via EMI for the biodigester system, and they provide a 10-year warranty period.

“There currently exists a growing biogas market in India largely based on biodigesters made from brick and concrete, as disseminated by government biogas programmes. Small farmers still require many innovations from engineers and experts in the field. Our key learning is that there still exists a huge potential in the rural space, and a big innovation would be beneficial to the farmers. In India, in 2019 we plan to impact over 5,000 people by installing over 1,000 units,” Alex shares.  

Sistema.bio is incubated by Social Alpha and the organisation is implementing projects across Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Bihar in association with CInI, TATA Trust, and SELCO Foundation.