Corp Going For Renewable Energy
With an eye on the electricity consumption bills, the Coimbatore Corporation is going in for renewable energy to burn bodies at its crematoria in the city. The Corporation had already proposed to construct a biomass gasifier crematorium on its erstwhile compost yard at Kavundampalayam. It is to come up on two acres at Rs.1 crore. Now, it plans to use biomass instead of electricity at the crematorium at Chokkampudur. The civic body recently placed in the Council a Rs.21 lakh project to switch from electricity to biomass.
Biomass is said to generate more heat than electricity. While electricity generated heat in crematoria burns bodies at 800 degree Celsius, biomass can do it 200 degree Celsius more and it also cuts energy generation cost by 70 per cent. The common source for generating energy is wooden chips of thorny plants (veli kathan) that can be grown on wastelands. Mayor R. Venkatachalam points out the success of the biomass gasifier crematorium established by Pricol at Perianaickenpalayam.
“Elimination of pollution and saving on power consumption charges are the definite advantages,” he says. Following court directives on pollution from electricity-powered crematoria, there is a shift from electricity to biomass in Chennai. Even in Coimbatore, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has said that biomass will not cause harmful emissions as in the case of electricity. Besides, the functioning of the crematoria will be affected by disruptions in power supply. Asked whether the two other electric crematoria – at Pappanaickenpalayam and Athupalam – will also switch to biomass energy, the Mayor says that the efficacy of renewable energy will be tested at Chokkampudur and later at Kavundampalayam. “We will then think of the others,” he says.
