India: Biowaste-driven cold storage project by Fraunhofer UMSICHT

Biowaste can be used to create cold storages for food (Photo © Pixabay)

As developing and emerging countries usually lack the infrastructure for transporting, processing and refrigerating the food they produce, about a third of it is lost through spoilage. At the same time, inadequate waste disposal means that hygiene is a big issue for people in these countries. Collaborating with the Indian cooperation partner Nupur Technomy, Fraunhofer UMSICHT has developed a technological concept that addresses the two problems of waste disposal and reliable refrigeration for food. The solution lies in creating a cold storage for food by making use of biowaste.

Higher food quality through efficient cooling

The overarching aim of the project called »BioKälte« (English: Bio Cooling), is the introduction of biogas-driven cold food storage facilities on the Indian subcontinent, with the intention of raising food quality, reducing food losses and avoiding the impact on hygiene created by unofficial food dumps. With the help of absorption chillers, biogas produced by the fermentation of biowaste can be used for cooling. The equipment is housed in a container and can process between three and five tonnes of biowaste a day. Anything left over from the fermentation process can be used as fertilizer.

Manufactured and sold in India

The whole system of biogas-driven cold storage for food is planned to be manufactured and sold in the target country India in order to guarantee market-based costs and market access. The project’s participants started setting up a demonstration plant in April 2017, for which further funds were approved with the follow-up project BIGASTORE. Constructing, installing and operating the demonstration plant are the remit of the Indian partners.

Where exactly the plant will be located, is going to be decided by the project partners at the end of 2017.