The gasifier power plant at Banpur village in Angada block. Telegraph picture

Ranchi, Nov. 23: His invention, the gasifier — a power plant that burns forest waste to produce carbon monoxide to run a generator — has lit up 200 households at Banpur in Angada block, 25km from Ranchi.

Now BIT, Mesra-trained engineer Ashish Kumar Singh is set to test his miracle machine at Bishunpur of Gumla at the request of Vikas Bharati, an NGO that runs farming courses and self-help groups in the block.

Gumla enjoys the status of being a green area with its lush forest cover and enough forest waste of dry leaves, grass and wood to keep such a gasifier running. “We asked for Ashish’s assistance as frequent power cuts in this area disrupt our work and our lives,” explained Kamal Kishore Pandey, the joint secretary of Vikas Bharati.

Pandey added that the power cuts made the NGO run its business with the help of a diesel-run generator, an expensive and polluting option. But, once the gasifier is set up, with instructions from Ashish, the generator would be replaced with a more green machine, that’s more friendly on the pockets.

Once the offer was made, Ashish was more than happy to oblige. “I would be constructing a plant with a 42KV capacity for Vikas Bharati. The proposed plant site is surrounded by trees and forests, thus by-products, such as grass, leaves and wood, is readily available,” said Singh.

Bishunpur has a Vigyan Kendra that trains farmers on economic and eco-friendly methods of agriculture. It has been set up by the government and is run by Vikas Bharati. The NGO also runs vocational training courses in the area that train residents in carpentry, bamboo crafting, mushroom farming and mat-making.

Pandey believes that the frequent disruptions in courses and work that has become a regular feature would lessen once the gasifier is set up. The NGO also hopes that its computer-training centre run by generators would be regularised as well.

For the Banpur plant, Ashish used bricks and cement, in place of iron, for construction and substantially lowered costs. A 10KV gasifier made of iron would cost anywhere between Rs 8 and Rs 9 lakh, but Singh brought the cost down to Rs 3 lakh. At Bishunpur, too, he would be using the same methods to cut down costs. Once Ranchi and Gumla is covered, Ashish wants to take his invention to Bihar. He recently received an invitation from the Bihar government to explore the possibility of setting up gasifiers in the state. “Secretaries of some departments have evinced interest. If things go according to plan, I would like to set up low-cost gasifier for them as well,” said Singh, who was in Bihar for the preliminary rounds of talks.