Sistema.bio, a global social enterprise, has begun carbon trading on the Gold Standard marketplace to provide discounts to farmers for the purchase of its biodigesters, the company’s Country Director Piyush Sohani has said. “We began working on the carbon trading front from last year. Our product has been listed on Gold Standard platform and the carbon credits, derived from our biodigesters, are sold in the international market,” Sohani told businessline.
Sistema.bio, founded in Mexico in 2010 and currently headquartered in the US, manufactures and distributes innovative biodigesters for smallholder farmers to convert animal waste into renewable energy and organic fertilizer.
Sistema uses the revenue derived from carbon trading to provide upfront discounts. “Our standard product would cost about ₹30,000. We can provide an 80 per cent discount on that price using the revenue from carbon credits,” he said.
MNRE subsidy
Sistema.bio’s biodigester, on a rough estimate, produces about 10 carbon credits a year. The company has registered for 40,000 biodigesters, which totally can produce four lakh carbon credits annually. “We have sold all the 40 lakh carbon credits,” the company’s India director said.
Sohani said farmers face problems in making upfront investments to purchase the product. “Bank linkages are a problem for products like this. To overcome this, we are working with corporates to tap their Corporate Social Responsibility funds or carbon credit funding,” he said.
Since the biodigester has been approved by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, farmers are eligible to avail of ₹15,000 subsidy directly. “We are tapping into all of these schemes to overcome the affordability challenge,” he said.
Farmers opting for the subsidy cannot get the carbon trading discount.
Different from gobar
The biodigester can be set up by farmers who have a herd of 2-3 to 30 cattleheads. Dung produced by the cows is fed into the biodigester, which produces biogas that can be used for cooking or power. The slurry produced during the production of biogas can be used as organic fertilizer.
The biogas produced by the biodigester is akin to gobar gas but the technology and construction of the material are different, said Sohani. For gobar gas, a sort of sceptic tank is constructed. In the case of Sistema, the biodigester is installed in a day and is good to begin operation immediately.
The biodigester is produced at the company’s Pune plant, which is the largest in the world. The biodigester can be customised depending on the needs of the farmer. “If the farmer has 2-3 cows, a smaller one is provided. For those with 20-30 cows, a bigger biodigester is provided and it can produce electricity,” he said.
Potent organic fertilizer
The system has a lifespan of 20 years and Sistema provides a 10-year guarantee for its product. The Pune plant can produce one lakh biodigesters annually. “Our monthly capacity is between 8,000 and 10,000 units (biodigesters) per month. We are producing between 6,000 and 7,000 units a month now,” the company’s country director said.
Sistema.bio was launched in India in 2018 and it began manufacturing in 2021. It then shifted production to its current unit in 2023. It is a subsidiary of Sistema.bio Mexico. The company operates in Colombia and other Latin American countries, besides Africa with Kenya as the base and South-East Asia. “We supply from India to Nepal. We recently sold some units in Bhutan, Bangladesh,” he said.
Sohani said the slurry from the biodigester is a “potent organic fertilizer” and it can reduce the use of chemical fertilizer by 50-70 per cent. “After 2-3 years, farmers can completely replace chemical fertilizers with the slurry,” he said.
Currently, the biodigesters are being used by 80,000 farmers across 21 States. We are, we are now more than 100 crore in revenue. And we are about, you know, 500-plus employees in India now.
Plans for India
Though the company was launched in 2018, it was affected during the pandemic. The initial period was spent on building infrastructure and the company has begun to spread its wings faster. “By December this year, we will be reaching full capacity of producing 10,000 units a month,” he said.
Sistema.bio has plans for India and sees huge potential among the 7 crore dairy farmers in the country. “It is a big dream that we want to achieve. Our near-term goal is to install about ten lakh biogas systems by 2030,” he said.
The company is present more in the western and southern regions, particularly Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. “We have installed a lot of units in these States, roughly 70 per cent. We have begun working in Punjab very aggressively. We are installing 1,000-2,000 units a month and plan to expand into Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh over the next few months,” he said.
On funds, Sohani said since it is an international organisation, the headquarters takes care of it. In the Series B funding raised last year, the company got $19-20 million, he said.