Suzuki Motor Looks to Cow Dung for Biofuel

Engine maker working on project to extract methane from animal waste.

Looking for alternatives beyond electric vehicles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and move toward carbon neutrality, Suzuki Motor is making a significant investment to produce biofuel in India using cow manure.

President Toshihiro Suzuki and other company executives visited a dairy farm in the state of Gujarat, western India, in December where cow dung is fermented to produce methane gas for cooking fuel with the solid waste then used as organic fertilizer. Suzuki is working on a project to buy cow feces – which is often discarded by dairy farmers – to extract methane using a method similar to the one adopted at the farm and using the byproduct as an alternative fuel in compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles.

The farm is part of a ‘model village’ run by a subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board, an Indian government agency involved in installing and managing biogas plants.

The auto, motorcycle and outboard engine maker plans to launch five biogas plants in Gujarat, with the first two expected to be operational this summer. The biogas fuel will be sold at filling stations attached to the plants.

Suzuki Motor and the Dairy Board have signed investment agreements with plans to expand the biogas operation across India. The company accounts for more than 70% of CNG vehicle sales in the country.

10 cows produce enough manure in one day to fuel a CNG vehicle for one day in a country that is said to have 300 million cows.

“It is highly effective in boosting rural areas,” Mr. Suzuki said of the company’s project. “We need to cooperate and contribute to the development of India.”

While he did say there are plans to develop similar projects in other countries, it appears the project in India is more humanitarian, as it is still uncertain whether the process can be profitable.