- Monday, February 24, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Following a wait of over seven years, a veterinary-doctor-turned-inventor from the South Indian state of Kerala has finally got the patents for inventing biodiesel from slaughtered chicken waste. It will reportedly give a mileage of more than 38 kilometres (23.4 miles) a litre at around 40 per cent of the current price of diesel and will also be less polluting.
John Abraham, an associate professor at the veterinary college in Wayanad under the Kerala Veterinary & Animal Sciences University, told PTI that he got the patent from the Indian Patent Office on July 7 for inventing ‘biodiesel produced from rendered chicken oil’.
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The invention is an outcome of Abraham’s doctoral research at the Namakkal Veterinary College under the Tamil Nadu Veterinary & Animal Sciences University in Kerala’s neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu.
He said the patent was delayed as permission from the National Biodiversity Authority, a government agency, was required since the key raw material going into the patented invention was a locally sourced biological material.
In 2009-12, Abraham pioneered research on producing biodiesel from the slaughter waste of broiler chicken and dead poultry birds. He completed the research under the guidance of late professor Ramesh Sravanakumar, who had filed for the patents in 2014 on behalf of the Tamil Nadu Veterinary & Animal Sciences University, Abraham said. Sravanakaumar passed away last November awaiting the patent.
After his research concluded, Abraham joined the Pookode Veterinary College near Kalpetta in Wayanad and in 2014, he set a Rs 18-lakh ($24,182) pilot plant at the college campus with monetary backing from the Indian Council for Agricultural Research.
In April 2015, the Indian government-owned Bharat Petroleum’s Kochi Refinery issued a quality certificate for the biodiesel he invented and since then, a college vehicle is being run on that fuel only, Abraham said.
When asked about the reason for using chicken waste for making the biodiesel, the researcher said birds and pigs have similar stomachs which offer higher fat saturation and that makes it easier to render oil under room temperature. Abraham and three of his students are now working on developing biodiesel from pig waste. According to him, 100 kg of chicken waste which he got from slaughter houses (he gets paid up to Rs 7 a kg), can produce one litre of biodiesel which offers over 38 kilometres of mileage and can be sold at 40 per cent of the current diesel price.
