The biogas-project in the rural community of Badreni at the edge of the Chitwan National park has triple effect: for climate, forest and health. Through the Terai Arc Landscape Programme, WWF-Nepal encourages installation of biogas systems by giving information and advice, and finances a part of the cost, especially for the construction of toilets and linking them to biogas plants. The total cost for an average sized biogas plant is 20,000 Nepali rupees (US$280). Biogas is produced from cattle manure and toilet waste. Each household can produce their own biogas by installing a toilet-attached biogas plant. The technology is simple: the manure and toilet waste are mixed with water and dumped in an airtight underground pit of about 6 cubic metres. In these anaerobic conditions, methane starts forming and it is led via a narrow pipe into the gas stove in the kitchen. A valve is turned on whenever the gas is needed for cooking. The gas in itself is pure methane, clean and odourless. It burns more effectively than wood, increasing the efficiency of cooking.
Year: 2012
From album: Glacial melt in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas
Photographer:
Peter Prokosch
Tags:
Nepal
People