John Vidal/The Guardian
In Ca Mau, farmers are finding a more energy efficient way to run power that is both cheaper, and effective than current methods: poop. Ta Quang Nah, who is a Vietnamese rice farmer, pig breeder, builder and fisherman, uses his family’s waste to create electricity. His waste mixes with that of the pigs, and it goes through an airtight underground chamber. From there, the methane gas that is naturally let off as the combined excreta decomposes collects in a long polythene bag secured above ground.
Biogas is a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide produced by feeding cow dung,
human waste and water into an airtight underground tank known as digester and
allowing it to decompose. (Photo credit should read Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images)
Oxfam helped Nah set up his family’s biodigester, and has allowed Nah to save money by not buying wood or charcoal. His simple operation cost less than $50 to instal, paid itself off in a few months, needs little maintenance and is more than big enough for his family’s needs.
Using vegetable or livestock waste to generate biogas is now common and growing fast as cattle farmers and food companies in Europe and the US are encouraged with subsidies to set up anaerobic, or airless, digesters like Ta Quang Nah’s rudimentary one. But using human waste is still largely taboo outside Asia. The UN University has said that biogas from human waste would be worth $9.5 billion a year and the residue could produce two million tonnes of fuel.
A program in Kenya has already began to great success although these ideas have not gained as much traction in Western countries.
To read more, click here:
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/nov/16/when-will-the-world-wake-up-to-the-potential-of-poo-power
