Biogas

I love biogas; turning wastes into useful products and thereby reducing the need for the use of other fuel. It’s a perfect solution as far as the environment goes. The problem is that it’s not always viable. For example, until I came here I had never seen a working system that was used for home cooking. However, an NGO has funded the construction of a few systems in the town next to mine as an experimental project. The systems are not perfect, but they are functional. Basically there are two large barrels full of cow manure and water that are connected to an inner tube, which serves as a reservoir, which is in turn connected to the burner. It produces enough gas to cook the 9+ daily rounds of tea, but not enough to cook all of the meals. There are pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/z.swank/Biogas#

A biogas system like this would not be viable in the U.S. because people would expect it to power the furnace and the water heater too. Fortunately, the demand is not that great here. Also, I think that the culture here could be accepting of the system because they know that burning charcoal is a huge contributor of deforestation. (Its illegal to cut trees without permission. (That’s not enforced very well. I saw some one ride by every one from the mayor’s office with a load of freshly cut wood, they commented about it but did not do anything about it.))

The trouble with the system is that it doesn’t produce enough gas and it is a bit expensive. The whole set up costs 20,000 UM ($100). With the price and low level of production, it would take a year to recover the investment of the system. That’s too long for Mauritanian time frames. So I have a question for anyone who knows biogas, what could be done to increase the amount of gas that is being produced? Anything that would reduce the price would be good too, but that’s a harder question to answer when you don’t know the costs of things. I can send more specific information and descriptions if anyone is interested.

I would love to make this a project, and I think there is a way, but I need your help to make it better. Think if it as an opportunity to engage in international development work!