Independent supply with clean energyIn Vietnam, the construction of small-scale biogas plants in households makes an effective contribution to climate protection. The plants are filled with organic waste such as animal manure, which ferment under exclusion of oxygen. This produces biogas, which the families use in gas cookers for water purification and cooking or for gas lamps. The project improves the health and social situation of poor people by giving them access to clean and affordable energy. It also reduces the need for firewood and thus counteracts massive deforestation in Vietnam.
The combination of biogas plants with latrines and regular use of animal dung improves the sanitary conditions on the farms and reduces groundwater pollution. As a by-product of fermentation, natural fertilizer remains, which is cheaper and better for the health of the soil than synthetic agents.
How do biogas projects help fight global warming?In biogas facilities, biomass is fermented into biogas in sealed digesters. Biomass may consist of organic waste or dung from cows or other animals. In countries like India or Vietnam, families use the gas from small biogas plants for cooking. This reduces CO2 emissions that would be produced by cooking with wood or charcoal. Biogas plants also prevent methane from escaping into the atmosphere, as is the case when organic waste is stored in an open pit. Instead, the gas is fed from the closed digesters to specific cookers and thus provides an independent and renewable source of energy.
