Bio-gas changes rural lifestyle in Gopalganj
Sunday, 10 January 2010
Our Correspondent
GOPALGANJ Jan 9: Bio-gas has changed the lifestyle of rural people in Gopalganj district.
People are using bio-gas in household work in increasing numbers. Consumers can save their money by using bio-gas.
One hundred bio-gas plants have been set up in different upazilas till now. Cooking fuel and organic fertiliser are produced in these plants.
About three cubic meters of gas is produced in one such plant.
According to the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) office sources, since the bio-gas project started functioning two years back, ten bio-gas plants have already been installed in three upazilas.
Project Engineer Md Aktaruzzaman told this correspondent that they had installed four bio-gas plants last year and six plants this year. Six plants are community bio-gas plants while four are household bio-gas plants.
About 150 to 200 members may utilise the community bio-gas plant. Its cost varies from Tk 95,000 to Tk 1,00,000 while the cost of household bio-gas plants varies from Tk 14, 000 to Tk 15,000. The government gives Tk 7,500 as subsidy per plant. A plant can run for 30 years.
A community bio-gas plant has been installed at the farm of Sheikh Ruhul Amin, Secretary of Muslim Mission at Ghosherchar adjacent to Gopalganj town. The production capacity of this plant is above 15 cubic metres.
The Mission also uses the organic fertiliser produced as by-product in the plant. This organic fertiliser is being used as feed for fish in a fisheries project in the Mission area.
The Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Gopalganj, had set-up 40 bio-gas plants in five upazilas during the last five years.
Bio-gas Project In-charge Md Jahid Hossain told this correspondent that villagers had been encouraged to use bio-gas.
Cowdung from about seven or eight cows are mixed with water in equal ratio and stored in a tank. After about 10 to 12 days bio-gas is produced which is supplied to kitchens through plastic pipes. Five to six families can easily cook their food, light their houses, operate the water pump and an incubator with the gas.
A sub-assistant engineer of the project said 65 to 70 per cent of the gas is methane which is a better fuel than firewood. The rest 30 to 35 per cent gas is carbon dioxide. People use this gas like natural gas which is also good for the environment.
A bio-gas user Hamidul Hoq Dulal of Khatra in Gopalganj Sadar Thana said that bio-gas had changed the lifestyle of his family.
GOPALGANJ Jan 9: Bio-gas has changed the lifestyle of rural people in Gopalganj district.
People are using bio-gas in household work in increasing numbers. Consumers can save their money by using bio-gas.
One hundred bio-gas plants have been set up in different upazilas till now. Cooking fuel and organic fertiliser are produced in these plants.
About three cubic meters of gas is produced in one such plant.
According to the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) office sources, since the bio-gas project started functioning two years back, ten bio-gas plants have already been installed in three upazilas.
Project Engineer Md Aktaruzzaman told this correspondent that they had installed four bio-gas plants last year and six plants this year. Six plants are community bio-gas plants while four are household bio-gas plants.
About 150 to 200 members may utilise the community bio-gas plant. Its cost varies from Tk 95,000 to Tk 1,00,000 while the cost of household bio-gas plants varies from Tk 14, 000 to Tk 15,000. The government gives Tk 7,500 as subsidy per plant. A plant can run for 30 years.
A community bio-gas plant has been installed at the farm of Sheikh Ruhul Amin, Secretary of Muslim Mission at Ghosherchar adjacent to Gopalganj town. The production capacity of this plant is above 15 cubic metres.
The Mission also uses the organic fertiliser produced as by-product in the plant. This organic fertiliser is being used as feed for fish in a fisheries project in the Mission area.
The Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Gopalganj, had set-up 40 bio-gas plants in five upazilas during the last five years.
Bio-gas Project In-charge Md Jahid Hossain told this correspondent that villagers had been encouraged to use bio-gas.
Cowdung from about seven or eight cows are mixed with water in equal ratio and stored in a tank. After about 10 to 12 days bio-gas is produced which is supplied to kitchens through plastic pipes. Five to six families can easily cook their food, light their houses, operate the water pump and an incubator with the gas.
A sub-assistant engineer of the project said 65 to 70 per cent of the gas is methane which is a better fuel than firewood. The rest 30 to 35 per cent gas is carbon dioxide. People use this gas like natural gas which is also good for the environment.
A bio-gas user Hamidul Hoq Dulal of Khatra in Gopalganj Sadar Thana said that bio-gas had changed the lifestyle of his family.