Increased use of biogas in rural areas seen as vital
Sunday, 1 July 2007
Shahiduzzaman Khan writes
Biogas, an alternative to conventional fuel oil or wood, is being increasingly used in Bangladesh. It is being used for cooking and other household purposes in mostly rural areas of the country. The consumers are now using it in place of wood and other fuels because it is cost effective and environment-friendly.
The residue left after gas extraction is good organic manure free from harmful germs and pathogens. Cattle dung, human excreta, poultry drippings and garbage are processed in the biogas plants under anaerobic conditions to produce biogas. Most of the biogas plants in the country were set up to process cattle dung. Seven or eight cows are required for a plant. The dung is mixed with water in equal ratio and stored in a tank. After 10 to 12 days biogas is produced in the plant, that is supplied to the ovens through plastic pipes. A family of five or six members can easily cook their food and light lamps in their houses with a plant.
About 70 per cent of the gas is methane, which is better as fuel than firewood and the remaining gas is carbon-dioxide. People use their gas like natural gas. The biogas, supplied from the plant to the kitchen is used to run a two burner cooker where the gas burns with clean blue flame free of smoke or ash, much the same way a Dhaka city household burns Titas gas.
The Biogas Pilot Plant Project of the Institute of Fuel Research and Development under the Bangladesh Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) started installation of the biogas plants in 1995. The cost of installation of a plant with a production capacity of 100 cubic feet gas daily was Tk 14,000. The Project provided a subsidy of Tk 7,500 and the gas plant owner bore the rest of installation expense. The cost of a biogas plant with production capacity of 200 cubic feet (cft) gas was Tk 21,500; a plant with capacity of 300 cft was Tk 29,000; a plant with capacity of 400 cft was Tk 40,500; a plant with capacity of 500 cft was Tk 47,500; and plant with a capacity of 1000 cft was Tk 75,000.
A plant with production capacity of 100 cft is sufficient for daily cooking of a family consisting of 7 to 10 members. Besides cooking, light, fan, radio and television can also be operated with biogas. For the operation of a plant 60 to 70 kilograms of cow-dung or 40 to 50 kilograms of excreta of poultry birds are required. The ideal place for setting up biogas plants is near the dairy and poultry farms as the cattle heads and poultry birds here can supply required input.
Experts said the use of biogas can reduce dependency on natural gas and firewood, saving forests and increasing soil fertility. The poor people can save their hard earned money by using biogas as they need not to purchase firewood for cooking or kerosene for lighting. After a few years of research, the Institute of Fuel Research and Development succeeded in developing a biogas technology in 1976. First they invented the floating dome biogas plant, which could ensure gas supply for three to five years. But then the fixed dome model of biogas plant was used which ensures gas supply for at least 30 years.
In spite of being very insignificant in volume, the availability of biogas to a very large number of rural people and remote areas make the technology very suitable and effective. There is no denying that commercially produced pipeline natural gas plays and will continue to play a vital role in the industrialisation of the country, but such gas has seldom chance of reaching the remote village households any time soon. In that respect there is no alternative to biogas for the millions of villagers.
Ironically, natural gas and imported oil are mostly out of bound of the vast majority of the rural people of the country. So where does the nation's energy balance leave the vast majority of the rural population? It is the biomass energy source that is available to the latter and it consists of fuel wood, leaves, agricultural residues, cow dung and other organic wastes. These are defined as non-commercial energy and actually provide for the remaining 65 per cent of the total energy consumed in the country.
About 80 per cent of the total population of the country or about 100 million people live in rural area. According to an estimate, only about 19 per cent of the country's total population has electricity, 4.0 per cent have natural gas connection in the households. In the rural area, only 5.0 per cent of the population use kerosene as fuel.
Gas supply to the vast multitude of the rural people is practically impossible for two reasons: it is not possible to build gas pipe line infrastructure to connect thousands of villages throughout the country, and, even if that were possible, the rural population would not have the purchasing power to use pipe line gas in their households. Such a situation leaves the rural population to rely on the traditional biomass sources for household supply of energy.
This is, however, not only a case with Bangladesh, but many other developing nations like India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, China, etc. Over the last few decades there have been renewed interests and initiatives by many developing countries to innovate new and improved biomass energy technologies whereby the biomass energy sources can be used more efficiently and managed more scientifically. The most popular and widely used of these technologies has been the biogas technology in which biomass (cow dung, poultry dropping, agricultural residue etc) is converted into biogas.
The BCISR started its first five-year project in 1995 to install 5000 biogas plants in the country. A second phase of the project started in 2001 for four more years during which time 20,000 more biogas plants were installed throughout the country. Considering the level of interest among the rural people and the benefit this could bring to individual household, there should be more assistance from government and non-government organisation toward these projects.
Though the project has huge potentials to upgrade the social and economic status and standard of living of the rural population,
there is not enough manpower assistance, or the required financial support to meet the countrywide demand existing at the moment. There is a lack of understanding as well as commitment on the part of the high officials in the administration about this kind of micro level project. Bangladesh remains far behind the neighbouring countries in developing biogas as apparent from the fact that the number of biogas plant installed is about 3.0 million in India, 7.0 million in China, 70 thousand in Nepal and only about 8000 in Bangladesh.
According to Dr Badrul Imam, a Geology teacher of the Dhaka University, 40 million tonnes of fuel wood is used in rural areas as cooking fuel each year in Bangladesh. This destroys the country's forest and has negative impact on weather, land and environment. Also, as other biomasses like leaves, cow dung and agricultural residues are burnt as cooking fuel, these can be no more help as a natural fertiliser as part of the cycle that keeps the balance in the ecosystem. In all these counts, use of biogas technology is expected to bring about benefits to the environment and the people. It certainly upgrades an age-old inefficient and poor energy use practice into a more efficient and scientific one.
Biogas, an alternative to conventional fuel oil or wood, is being increasingly used in Bangladesh. It is being used for cooking and other household purposes in mostly rural areas of the country. The consumers are now using it in place of wood and other fuels because it is cost effective and environment-friendly.
The residue left after gas extraction is good organic manure free from harmful germs and pathogens. Cattle dung, human excreta, poultry drippings and garbage are processed in the biogas plants under anaerobic conditions to produce biogas. Most of the biogas plants in the country were set up to process cattle dung. Seven or eight cows are required for a plant. The dung is mixed with water in equal ratio and stored in a tank. After 10 to 12 days biogas is produced in the plant, that is supplied to the ovens through plastic pipes. A family of five or six members can easily cook their food and light lamps in their houses with a plant.
About 70 per cent of the gas is methane, which is better as fuel than firewood and the remaining gas is carbon-dioxide. People use their gas like natural gas. The biogas, supplied from the plant to the kitchen is used to run a two burner cooker where the gas burns with clean blue flame free of smoke or ash, much the same way a Dhaka city household burns Titas gas.
The Biogas Pilot Plant Project of the Institute of Fuel Research and Development under the Bangladesh Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) started installation of the biogas plants in 1995. The cost of installation of a plant with a production capacity of 100 cubic feet gas daily was Tk 14,000. The Project provided a subsidy of Tk 7,500 and the gas plant owner bore the rest of installation expense. The cost of a biogas plant with production capacity of 200 cubic feet (cft) gas was Tk 21,500; a plant with capacity of 300 cft was Tk 29,000; a plant with capacity of 400 cft was Tk 40,500; a plant with capacity of 500 cft was Tk 47,500; and plant with a capacity of 1000 cft was Tk 75,000.
A plant with production capacity of 100 cft is sufficient for daily cooking of a family consisting of 7 to 10 members. Besides cooking, light, fan, radio and television can also be operated with biogas. For the operation of a plant 60 to 70 kilograms of cow-dung or 40 to 50 kilograms of excreta of poultry birds are required. The ideal place for setting up biogas plants is near the dairy and poultry farms as the cattle heads and poultry birds here can supply required input.
Experts said the use of biogas can reduce dependency on natural gas and firewood, saving forests and increasing soil fertility. The poor people can save their hard earned money by using biogas as they need not to purchase firewood for cooking or kerosene for lighting. After a few years of research, the Institute of Fuel Research and Development succeeded in developing a biogas technology in 1976. First they invented the floating dome biogas plant, which could ensure gas supply for three to five years. But then the fixed dome model of biogas plant was used which ensures gas supply for at least 30 years.
In spite of being very insignificant in volume, the availability of biogas to a very large number of rural people and remote areas make the technology very suitable and effective. There is no denying that commercially produced pipeline natural gas plays and will continue to play a vital role in the industrialisation of the country, but such gas has seldom chance of reaching the remote village households any time soon. In that respect there is no alternative to biogas for the millions of villagers.
Ironically, natural gas and imported oil are mostly out of bound of the vast majority of the rural people of the country. So where does the nation's energy balance leave the vast majority of the rural population? It is the biomass energy source that is available to the latter and it consists of fuel wood, leaves, agricultural residues, cow dung and other organic wastes. These are defined as non-commercial energy and actually provide for the remaining 65 per cent of the total energy consumed in the country.
About 80 per cent of the total population of the country or about 100 million people live in rural area. According to an estimate, only about 19 per cent of the country's total population has electricity, 4.0 per cent have natural gas connection in the households. In the rural area, only 5.0 per cent of the population use kerosene as fuel.
Gas supply to the vast multitude of the rural people is practically impossible for two reasons: it is not possible to build gas pipe line infrastructure to connect thousands of villages throughout the country, and, even if that were possible, the rural population would not have the purchasing power to use pipe line gas in their households. Such a situation leaves the rural population to rely on the traditional biomass sources for household supply of energy.
This is, however, not only a case with Bangladesh, but many other developing nations like India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, China, etc. Over the last few decades there have been renewed interests and initiatives by many developing countries to innovate new and improved biomass energy technologies whereby the biomass energy sources can be used more efficiently and managed more scientifically. The most popular and widely used of these technologies has been the biogas technology in which biomass (cow dung, poultry dropping, agricultural residue etc) is converted into biogas.
The BCISR started its first five-year project in 1995 to install 5000 biogas plants in the country. A second phase of the project started in 2001 for four more years during which time 20,000 more biogas plants were installed throughout the country. Considering the level of interest among the rural people and the benefit this could bring to individual household, there should be more assistance from government and non-government organisation toward these projects.
Though the project has huge potentials to upgrade the social and economic status and standard of living of the rural population,
there is not enough manpower assistance, or the required financial support to meet the countrywide demand existing at the moment. There is a lack of understanding as well as commitment on the part of the high officials in the administration about this kind of micro level project. Bangladesh remains far behind the neighbouring countries in developing biogas as apparent from the fact that the number of biogas plant installed is about 3.0 million in India, 7.0 million in China, 70 thousand in Nepal and only about 8000 in Bangladesh.
According to Dr Badrul Imam, a Geology teacher of the Dhaka University, 40 million tonnes of fuel wood is used in rural areas as cooking fuel each year in Bangladesh. This destroys the country's forest and has negative impact on weather, land and environment. Also, as other biomasses like leaves, cow dung and agricultural residues are burnt as cooking fuel, these can be no more help as a natural fertiliser as part of the cycle that keeps the balance in the ecosystem. In all these counts, use of biogas technology is expected to bring about benefits to the environment and the people. It certainly upgrades an age-old inefficient and poor energy use practice into a more efficient and scientific one.