Interest in biogas growing in Africa

Two bits of news from Gambia and Kenya indicate that biogas is receiving increasing interest on the continent. The fuel has the advantage that it requires relatively simple and affordable technologies (anaerobic digesters) and that it can be made from a wide variety of biomass feedstocks. At the household level, this form of bioenergy can replace air polluting fuel wood, which is a real killer in the kitchen (earlier post). Moreover, the biofuel can reduce deforestation and help mitigate climate change, since a growing body of evidence shows fuel wood cooking stoves are big culprits in global warming (earlier post).

In Kenya, experts from around the world are invited to brainstorm at a conference on biofuels to be held in Nairobi from May 20 to May 23. Anthony Okwura, a Nigerian biofuels expert and member of the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN) is one of the invitees. Het told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos yesterday that the conference would also deliberate on energy and rural development, livestock, healthcare delivery and employment generation.

He said the experts are expected to use the wealth of their experience to design a biogas training programme for African countries. According to Okwura, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Car Component Industry Limited, based in Lagos, the conference will also carry out a feasibility report on biogas promotion programme in the continent.

He explained that the conference, whose theme is: “Biogas for a Better Life—an African Initiative” [*Dutch], was a follow-up to a similar initiative launched in Amsterdam, the Netherlands last year. Okwura, who was a former director in the Federal Ministry of Industry said the conference would also look at how companies could produce biogas and sell to households in various African countries.

He said the four-day conference would deliberate on how to improve the human condition of women and children in Africa and how to reduce the use of firewood in the continent. “The experts will also find ways to enhance agricultural production and soil fertility in African countries as well as reduce the emission of green house gases," the industrialist said.

Cooking fuel
In Gambia, a national workshop on biogas technologies was organised jointly by the Department of State for Agriculture and the World Bank. The one-day workshop in Banjul gave the participants opportunity to brainstorm on the "Peri-Urban Small-holder Improvement Project", which aims to develop the use of biogas in various households in the country's Banjulinding, North Bank and Western Regions:
biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: biogas :: anaerobic digestion :: deforestation :: fuel wood :: biomass :: bioenergy :: Africa ::

After having drawn an alarming picture of the consequences of human activities on the environment, Kanja Sanneh, Secretary of State for Agriculture, called climate change an "outcome of our actions." "I am sure you all will agree with me that we are facing crisis right in our kitchens! More than 80 per cent of Gambians depend on fuelwood for our cooking. On average, a Gambian uses half a kilo of fuelwood to cook a meal in a day. Consequently, we are either spending 100 per cent more money on a bundle of fuelwood or spending double the time to collect them than what we did 10 years ago," he added.

Besides these significant statistics, the sectretary said the national workshop will demonstrate that there are solutions that can help to meet some of the cooking energy demands through the use of biogas renewable energy. He then reiterated that the government will give full support to such a project. Haddy Jatou Sey, Social Development Specialist at the World Bank, told the press that the development of biogas projects will help to reduce deforestation. She confirmed that the women using biogas plants in their households have witnessed tremendous changes that the technology brought to their life.

Elaborating on the multiple benefits of the biogas plants, she said its by-product can be used as a fertilizer in the agricultural sector. According to her, the advantages of such a renewable energy embraces educational and financial domains. She further expressed the need to embark on a public awareness campaign so as to promote the use of biogas in households:

At the workshop, participants seized the opportunity to gear up towards the use of biogas technology as an alternative energy source. They also expressed concerns about the affordability of a biogas plant, suggesting it should be within reach of Gambians households.