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RWANDA / COW DUNG BIOGAS
STORY: RWANDA / COW DUNG BIOGAS
TRT: 2.48
SOURCE: IFAD
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: KINYARWANDA /ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE: OCTOBER 2014, KIREHE DISTRICT, RWANDA
1. Wide shot, Marie walking with her cow
2. Close up, Marie collecting dung
3. Med shot, Marie collecting dung
4. Wide shot, Marie walking to biogas system
5. Close up, Marie emptying dung on to ground
6. Wide shot, Marie mixing dung with water next to biogas system
7. Close up, Marie pouring water
8. Close up, pouring dung into biogas system
9. Wide shot, through biogas system Marie pouring dung
10. Med shot, Marie checking the gas in the sack and the pipes of biogas system
11. SOUNDBITE (Kinyarwanda) Marie Goreti Twagirumukisa, farmer:
“Since I have received the FlexiBiogas, I can cook, I have light and I can buy some salt. I don't have to buy firewood or oil anymore. The money I save I can use for other things”
12. Close up Marie lighting stove
13. Med shot,Marie placing pot on stove
14. SOUNDBTE (English) Jean de la Croix, Renewable Energy Officer, IFAD:
“It is very easy, with just one cow and this Flexibiogas, which is easy to install, to repair and maintain, you get enough gas for cooking and the bioslurry which is a good fertilizer for your farm.”
15. Close up, stiring dung in biogas system
16. Close up, Marie collecting slurry
17. Med shot, Marie pouring slurry on vegetable garden
18. Wide shot, Solar panel on roof
19. Wide shot Marie collecting mobile phones
20. Close up, Marie turning on converter
21. Close up, Marie plugging in phones
22. Close up, light turning on
23. Wide shot, Marie’s brothers and sisters and daughter doing homework.
24. Med shot, Marie’s brother doing homework.
In Rwanda’s Eastern Province, Marie Goreti Twagirumukisa collects dung from her cow, mixes it with water and pours it into the funnel of her so-called FlexiBiogas system. After a few days of fermentation in the plastic reservoir, methane gas released from dung is sent through plastic pipes straight to the kitchen stove.
Cow dung releases methane gas which is 22 times more damaging to the atmosphere than C02.
The United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in partnership with Rwandan government has developed a “FlexiBiogas” method of capturing methane to create a clean biogas and so far more than one hundred household in Rwanda are burning biogas as fuel.
Biogas is a clean renewable energy obtained through the breakdown of organic waste. Using biogas as fuel also reduces the use of firewood which in turns prevents deforestation and soil erosion.
These simple and portable systems are particularly suitable for remote rural areas and are cheap, since they are made from local material. They can be transported by bike or donkey and be installed in just a few hours.
Jean de la Croix, IFAD's Renewable Energy Officer explained how beneficial FlexiBiogas just is.
“It is very easy, with just one cow and this FlexBiogas, which is easy to install, to repair and maintain, you get enough gas for cooking and the bio-slurry which is a good fertilizer for your farm.”
What is left of cow dung after gas extraction is a potent organic fertilizer which Marie uses for her vegetable garden and sells the leftovers to her neighbors.
She also invested in a solar panel and a converter. Apart from lighting the house at night, she charges her neighbors’ mobile phones for a fee.
Biogas is becoming increasingly more popular as a form of energy to power rural communities.
Next year, IFAD is planning the distribution of another 200 locally manufactured systems in rural Rwanda.
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