School toilets power school kitchens via biogas

September 25, 2018 |

In Rwanda, more than 80 schools are using biogas derived from the methane emitted from the school’s latrines to cook their meals. The schools also uses methane from dairy cows and use pipes to carry the methane into school kitchens as well as underground biogas digesters and bacteria that converts the solid waste into fertilizer. This is also saving schools’ money since they used to pay for a septic truck to remove the waste and were paying for firewood to cook their meals.

Rwanda’s government paid for and built the biogas system as part of their initiative to curb deforestation from firewood and charcoal for cooking. The schools pays for minor maintenance of the biogas system.

“By promoting alternative cooking energy, the government of Rwanda hopes to halve the dependence on biomass,” or energy from plants and plant materials, “as the main source of cooking energy by 2024,” said Oreste Niyonsaba, manager of social energies at the Energy Development Corp., the government agency leading efforts to promote alternative fuels.

Category: Fuels

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