Biogas plant gaining popularity in north

A woman cooks with biogas fire at Jagannathpur village in Thakurgaon Sadar upazila, right, a biogas plant at Kaharpara village in the same upazila. Photo: STAR

Biogas plant is gaining popularity among the people of two upazilas in Thakurgaon and Dinajpur districts for producing environment-friendly fuel for cooking and power generation.
About 213 households have set up biogas plants in Thakurgaon Sadar upazila while 274 in Birganj upazila of Dinajpur district.
Youth and sports ministry is implementing the scheme (installation of biogas plant) in collaboration with youth development directorate under innovative management of resources for poverty alleviation through comprehensive technology (IMPACT) project.
Only Tk 20,000 is needed for installing a biogas plant. The government provides a loan of Tk 15,000 to a person for installing biogas plant. After installing the plant, IMPACT gives Tk 5000 as subsidy to the beneficiary to inspire others.
Biogas plant installation started formally in 10 upazilas of the country on April 1, 2007, official sources said. The upazilas are Birganj in Dinajpur, Bagatipara in Nator, Shahajanpur in Bogra, Mohadebpur in Naogaon, Senbag in Noakhali, Sonargaon in Narayanganj, Sadar upazila in Thakurgaon, Ramganj in Laxipur, Kumarkhali in Kushtia and Mehediganj in Barishal.
Biogas, the most popular technology for generating energy, is a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide produced by feeding cow dung, human waste and water into an airtight underground tank known as 'digester'. Experts said biogas can be used for running an internal combustion engine to produce electricity.
For running a biogas plant 10kg cow dung is needed every day. If there is a shortage of cow dung, human waste can be used, IMPACT upazila biogas sub-assistant engineer Moynul Islam Sarcar said.
Anil Chandra Roy, lecturer of geography department of Abdur Rashid Degree College in Thakurgaon, said biogas has enormous potential in Bangladesh where nearly 85 percent of the total population live in rural areas and dependent on firewood for cooking.
While visiting Jagannathpur village in Thakurgaon Sadar upazila recently, Amira Begum, wife of Zakirul Islam, told this correspondent that it is very comfortable to cook with biogas as it is clean and safe.
"Now we don't have to inhale smoke while cooking," she said. Amira has been using biogas for cooking for about two years.
Dr Khirul Kabir, a consultant at Thakurgaon Tuberculosis (TB) Clinic and president of Thakurgaon Doctors' Association, told the correspondent that smoke-filled kitchen helped develop respiratory tract infection and asthma.
Slurry from biogas plant, which is a good organic fertiliser, can be used to maintain soil fertility and increase crop production. It can also be used to feed fish, officials said.
Nasir Uddin, a farmer of Shingpara village in Sadar upazila of Thakurgaon said he has three acres of land where he cultivates different types of crops including vegetables.
He bought biogas plant two years ago and has been using the slurry as fertiliser to increase fertility of soil.
An official of agriculture extension department in Thakurgaon Sadar upazila said the slurry is excellent organic manure as it destroys the harmful bacteria while producing biogas.