In Maharashtra, 68.9% of rural households currently rely on firewood for cooking. The local community meets this demand by cutting local forests and selling the wood in the marketplace. Biodigesters break down cow dung into methane gas provide a cleaner, more efficient, and sustainable fuel compared to that of a traditional wood-burning stove. This transition to clean gas curbs the demand for wood and reduces the cutting of local forests in an already resource-constrained region.
The land use patterns in Maharashtra show a decrease in forest land cover and an increase in degraded land. The problem intensifies with the increasing pressure from growing human and livestock populations and illegal and indiscriminate exploitation of forest resources. Degradation of forest lands exacerbates the existing problem of desertification: some forests are turning into open scrub.
As the population continues to grow in rural India and access to commercial fuels does not, the community’s dependence on biomass deepens. This ever growing dependency plus the value of capturing methane, a short-lived but powerful climate pollutant, increases the value of projects such as this.