Methane Capture Program

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.

Cow dung is fed into the biodigester that houses anaerobic microorganisms that feed on biodegradable material. When they break down the cow dung, the byproduct is methane gas that is used for fuel. The biodigester is sized according to the number of people in the household and the number of cattle owned by the family. For example, a biodigester with a capacity of two cubic meters is sufficient to provide cooking fuel for a family of four to five members.

Without the biodigester, the methane from the cow dung would be released into the atmosphere as the dung decomposes. Methane is considered to be 84 times worse for the environment in a 20 year period than CO2.

This project benefits the local forests by reducing woodcutting, the planet by reducing methane emissions, and the rural farmer population with a clean-burning source of fuel and free organic fertilizer.

This project requires the sale of carbon credits to provide training, monitoring, and maintenance infrastructure to ensure continued use and proper functioning of the biogas digesters. The majority of the rural population in Maharastra is impoverished and has limited access to energy i.e clean fuel for cooking.

The biogas is free, and it helps to keep homes clean and smoke-free during cooking. It benefits families, especially women and small children, who spend most of their time inside the house. The installation of household biogas plants also helps the planet because fewer trees are chopped down, and organic manure is available to the locals who practice farming to earn their livelihood. By installing a biogas digester with a supply of clean gas for cooking, the family meets all its cooking needs, spends less on the purchase of chemical fertilizers, and can allocate funds to purchasing necessities other than firewood.