Grant Work: The Power of Poo: Biogas_Paskova_028

Mwiseneza Winfrid, 62, traverses her yard, where she raises cows, pigs and goats, on November 15, 2017 in the Rulindo District, Rwanda. Winfrid has been a recipient of a biogas digester by a government-financed private company, and says she wishes everybody had access to biogas - not only to drastically reduce cooking time that is otherwise much lengthier when using wood, but also to reduce damage to the environment. She uses the poo discarded from the digester as soil fertilizer. Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.

Mwiseneza Winfrid, 62, traverses her yard, where she raises cows, pigs and goats, on November 15, 2017 in the Rulindo District, Rwanda. Winfrid has been a recipient of a biogas digester by a government-financed private company, and says she wishes everybody had access to biogas - not only to drastically reduce cooking time that is otherwise much lengthier when using wood, but also to reduce damage to the environment. She uses the poo discarded from the digester as soil fertilizer.  

Nearly half of all Rwandans live in poverty, relying on small-scale farming for survival without gas or electricity. With so many women and children spending hours of the day foraging for wood used for cooking and light, often damaging their eyes, lungs, the forests and atmosphere, a little inventiveness helps. Enter cow and enter pig -- not just as a source of food, but also the heat needed to cook it. Or more specifically, their poo -- the fuel fed to a biogas digester, a tank that converts organic waste into methane.