Problem: Pollution — Solution: Biogas

In this polluted world there is good news. We can create energy from some of our waste!

by Zaia Kendall, PRI Maungaraeeda, Sunshine Coast

Creating the biogas biodigester dome in our May 2013 Biodigester Course

Debates about CSG (Coal Seam Gas) mining (otherwise known as hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking’) are ongoing. There is also talk about highly contaminated human manure polluting water with oestrogens, prozac and other hormones, drugs and pollutants. Our waste keeps piling up and our energy sources keep depleting.

We have to face the fact that as long as consumers buy products, companies will do their best to source or produce those products. To ensure that we make a change, we will have to hit companies where it hurts them most: the hip pocket! The only way we can achieve that is to become self sufficient in producing our own. In this case, I am talking of producing our own energy by using our waste products.

No, this is not a futuristic fairytale, this is achievable now! Third world countries (often sponsored by first world government or aid agencies) have systems set up which make gas from manure and other natural waste products (see the ‘Biogas’ sub-section near the bottom of this article, for example). They comfortably run their kitchen cookers on the gas, and without smoking out their living spaces. The bio-digesters that produce the gas have been constructed so that whole communities benefit. Cow, goat, sheep, chicken, pig and human manure all contribute to the making of the methane gas, which is then used as an energy source. The sludge left after gas extraction can be used to fertilise their crops.

Methane is a major atmospheric pollutant. Coal seam gas and other mining practices free up methane gas which is then released into the atmosphere. If biogas would catch on we could:

• Reduce problems with drugs and other pollutants in our (drinking) water
• Reduce raw sewage problems in ground and ocean waters
• Reduce the amount of methane in the atmosphere (it is captured and burnt instead)
• Reduce the need for fracking and other mining practices (which releases methane gas into the atmosphere and poisons our aquifers), as we would make and capture our own energy in the form of methane gas from our own waste (on either personal, local or broader community level)
• Increase the amount of clean energy available
• Make an incredibly rich and mostly pathogen-free base for fertiliser for our gardens (imagine that being used to fertilise our farms rather than artificial fertilisers!)

The only thing humans will need to overcome is their innate fear of dealing with poop. The problem is truly the solution, and the solution here covers so much more than just one problem….

We have been running our Biogas — Build a Biodigester project and courses now for the last seven months. As there has been such an uproar about Coal Seam Gas mining we thought there would be a lot of interest in these courses, however we were disillusioned by a very limited amount of interest. Protesting and taking to the streets is great, but in the end positive action and finding viable alternatives is what determines the outcome! We need to be personally accountable for our own energy use. Most of us are against CSG but are we still consuming the product of CSG? Where does your gas come from?

Keep a watch on our WPN profile for upcoming biogas (and other) courses.