|
Bioenergy NGO is introducing alternative energy sources to the country, through the use of renewable energy (namely biomass, sun, wind and water). The organization is currently building twelve biogas digesters in the Samegrelo Region. The project is being implemented with the financial support of the World Bank.
Manure digesters are in large-scale use throughout the world, especially in countries lacking in energy resources. Biogas was successfully used for street lighting in Britain as far back as the nineteenth century. Today many millions of digesters are being used at farms in both China and India for livestock operations.
Digesters turn the energy accumulated in organic waste into biogas (a blend of methane and carbon dioxide) which can then be used for domestic purposes. The material drawn from digesters is both environmentally clean and an effective fertilizer.
Head of Bioenergy, and engineer, Avtandil Bitsadze mastered the skills necessary for building digesters before developing a digester suitable to the Georgian environment and climatic conditions, and one which is also capable of functioning under winter conditions. It represents a construction-type thermo-insulated digester with a floating gas depository and an operating period of thirty years. The average farmer can easily manage the construction of such a digester, saving farmers money and increasing the level of environmental protection.
In the opinion of Professor Ramish Canvar (Iowa University), a World Bank expert, Bioenergy has gained significant experience in biogas technology on a national level; and hopes that the technology will be successfully taken up in Georgia.
Bioenergy has already implemented similar projects in the villages of Alisubani and Ghvankithi in the Terdjola District (Imeretu Region), which were also sponsored by the World Bank. In future the organization is expected to build a 50 m3 digester in Sachkere, with the cooperation of UMCOR.
There have been forty digesters built in Georgia with the participation and consultation of Bioenergy. The organization also strives to educate farmers in building the digesters; to this end, the organization has published two books: “The Building and Exploitation of Digesters” (published in 1996 with the assistance of World Vision) and the illustrated “Recommendations on Building Digesters in Small Farms” (published by the Center for Energy Effectiveness with the assistance of TACIS).
A group of scientists and engineers working with Bioenergy are striving to improve the technology of digesters. The work conducted by the organization has caused interest with Ukrainian and Armenian NGOs, who have expressed a willingness to install digesters, adapted to winter conditions, with the cooperation of the Georgian organization.
Bioenergy has developed a regional program for the widespread use of digesters in Georgia, which is to be introduced to the public in the near future.
Detailed information on the activities carried out by Bioenergy can be obtained at its website: http://www.energy.ge
|
