Biraj Gautam and Rabin Shrestha share their lessons from the latest visits to the micro hydro power sites in Jumla and Baglung.
Waste To Wisdom – Strengthening Biogas Practitioners In Southeast Asia
One of our SEPS exchange activities in cooperation with Green Empowerment aims to address the technical gaps in organisations in Malaysia and the Philippines by providing them with the skills to install and operate biogas digester systems efficiently and affordably.
The first part of this knowledge exchange took place over two weeks in Sri Lanka in March 2018 and involved both theoretical and practical components, using classroom lectures, site visits, and actual biodigester construction on site. The training was very successful and delivered significantly under budget, allowing Green Empowerment and local partner organisations to direct the funds to host additional trainings as well as install planned pilot projects in Malaysia.
After the knowledge exchange in Sri Lanka, our project partners and exchange attendees began discussing potential demonstration sites. Kivatu Nature Farm at PACOS Trust was chosen to be the site of first pilot project because it was deemed to have adequate waste from their kitchen to feed a biogas digester and a high volume of visitors to demonstrate the technology to, as well as availability of a training facility. Greeb Empowerment worked with Janathakshan, TONIBUNG, and PACOS Trust to develop a training program and materials that were tailored for the context of Malaysian Borneo. Staff from TONIBUNG and PACOS Trust who attended the knowledge exchange led the design and began construction of the biogas digesters.
The second training was held at the end of August with attendance from communities from several regions of Sabah. The participants from the Sri Lanka knowledge exchange led the training in Sabah and promoted the dissemination of biodigester technology within their home regions. Though the pilot project construction was not able to be completed during the training due to some delays, it is now ready to be tested.
Next steps include another training and pilot biogas digester installation in Malaysia in January 2019.
