The ultimate in closed-cycle resource use: The Biodigestor. You put cow manure in one end and get out usable cooking gas and organic fertilizer. The odorless gas is piped into the kitchen where it can be burned for 4-5hrs a day, replacing the need to collect firewood. The liquid fertilizer is rich in nutrients to boost crop production. And, the patio is no longer littered with cow manure. Biodigestors are relatively simple to construct and made with cheap local materials. It’s basically a huge plastic bag laying on top of straw, insulated between adobe walls and covered with a roof.
Last week a team of adventuresome students from the University of Portland came to Peru to visit the community Micro-hydro and Wind projects, and then get their hands dirty building a biodigestor with a local family…
Thanks UP for making it happen!
Wow that’s really impressive! I’m trying to make biodigesters in Kenya, any chance you could send your design my way?
Hi Lisa,
Sure, I’ll go ahead and send you the designs…but they are in Spanish. You can also check out a group called IRRI in Mexico that are making similar biodigestors. Good luck and let us know how your project goes.
Anna
Hi Anna! I am trying to build biodigestors in Honduras. Do you still have designs in Spanish? I would REALLY appreciate receiving a copy!
Thanks! Thanks! Thanks!
-Becky
Hi. I would appreciate a copy of the design of the biodigestor. I would like to know, however, how difficult and costly would it be to build a biodigestor for a school scientific project?
Thanks.
This piece of kit sounds absolutely stonkingly good. There’s just one point I didn’t see in your article. This burns the methane I assume, a greenhouse gas 10 x more powerful than Carbon Dioxide. My chemistry is a bit rusty, but doesn’t this mean that you are removing one of the most harmful greenhouse gases from the environment, converting it into heat, light and less polluting gases.
Yes, that is completely right. Biogas digestors destroy methane (which as you say is many times more harmful than CO2) usually released in decaying cow dung and at the same time displace the use of burning firewood which creates CO2. Some larger biogas digestor programs have been able to get emission offset credits because of this effect. Thanks for the good point!
Anna
Great! could you please help me with the designs of the biodigestor! Im an student here in Colombia and It would be awesome if I could help the people in a town making one!
Thanks in advance.
(If you dont have the designs any information will be quite usefull)
hola Anna !
Im building an eco bungalows project in Nicaragua in a remote place and the biodigestor is one of the most recomended in the area.
I understood that the gas is used for cooking but i heard also that it can be used with a “lombricultura”(in spanish, kind of bioworms) that reduce around 90% of the black water and an air pump… is your sistem use the same sistem?
Do you know the sistem Piraña used in Honduras, wich is also a biodigestor ? do you have any idea how to get those “worms”
could you send me copy of your disign to make me an idea, in spanish it s perfect.
Thank you
Could you direct me towards a well-known source of info on the chemistry of stopping methane from getting into the atmosphere by burning it? We occasionally get ask about this by donors when they see that we help people in Central America to build biodigestors and I would like a good article or quote from a reputable source to show them. Thanks.
Hi,
I am an Australian volunteer working in the northern Philippines. Ifugao, Luzon.
I am having trouble downloading the design and construction pdf. Could you email me a copy. We are very interested to build a small scale model here at the Ifugao College of Agriculture and Forestry.
Should we also contact the university of Philippines?
Thankyou in advance
Jess
Anna,
I am volunteering with an organization in El Salvador and we recently went to Honduras to see a couple of different biodigestor models, one like the one that you mention, with plastic, the other a concrete underground structure. We’re having trouble finding the kind of plastic that they were using in Honduras. Any way that you could let me know what type of plastic you are using for the “bag”? If you have the design plans it would be interesting to compare them with the ones that we have as well.
Thanks,
Amy
Turn your design into a free, complete, published, and available Open Source Hardware design.
Just create another blog entry with the design including images and maybe links to free repositories, and append a link to that in this entry.
Anna,
I’ve seen biodigestors used with real toilets. Do you know if your design could be used that wya? We have a farm in Nicaragua and I want to improve the conditions for our workers. If we can use this to manage the waste water from toilets and burn the gas for cooking, that would be great! I’m not too worried about being able to get the fertilizer, but that would be a bonus.
Either way, I’d love a copy of your plans if you don’t mind sharing.
Thanks!
Stefan
Hi Stephan,
Yes, there are designs of biodigestors connected to toilets, but the design we use would not be appropriate (I’ll email the designs we use). One consideration is that one has to be much more cautious about using human waste as a fertilizer. The “digestion” process would have to be longer than when animal waste is used, and I’ve heard that you’d have to be cautious using the fertilizer on vegetable cultivation. Another option would be composting toilets which would create fertilizer, but not gas.
Thanks,
Anna
Hi Anna,
Please guide me in designing a biogas digestor plant for a housing society in India.
.
The housing complex has septic tanks. The solid sewage is deposited in septic tank and the liquid effluent from septic tank is connected to the main sewage pipeline.
The housing complex has about 800 human residents (no cattle
Please share any designs that you may have.
Regards,
GlobeSon
Anna,
any chance you have these plans somewhere that i can access them? I would love to have a look. Also, have they been translated into English by any chance? Let me know, thanks!
Jesse
Engaging information.. Will visit once more.
Hi, we’re making a small-scale biodigestor here on our farm in Costa Rica. I was wondering if you could send us your design.
Thanks, Olivia
http://www.barkinghorsefarm.com