Focus on Arts and Ecology

Project Type: Technology-based Avoidance/Reduction

Carbon Standard: Gold Standard

Vintage: 2019-2020

Additionality: Without the sale of carbon offsets, the technological capability, infrastructure, and maintenance costs would prevent the distribution of the biodigesters technology.

Permanence: Capture of methane from livestock and burning the gas for cooking permanently destroys the methane gas that is 84 times worse for the planet than CO2 in a 20-year period.

Site Visit: Planned Q1 2022

What it does:

This project reduces methane emissions by transitioning families in rural areas of Maharashtra State of India from a wood-burning stove to a biodigester. Biodigesters turn cow dung and human waste into methane gas and provide a cleaner, more efficient, sustainable fuel compared to that of a traditional wood-burning stove.

In Maharashtra, nearly 70% of rural households currently rely on firewood for cooking. The local community meets this demand by cutting local forests and often selling wood in the marketplace. This transition to clean gas curbs the demand for wood and reduces the cutting of local forests in an already resource-constrained region. Maharashtra land-use patterns show a decrease in forest land cover and an increase in degraded land. The problem intensifies pressure from growing human and livestock populations and illegal and indiscriminate exploitation of forest resources.

Degradation of forest lands exacerbates the existing problem of desertification: some forests are turning into open scrub.

Cow waste is shoveled into the biodigester that houses anaerobic microorganisms that feed on biodegradable material. When they break down the cow dung, the byproduct is methane gas that is used for fuel. The biodigester is sized according to the number of people in the household and the number of cattle owned by the family. For example, a biodigester with a capacity of 2 cubic meters is sufficient to provide cooking fuel for a family of four to five members.

Without the biodigester, the methane from the cow dung would be released into the atmosphere as the dung decomposes and the forest would become further degraded.

Benefits:

• Reduces emissions from methane, a greenhouse gas that would otherwise be released into the air from decaying cow dung, and instead uses it for fuel.
• Preserves local and threatened forests: firewood usage has dropped by 93-95%.
• Saves family income once spent on firewood and creates jobs that require the transfer of biogas technology and training.
• Saves time for family members who must often walk long distance to collect wood and for women who experience reduced cooking time.
• Reduces toxic smoke in the home to create a cleaner home environment.
• Improves local sanitations, reduces the risk of parasitic infection for people and livestock because human and animal waste is contained and cannot contaminate local water supplies.
• Provides a clean, organic fertilizer, richer in ammonia than manufactured fertilizers, that improve soil and crops

• Maintaining adequate funding to scale the project and incorporate follow-up and service activities.
• Biogas digesters require timely and expensive maintenance.
• Community outreach and recruiting more participants requires time and resources.
• COVID-19 impacted project activities in 2020.

Project verifications

UN sustainable development goals

Drawdown