Time for country to invest in biogas

THE EDITOR: With our country facing an uncertain energy future with dwindling gas reserves, one solution that can help our gas shortage is the investment of biogas infrastructure. Biogas is a renewable energy source comprised heavily of methane, which is generated from raw materials such as agricultural waste manure, plant material, sewage and food waste.

Biogas is generated through a process of anaerobic digestion, where anaerobic microorganisms break down the raw materials inside an anaerobic digester.

The major gas in biogas is methane, which is the major component of natural gas. Some of the other gases that are found are carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. Biogas can be used to generate heat and electricity as well as used as cooking gas

The investment in biogas can also lead to more people investing in the agriculture industry as the agricultural waste manure and plant material can be used as raw materials to generate biogas. This can also lead to farmers producing and selling their own biogas, creating a local market for entrepreneurs. Investing in the agricultural industry also helps in reducing our already high food import bills.

The collection of sewage and food waste to be used for biogas production can help in fighting climate change as it reduces our dependence on non-renewable resources. The microorganisms and indigestible material used can be utilised as a fertiliser after being used in digestion.

While Trinidad has never attempted biogas production due to our heavy reliance on our own natural gas supplies, other Caribbean islands have made strides in biogas production. Jamaica uses organic food waste as well as livestock waste to generate biogas, which can be used to generate electricity. Grenada has also invested in biogas production from farming while St Lucia has began investing in biogas production by using waste generated from its banana industry.

The high cost of purchasing and setting up the biogas digester equipment is the obvious barrier to investing in this field for many of our residents. The government should heavily subsidise the cost of this equipment for local farmers to use, with training on operating the equipment. It may seem like a steep investment to make, but in the long run it keeps our country energy independent.

ARI MAHARAJH

via e-mail