Chăn Nuôi Vietnam Biogas Project

Project Summary.

This project provides one solution to three significant issues for communities in rural Vietnam: what to do with untreated human and agricultural waste; how to minimise the health impacts of burning wood in the home; and how to access affordable energy.

The programme trains local people to build and maintain biogas digesters. These biodigesters turn the waste into the clean, affordable and sustainable energy that they need. It also solves another pressing issue in Vietnam: deforestation. Without the biodigesters, locals are reliant on native forests for a source of energy, so the project also reduces deforestation and helps to preserve Vietnam’s beautiful and precious environment.

Aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages

Biogas is a clean-burning fuel, so levels of indoor pollution are significantly reduced compared to traditional cooking methods. Many farmers have praised the improvement of their yards’ sanitary condition as the digesters remove human and animal waste that would otherwise remain untreated.

SDG 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern e

The project addresses energy access in communities in rural Vietnam by enabling families to gain clean and affordable energy from a renewable resource. Since 2003, 171,935 digesters in 55 provinces have provided communities with cheap and sustainable energy.

SDG 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

The project prevents over half a million tonnes of CO2e from entering the atmosphere each year, and the reduction in the reliance on firewood means that huge areas of forest, which are valuable carbon sinks, are preserved.

The result

• 171,935 biogas plants have been built in 55 provinces throughout Vietnam .
• 2757+ rural jobs have been created.
• Having a biodigester saves 6 kg of firewood every day.
• 1.5 – 2 hours of work for women saved every day as they no longer need to collect firewood.
• 2,600 local people have been trained as masons and technicians.
• The nutrient-rich slurry left over from the digesters can also be used as a fertilizer for crops.