Kathmandu, June 12:

Institutional biogas plants are gaining popularity in the capital city.

More than 11 institutional biogas digesters have already been set-up in the Kathmandu Valley till date.

The Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) informed that the plants — up to the size of 50 cubic metre — have been established in the Kathmandu valley, including those in the Institute of Engineering at Pulchowk, Mahendra Police Club at Exhibition Road and Shechen Maha Boudha Bihar (SMBB) at Boudha.

The biogas digester, established at the SMBB, has helped cooking one time meal for 500 people along with tea and hot water, Acharya Chewang Samdrup Gurung of the SMBB said. The SMBB accommodates three schools, a clinic and a guest house and the biogas digester established there is fed by human night soil and kitchen waste.

Gurung added that the plant has helped a lot to manage the waste. “The most important part is it has saved fuel and has minimised costs.”

“The biogas digesters convert green house gases like methane and carbon dioxide into energy and we can use it, which otherwise would have gone waste,” said Surya Kumar Sapkota, of AEPC.

In Kathmandu Valley, biogas digesters are primarily used as substitution for cooking fuel, Sapkota said, adding that the use of the digester could be a better option to manage the huge amount of waste produced in the Valley.

Record at the Biogas Sector Partnership-Nepal reveals that some 2,132 household biogas plants have been set up in Kathmandu Valley until the end of 2006 and that there are 157,675 such digesters across the nation. There are some 50 institutional biogas digesters in Nepal.

A BSP-Nepal research has revealed that biogas plants in Nepal save 375,000 tonnes of firewood and 800,000 litres of kerosene every year.