With the hard economic times, individuals and families are increasingly getting shoved into finding alternative means of survival that are affordable. This involves cutting down on expenditure and saving money to cater for other crucial needs.
One such family is that of Dr. Fred Musisi and his wife, Patricia, residents of Lubowa Estate, off Entebbe Road. The family has cut down costs by adopting the blueflame bioslurry gas for their cooking needs and fertiliser.
Kitchen waste saving us
Patricia says before they secured this gas system, she used to buy a 13kg gas canister at sh110,000 every one to three months.
"But since we installed the biogas system in March, I have not bought gas," she explains, noting that the system comes with attendant benefits.
Patricia explains that since they do not have cow dung, they power the system with left-overs from the kitchen, like food peelings, as well as rotting fruits from their garden.
She says before they installed the biogas system, they used to buy two sacks of charcoal every month.
"But besides being expensive, the inconvenience of coming out of the house to light the charcoal-fueled sigiri and even the smoke is just too much," she notes.
Just like Patricia, Azizi Dara, the machinery foreman at the Makerere University Agriculture Research Institute, Kabanyolo, has a similar story on how much money the institute is saving.
"We use the biogas daily to boil about 20 litres of tea every morning and to cook beans sometimes," Dara says.
He notes that before they adopted this technology, they used to buy one sack of charcoal every week. Currently, a sack costs between sh70,000 and sh100, 000.
"Preparing a kilogramme of dry beans takes charcoal worth sh3,000. But, now I do not have to foot that cost anymore, with the biogas, which I use to prepare all my dishes," he explains.
How much are they saving?
Assuming that Patricia constantly bought 13kg gas canisters from a petrol station after every three months at sh110,000, she would spend sh440,000 annually. With the durability of the blueflame bio-slurry gas said to be 30 years, she will have saved sh13.2m.
On the other hand, if Kabanyolo farm used to consume one sack of charcoal every week, each at sh100,000, that meant spending sh400, 000 a month on charcoal. Annually, that would translate into sh4.8m and sh144m in 30 years.
Dara, on the other hand, now saves sh90,000 every month. With the biogas in place, assuming that he boils a kilogramme of beans daily. He saves over sh1m in a year.
Remove non-biodegradable objects
For efficient performance, Patricia advises that the waste fed into the system should first be sorted.
"For instance, polythene material and other non-biodegradable objects should be removed. Even for food peelings, they should be chopped into small pieces for easy decomposition and to prevent blockages," she says.
Apart from reducing expenditure, Dr. Musisi, on the other hand, extolls the environmental relevance of the blueflame bio-slurry gas system.
"It is environmentally-sustainable and indeed, if only about 10% of the Ugandan population adopted this type of biogas, it would have a big impact on environmental conservation," he says.
Dr. Musisi explains that with such renewable energy, deforestation for wood fuel would reduce.
Similarly, he says the system is an appropriate solution to better refuse management in homes.
"We used to struggle with kitchen waste, but we now have a productive way of handling it," Dr. Musisi says.
He explains that the by-product slurry is used as manure in the gardens.
Dr. Musisi also says the blueflame bio-slurry gas system has advantages over the conventional underground biogas systems.
"I have heard friends whose neighbours complain about the awful smell their underground biogas systems emit. Our system is clean and worth having within the compound," he says.
Apart from using it for cooking, the blueflame bio-slurry gas can also be used to run a generator and for lighting.
"We are not using it for lighting so far because we have solar in case power goes off, but maybe we shall explore that," says Dr. Musisi.
According to him, the Government should encourage people to embrace this form of renewable energy, especially people in the rural areas, who largely depend on wood energy.
"Just as they are working on rural electrification, they should also look at this as an alternative for lighting in rural areas. It can improve the quality of life," he advises.
To sustain the system at Kabanyolo, Dara says they feed it with organic matter, such as chicken droppings and pigs' waste.
In terms of risks, he explains that the blueflame bio-slurry gas is safer than the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
"It is absorbed into the air in case of accidental opening of the valves unlike the LPG, which saturates in space and can burn the house in case fire is lit," Dara explains.
Rich fertiliser
Slurry from the biogas system is rich in nutrients and can be used as a fertiliser for crops.
The slurry can also enable farmers achieve multiple cropping round the year, thus increasing household income and improving family health through enhanced food security due to increased food yields.
On the other hand, with increased food yields, there can be surplus for sale, increasing family income in the long run.
The blueflame bio-slurry gas system is an innovation by Crestanks, Uganda, and costs about sh3.2m. (Source: newvision.co.ug)
