A Don in the Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, College of Environmental Resources (COLERM), Dr. Moses Oyatogun, has given an indication that alternative cooking gas, popularly known as Biogas, has come to stay in Nigeria. Biogas, he stated, was nature’s own way of degrading anything that is biodegradable. Dr. Oyatogun, who is also the Director, Zoological Garden, said when waste is degraded, “it would give us methane and liquid fertiliser. In Nigeria, we need the methane as an alternative source of energy. You can use it to cook, you can use it as gas lamp and you can also use it, if you purify the gas to run a generator”. According to him, “By purifying the gases, we mean that you can clean it, remove the carbon dioxide that is in the mixture of the gas that is produced”.

Dr. Oyatogun further explained that the gas should be passed inside limewater to remove carbon dioxide, which contains iron filings to remove hydrogen sulphide and then charcoal to remove water moisture, adding that the pure methane could in turn, be connected to a gas carburetor to run the generator. He noted that the advantages of using Biogas include making the environment neater and safer. Dr. Oyatogun stressed that it would also help growing plants to have better carbon dioxide intake for the production of carbohydrates. “It’s like going in a cycle, the carbohydrate is broken down, to produce methane which generates the energy, while the liquid fertilizer produced is used for the plants and this goes on in a circle”.

Dr. Oyatogun, who said the Biogas could also be used in piggery, poultry, livestock or any integrated farm, added that other organisations using the product include the Songhai Farms in Cotonou, Republic of Benin. On the affordability of Biogas, he disclosed that this depended largely on the size and where it would be used. He advised that people should use plastic tanks because they are rust-free, saying “it can be affordable because we have small units that students can even use to do their experiments. Those ones cost about N35,000 but if you use two 2,000-litre plastic tanks, then it will cost about N100,000”. With reference to the FUNAAB Model Integrated Farms, which has a re-inforced concrete base with a plastic tank, he said this would cost about N1.5 million, using the 8,500 litre plastic tank inside the reinforced concrete container. “It depends on where you want to use it and this would determine the price. In terms of economy, it is very cheap. Right now and from my findings so far, what has prevented people from accepting it, is that most people cannot afford to put down N100,000 at a go”. He advised that people could approach the banks to obtain loans to build the facility.   Dr. Oyatogun noted the high rate of buying kerosene which costs about N3,000 monthly, stating that such funds could utilised in paying back the loan obtained to procure a Biogas facility. According to him, after 18 months or two years, the loan should have been paid back fully. He stated further that Biogas could be fuelled using domestic wastes such as the peels from yam, banana, plantain and pineapple, among others or biodegradable farm wastes if used on the farm. On the likelihood of causing an explosion if the waste gets to a certain level, the Don said this cannot occur because it is purely a product of biological process. “The gas can be stored in metallic cylinders by using a compressor to evacuate it from point of production into the storage cylinder”, he stated.

Last Updated on April 14, 2015 by admin