KIST, Rwanda, Large-scale biogas plants - Ashden Award winner

This video can be downloaded here: http://www.ashdenawards.org/winners/kist05 KIST won an Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy in 2005.

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The Kigali Institute of Science, Technology and Management (KIST), has developed and installed large-scale biogas plants in prisons in Rwanda to treat toilet wastes and generate biogas for cooking. After the treatment, the bio-effluent is used as fertiliser for production of crops and fuelwood.

Large prisons, each housing typically 5,000 prisoners, are a legacy of the troubled past of Rwanda. Sewage disposal from such concentrated groups of people is a major health hazard for both the prison and the surrounding area. The prisons also use fuelwood for cooking, putting great pressure on local wood supplies.

Using biogas digesters to manage animal or human sewage is not a new idea, but in Rwanda has been applied on an enormous scale, and with great success. Each prison is supplied with a linked system of underground digesters, so the sight and smell of the sewage are removed. KIST staff manage the construction of the system, and provide on-the-job training to both civilian technicians and prisoners. The biogas is piped to the prison kitchens, and halves the use of fuelwood. The fertiliser benefits both crop production and fuelwood plantations.

The first prison biogas plant started operation in 2001, and has run with no problems since then. Biogas plants are now running in six prisons with a total population of 30,000 people, and KIST is expecting to install three more each year.

The Ashden judges were highly impressed with the scale of these biogas plants, and the benefits which they provide in a difficult environment - sanitation, fuel and new skills for prisoners. They also recognised the significant potential for using such systems in other institutions like schools, hospitals, and on dairy farms - work which KIST has started to undertake.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Kigali
• Institute
• Science
• Technology
• KIST
• Rwanda
• Large
• scale
• biogas
• plant
• ashden
• awards
• renewable
• sustainable
• energy
• anaerobic
• digestion

[Gr8Teaist]

Great ideas! Utilizing waste AND providing the inmates with highly viable skills simultaneously - brilliant!

On another note: making male prisoners wear pink, it that a form of punishment or what?

[AshdenAwards]

@Gr8Teaist Not sure about the pink, but it must mean an escaped prisoner is easy to identify.

[kohouwd]

Hello,

Can I have the contact of the engineer who helped in building this? I am interested in a similar project in West Africa.

[AshdenAwards]

@kohouwd Hi. You can get the details on the Ashden Awards website. Go to the case study database, find KIST, and download the PDF, which includes contact details.

[chiluba123]

how do i get in touch with some1 thta can build a biogas plant

[AshdenAwards]

@chiluba123 If you go to the Ashden Awards website, and download the case study for any of our biogas winners, you will find their contact details in there.

[ciceromatrix]

GREAT JOB, RWANDA, NOW LETS REINTEGREATE THIS PRISIONER INTO SOCIETE

[yawakoben]

"leed" the way.  Pun intended? lol

[gabbe81]

Ironic that Rwanda is going to leed the way for energy in USA. Good job Rwanda!!!!

[exm5fe03]

congrats