With the onset of winter and the beginning of another gas cylinder crisis, the Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs (MSEA) in collaboration with Asyut Governorate, has started a biogas experiment in the village of Awlad Elias, to generate power and produce organic fertilizer. The idea is to collect cattle dung in special tanks attached to farmers’ houses, then use the natural gases emitted from the stored dung for heating and cooking, in addition to using the dung itself as an organic fertilizer.

With the onset of winter and the beginning of another gas cylinder crisis, the Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs (MSEA) in collaboration with Asyut Governorate, has started a biogas experiment in the village of Awlad Elias, to generate power and produce organic fertilizer. The idea is to collect cattle dung in special tanks attached to farmers’ houses, then use the natural gases emitted from the stored dung for heating and cooking, in addition to using the dung itself as an organic fertilizer. Experts hope this experiment might eliminate the gas cylinder shortage, especially since nearly all houses in the villages in Upper Egypt have cattle.

“I used to buy three gas cylinders per month, but now I only buy none. This project has saved me tons of money during the gas crisis, which we can eliminate through nationalizing this project that costs no more than L.E. 3,000 (US$435) per unit,” said Mahmud Mustafa, a resident of Awlad Elias, whose house was one of 50 chosen for the initial experimental trials, which were implemented in early 2013.

Indian workers built the units in collaboration with others from Fayoum Governorate and Awlad Elias Village within two months, filled it with two tonnes of cattle dung, and then covered it for gases to interact. Fifteen days later, the unit was provided with nearly 150 kilograms of dung mixed with the same amount of water on a daily basis to help start the interaction and produce gas, according to Mustafa.

Reducing gas cylinder consumption

“The experiment will help end the gas cylinder crisis by 35%,” says Saleh Abdullah, the DoS Deputy-Head, suggesting that Asyut consumes nearly a million and a half cylinders monthly at an approximate cost of L.E. 55 million (US $7,900,000). When applied, says Abdullah, the experiment will save more than L.E. 15.5 million (US $2,227,000) per month and even billions if applied nationally.

“The biogas project contributes to exploiting a renewable source of energy and stimulating rural development in a non-centralized way, in addition to converting waste into energy which reduces oil consumption and carbon dioxide emissions – an optimal way for environmentally sound management of wastes,” says Major General Ibrahim Hammad, the Governor of Asyut. “The project also produces organic fertilizer with a great nutritious value.”

Conducted to date in the governorates of Asyut and Faiyum, the experiment has proven a success and could be circulated to other governorates in order to solve the crisis of gas cylinders, especially since government subsidies for gas cylinders has reached L.E. 22 billion (US $3 billion) out of the total subsidy for energy and petroleum products, which is estimated at L.E. 130 billion (US $18.6 billion), according to a statement by the Minister of Petroleum, Engineer Ismail Sharif, on Egyptian television.

Safe gas, good fertilizer

“It is hard to get gas cylinders in the village,” says Mustafa Shaalan who lives next to Mahmud’s house. “I consume four to five cylinders per month, but the price of a cylinder has gone up to L.E. 40-50 (about US $7) on the black market, and it can run as high as L.E. 70 (US $10) when the weather gets cold.”

“There is no risk in having the unit in the house because the gas inside the hoses is non-flammable. Besides, the fertilizer produced by the unit suffices to fertilize seven acres, while smaller units fertilize a smaller number of acres,” says Muhammad Abdurrahman who also participated in the experiment. “The compost produced from the unit is one of the finest types, and I made an actual experiment to make sure of that. I fertilized the pomegranate crop and the result was pretty good. In fact, the production of pomegranate crop this year was better than the previous one. I also applied it to a guava tree, so its fruits were more and better than unfertilized trees.”

“I have dispensed with the coupons distributed by the Directorate of Supply – DoS – to get gas cylinders, and now I only use the gas produced by the unit for kitchen purposes,” he added.

Plans to expand the project

The gas cylinder crisis is widespread in Upper Egypt. “The Coupons Distribution Project did not help solve the problem,” says villager Adel Tawfiq. “I may only get one or two cylinders a month, while I need four or five, which makes me buy cylinders from the black market.”

Head of the Awlad Elias Village Council Ahmad Abdulbari believes that the best aspect about the biogas project is that the MSEA offers it for free. The experimenters paid nothing in the first phase of the project, but in the second phase, which began in the villages of Koum Asfeht and Nakhila, the experimenters will pay half the cost, which is estimated at approximately L.E. 2,000 ($ US 287)per unit.

The first phase of the project cost L.E. 250,000 (US $35,919) fully borne by the MSEA, according to Dr. Leila Rashid Iskandar of MSEA published on gate.ahram.org.eg this past October  

Head of the Asyut Environmental Affairs Agency Dr. Nader Shehata says the implementation of the second phase has been initiated in the villages of Koum Asfeht and Nakhila and it will be expanded to build 1,500 new units in villagers’ homes at a cost of L.E. seven million (US $1,000,000). The cost will be split between villagers and the MSEA with support from the United Nations. Shehata suggests that the Manufacturing Commission has manufactured a stove like the one imported from India. Moreover, a factory in the Beni Ghalib Industrial Zone in Asyut has manufactured biogas-powered furnaces and heaters and they will be tested soon.