Development & Aid, Environment, Tierramerica - Ecobrief

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Gas from Garbage

BUENOS AIRES, Jul 5 2004 (IPS) - An environmental group in Argentina has designed a tank known as a ''biodigestor'', which produces gas for fuel from organic waste, to benefit remote communities of farmers and fisherfolk.

The Fundación Proteger (Protect) says the ''biodigestor'' can produce 30 kilograms of ''biogas'' per month, a volume sufficient for consumption in difficult to reach zones near the Paraná River, in northeast Argentina.

More than half of the Argentine population of 37 million people do not have access to the natural gas distribution network and buy it in small tanks, which since 2002 have doubled in price due to increased exports and a sharp devaluation of the Argentine peso.

Biogas is a renewable fuel that can replace natural gas (a fossil fuel), but not yet on a major scale. The tanks designed by Proteger can process organic waste, such as leaves and grass clippings, manure and seaweed, which are readily available in the Paraná region.