Biogas project in Hunan, China, underscores importance of environmental protection
Building a biogas system.
Photo: CWS
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Sixty families in Xincheng village, Longshan County of Hunan Province, China, are benefiting from a biogas project, thanks to Church World Service and long-time partner the Amity Foundation.
Poor ethnic minority families in the region can barely afford coal, gas, or electricity for cooking. They collect firewood instead and the area suffers from serious soil erosion as a result. Biogas systems use plant, animal, and human waste and convert it into methane gas for cooking and lighting, so they do not contribute to deforestation. Notes the project manager: "These families live in the mountains and have no access to transportation and energy supplies. Firewood has been the preferred element for cooking. Biogas is a much-needed alternative energy source. It also insures environmental protection for the members of this community."
Amity has constructed several biogas systems in Guizhou, Hunan, and Qinghai provinces, making villages more energy-efficient and reducing carbon dioxide emissions at the same time.