I promised some more information alternative energy. The first thing I want to talk about is using methane from biodigesters. That’s because I decided this is perhaps the most complex and the least useful to the average expat resident. I’d be hard-pressed to use one effectively on my rented city lot and dwelling for example. Yet biogas is something that can make a huge dent in the Philippine’s energy costs and improve the environment as well.
Home biodigesters are very well known in India … millions are installed. China also is making good use of them. Although the link I am providing gives a lot of Philippine information, biodigesters are not well known in the Philippines. Yet. because the Philippines, in general, just follows US trends and listens to the oil company-funded anti-alternative energy research that comes out of the US, biogas is not catching on quickly.
But you don’t have to wait for a trend to sweep you along if you want to think for yourself. Just for cooking gas alone a biodigester already makes economic sense. based on actual experience in the Philippines it will pay for itself in less than 3 years … subject to LPG cooking gas not increasing in price over those 3 years. if the gas goes up … you don’t think there’s much chance of that, do you? … then the payback will be even shorter.
Meanwhile, while you are saving money, you’ll be getting rid of pollutants from the digester’s ‘feed stock’ and producing high-quality, zero-pollutant fertilizer from the non-gas output of the digester. A pretty good all ’round investment in my book.
And if you take the Jim and Joan route and use biogas to power a generator part-time … wow … the sky is the limit.
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