“We usually spend around 1.5 million to 2 million rupiah (US$110-$150) for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for milk pasteurisation. Now we don’t need to spend any money to buy gas,” said Theresia Rukyatun who runs a small milk-producing business in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
“By using biogas we could optimise our production process. From what we saved after no longer using LPG, we could give our employees better benefits and we can invest more in our storage.”
Theresia is one of more than 10.000 farmers and small-business owners that have adopted biogas for their needs. Theresia invested in a biogas reactor with the help of Yayasan Rumah Energi.
Yayasan Rumah Energi is an organisation based in Indonesia that is hoping to change how organic waste in rural communities is managed. One of their programmes, Biogas Rumah (BIRU), is encouraging the use of biogas as a sustainable energy source for small business and homes.
Biogas is a gas produced when organic waste undergoes anaerobic digestion -- biodegradable material breaking down in the absence of oxygen. The gas is then piped into homes for cooking or for lighting gas lamps. The fermented remains become bio-slurry, a cost-free, all-purpose fertiliser.
“Our big goal is to protect, preserve, and save the environment,” said Wilhemus Leang, a provincial coordinator for Yayasan Rumah Energi to Our Better World, a storytelling initiative of the Singapore International Foundation.
“The methane gas that cows emit every day is far more dangerous to the environment compared to vehicle emissions.”
Theresia is not the only one benefitting from biogas. Throughout Indonesia, many farmers and small-business owners are using biogas in different ways. These include tofu and tempe producers, goat farmers, fish farmers and many more.
“We farmers actually have a lot of resources around us,” says Theresia to Our Better World. “All we need to do is manage our farming waste.”
BIRU hopes that more farmers and business owners like Theresia will start becoming more sustainable in their practices.
“We engage with the public to think about renewable energy because it is inexhaustible,” says Wilhemus. “The availability of biogas will last alongside the availability of organic waste on earth.”
Find out more about BIRU and the work they are doing throughout Indonesia.
Get in touch to find out more about how you can make use of biogas for your own business.
A story by Our Better World – telling stories of good to inspire action
