Antony: Kenyan Farmer Using ‘Chicken Poop’ To Power His Home, Car And Boiler
Antony is a local farmer who runs his farm, household and car using chicken droppings.
The farmer rears chicken which has greatly reduced his reliance on Kenya Power and Lighting Company.
Here is his story as told by WoK.
Biogas
Antony says he collects the poop in a bucket every morning and then mixes it with water before pouring the mixture into his biogas digester which then produces biogas. The gas can power anything from an electric kettle to a generator.
He used to use cow dung as the main material to make biogas, however, he stopped using it when he researched and realised chicken poop can do the job just as well.
Once everything is mixed up in the biodigester, biogas then flows out through a pipe that is connected to various power outlets from cooking stoves to farm equipment, phone chargers and shower heaters.
“I don’t need to worry about anything like running out of gas or I don’t have money to buy gas. As long as my chicken keeps on pooping I am sorted,” said Antony.
The Kenyan farmer even powers his car using the same. He accomplishes this by simply connecting a pipe from his biogas plant to a generator that then charges his electric car.
Kenya is leading Africa in biogas
With over 17,000 domestic biodigesters, Kenya is the leader in Biogas technology in Africa.
The technology has been around in Kenya since the 1950s but was neglected until the Kenya Biogas Program (KBP) began promoting efforts to scale-up and commercialise the sector around 2009.
Since then, more than 100,000 people have gained access to biogas in their homes, more than anywhere else on the continent, says KBP.
There are over 8,000 biogas plants in Kenya with the potential to produce over 1,000 MW of electricity.
“Biogas will be part of the energy mix for the future to come,” said Tim Mungai, a business development manager at KBP.
Local and foreign companies – including Dutch outfit SimGas, Mexican firm Sistema, and HomeBiogas, an Israeli manufacturer – are also rolling out new technologies in East Africa.
