Myanmar media call for extensive extraction of bio-gas for electricity supply

http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6580205.html

January 23, 2009

Myanmar official media Friday called on rural people to extensively extract bio-gas from animal waste to get sufficient electricity supply at low cost, replacing firewood.

Bio-gas can be produced from animal waste such as cow dung, pig-dung, chicken and goat dropping, the New Light of Myanmar said in its editorial, adding that the dung of five to seven cattle or pigs, buffaloes and goats is enough to produce electricity through bio-gas for a household.

Apart from small-scale bio-gas digesters for houses, large bio-gas digesters can be built to supply electric power to the whole village, the paper outlined.

According to the paper, innovation has been carried out in Myanmar to build bio-gas digesters for supply of electric power in rural areas.

The paper underlined that such move has proved successful in some of the areas.

Meanwhile, Myanmar has also introduced cultivation of Jatrophaphysic nut plants to produce bio-diesel.

Myanmar has set a target to grow 3.23 million hectares of bio-diesel plants in 2008 in a bid to increase the bio-diesel output in the year to substitute diesel.

Output from Jatropha plantations is being projected as up to 20million tons a year, according to the agriculture authorities.

The Jatropha nuts were initially planted on 648,000 hectares mainly in three dry zones of Mandalay, Sagaing and Magway divisions.




According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Myanmar has about 6.41 million hectares of land suitable for growing Jetropha plants.

There are two physic nut species in Myanmar -- Castor and Jatropha.

Source:Xinhua