Turning Poop Into Power

Using Biodigesters as a sanitation and energy solution in rural Cambodia

A major focus of the program is optimizing the product’s value proposition to the users. Maximizing uptake is critical to addressing downstream energy and sanitation affects. The current biodigester prototypes cost $450 USD per unit. This pays itself off by reducing the user’s day-to-day cost. Upfront investment; however, still stands at just over one third of the annual rural Cambodia salary. Jeffreys believes an approximate two-year payback period, similar to current solar technology in Australia, is both achievable and workable in Cambodia.

Saroun claims the organic fertilizer produced by her biodigester has significantly increased her rice and sesame yields. She has been able to cut back on the 900,000 KHR ($221 USD) she used to spend per season on fertilizer. Sokhon’s seen her health increase dramatically in the absence of the wood-fire smoke. Preparing a meal for her family no longer evokes fits of coughing and her head no longer aches.

Indoor air pollution, resulting from the combustion of solid fuel, has been referred to by The World Health Organisation as ‘the killer in the kitchen.’ It’s estimates that 36% of lower respiratory infections and 22% of chronic respiratory diseases are a direct result of air pollution from combusting solids in low ventilation areas. This accumulates to 1.5 million deaths each year.

Sokhon saves up to 50,000 KHR ($12 USD) on medicine each month.

It’s this stacking of benefits that makes the biodigester project a true Cleanleap technology. What originated as an alternative to centralized sanitation in Cambodia’s most challenging environments can now be viewed as a holistic approach to improving rural livelihoods through security and opportunity. Improved energy access leads to increased livelihood opportunities and reduces poverty. It improves access to education and plays a key role in reducing respiratory diseases as well as childhood mortality. More efficient fuel can alleviate the environmental damages associated with biomass use.

Sokhon and Saroun are asked where they invest their newfound time and finances. They answer the same—to give their children an education and thus a better life.

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• Environmental Engineering
• Irrigation Energy Efficiency Training
• Environmental Engineering
• Sustainable Development