Monday, 4 January 2016
The second meeting of “Biogas Consortium in Afghanistan” (BCA) was jointly conducted by Help and BORDA INGOs on Sunday, 27 December 2015 in Agriculture Faculty, Herat University.
The aim of the meeting was to introduce development of biogas sector in Afghanistan and presenting the updated information on activities of Biogas Consortium. BORDA, Help, Department of Rural Rehabilitation and Development of Herat (DRRD), Herat’s Governor Consultant on environment and dean of Faculty of Agriculture of Herat University attended this meeting.
The meeting started with opening remarks from Mr. Zabihullah Monib Taheri, Program Director of Help. He welcomed all participants from the member organizations in the meeting and appreciated their cooperation in the development of biogas sector in Herat province.
Mr. Farid Safi, Biogas program manager from BORDA Afghanistan briefly introduced the Biogas Consortium Afghanistan and its major achievement since establishment. He added that during the recent BCA meeting in Kabul, It was decided that the BCA will become a working group for the Renewable Energy Coordination Committee (RECC). RECC committee is recently established in the ministry of energy and water with the aim of bringing together the various entities working in renewable energy sector for coordination and development of this important sector in Afghanistan.
Mr. Safi presented on the potential, current status, challenges and opportunities of biogas technology in Afghanistan and the way forward.
Mr. Shafi from Afghanistan Sustainable Energy for Rural Development (ASERD) Program of Ministry of Rural and Rehabilitation Development presented on their upcoming ASERD program. The overall goal of this program is to increase access to affordable energy for economic and social development of rural areas in Afghanistan. The program will include the implementation of biogas projects as well. This program is not only focusing in provision of energy to households but also focusing on provision of energy for enterprises for economic development and on supporting the agriculture sector and public services such as (hospitals, schools, police stations and mosques).
Mr. Roshanyar from Help INGO updated the meeting on the recent activities of Help biogas project in Herat and Bamyan. He mentioned that all the biogas systems in Herat and Bamyan provinces are working very well and large demand is created for the technology in these areas.
Mr. Wakil Ahmad Barak, advisor to the governor of Herat on environment appreciated the good work of BORDA and Help INGOs and mentioned that; “The households in rural areas of Herat depend on firewood for cooking and heating, which causes reduction in forest cover, environmental and health problems, one of the suitable solutions for this is the use of biogas technology which produces clean fuel for cooking and is a great fertilizer for the agricultural lands. The leadership of Herat province is keen to promote this technology.”
Mr. Hadi Adeli from BORDA Afghanistan presented the newly developed “Biogas User Manual”. The manual will be used by the biogas owners for the proper operation of their biogas systems. He added that if the owners regularly operate their biogas systems in accordance with this manual, their systems will produce more gas and the system will work for long time without any major problem.”
The meeting was concluded by summarizing the major points discussed in the meeting.
Source: Help Media and Culture Unit