Rwanda Biogas

Dartmouth HELP Worldwide will be collaborating with a local NGO, Comprehensive Community Health Initiatives and Programs (CCHIPS), to create a Bio-gas system to create gas for cooking while also managing natural food and animal waste products. This project is incredibly powerful in its ability to address both sanitation and energy, two of the largest problems found in Rwanda and other developing nations. CHHIPS works primarily in the Msanze region bordering Volcanoes National Park.

98% of Rwandans use charcoal for cooking and remaining forested land is under intense pressure owing to the consumption of wood fuel. The government has just banned the cutting down of trees without having an alternative in place.

HELP’s role in the project will be to investigate state of the art, design an appropriate and sustainable biogas digester while at Dartmouth, travel to Rwanda and implement a prototype system at the Bisate Health clinic. Help will work with the Kigali Institute of Science & Technology on the project so any advances in the technology can be replicated after we are done. This project will provide a way for patients and their families housed at the clinic to cook, lessen the environmental impact of wood burning, provide a small income for the clinic (selling fertilizer), and provide a cost efficient example of the possibilities of bio-gas.