Ministry to promote biogas technology

The Minister of Energy, Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah says the Ministry would promote the use of biogas technology to help to solve the sanitation and energy problems facing communities and institutions.

He has, therefore, challenged the Energy Foundation, consulting institutions and the Ghana Standards Board to come with the necessary standards that would support the adoption of biogas technology to improve sanitation and energy supply in the country.

Mr Kan-Dapaah was commissioning a 57 million-cedi bio-sanitation facility for the Ofori Panin Secondary School at Kukurantumi on Tuesday. It was funded by DANIDA. He noted that the adoption of biogas technology could generate a substantial government savings from the huge expenditure on the health sector.

Mr Kan-Dapaah recalled that that Ministry constructed the first biogas plant at the Shai Hills Cattle ranch on a pilot basis and followed it up with the Apolonia Biogas plant in 1990 that generates 12.5 kilowatts of electricity from cow dung and human excreta for domestic use and street lighting.

To date, 20 bio-latrines had been constructed in different parts of the country including the Aburi Girls Secondary School, Abuadze, Amanokrom, Apirede, Jekodua, Kpong and Jisonayili. Mr Kan-Dapaah appealed to DANIDA to continue to support the construction of more bio-toilets in educational institutions and large communities as part of efforts to improve sanitation, education and health.