A good use for vache fumier

How do you turn this (Guatemala grass)...

 

 

...into this ?

 

 

 First you'll need some of these,

and then some of this...vache fumier (cow poop)! Sounds cool in French eh?

Linus, our village host, has a bio gas plant, a project sponsored by Heifer International. Here is a basic design, very similar to what Linus has.

Bio gas drawing is public domain

 

Here is Linus standing on top of his bio gas plant.

 

 

Linus fills the inlet everyday with vache fumier (he has four cows which he feeds Guatemala grass) and that is enough to provide him with gas for about 5 hours straight. Wait 30 minutes and he'll get another 5 hours of burn time. It was cold at night during our stay, so we benefited from the gas for warmth and to help dry our clothes. The gas smells a little earthy, but not like fumier! This is where we heated our water for baths and cooked our meals too. Our favorite snack was heated milk straight from his cow, and with sugar and Ovaltine it was absolutely delicious.