Winner of the Jury’s Special Award 2007

The Bagepalli CDM biogas project was financed innovatively by selling Certified Emission Reductions under the Clean Development Mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in advance.

The Deenabandhu model of biogas plant was earlier generally built either with a large part of own funds (for richer rural households) and subsidies, or with a large part of own labor and subsidies (for poorer households). The availability of the product was limited by the subsidy amount available to each District every year through the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources. The baseline and monitoring methodology under the Clean Development Mechanism established by the project promoters allowed a new source of funds to be tapped, which not only allowed more plants to be built in the 5 Blocks of Kolar District in one year than in all the previous 5 years put together, but the promoters also were able to reduce their dependence on government, and enter into commercial agreements for the sale of a commodity (CERs) with an international renewable energy company listed on the French stock exchange.The new idea implemented here is the tapping of new source of funds, namely sale of CERs to construct biogas plants for poor households in rural areas.

Individual benefits: Reduced health hazards associated with unmanaged waste in back yards and village streets; and avoided health hazards indoor air pollution; and reduced drudgery. Social benefits: The community as a whole becomes more productive as women can get the children fed easily in the morning, and the children get to school on time. Leisure is increased in the home, and cooking and eating together becomes a greater social pleasure, as the home is smoke-free. Training in chemistry of biogas for masons and users leading to improved scientific temper in community.Economic benefits: Savings to the national economy by providing renewable cooking fuel instead of kerosene or LPG which has to be imported at great cost as fuel wood is scarce and no longer socially acceptable; and higher productivity of workers as they have adequate cooking fuel supply and can thus eat better and relax more in the home after work; and the economy benefits technological progress through local innovation improving the Deenabandhu biogas digester management, for example through recycling of dung, and Ph control, thus improving biogas yield and eliminating any residual methane emissions.Environmental benefits: Reduced local environmental pollution through a better waste management system; and soil improvement by providing high quality manure; and avoided global environmental pollution by switching non-renewable biomass or fossil fuels such as kerosene to biogas, thus leading to reduction of GHG emissions.

Project effects on companies: The project provides a new mechanism by which companies can commercialize domestic biogas through the revenue stream provided by CERs (certified emission reductions) without depending on subsidies. Project effects on governments: The Government of India is keenly interested in promoting such projects. Project effect on international organizations: Hedon newsletter, various cooking stove projects, Berkley Lab stove project, and others are keen to get the new methodology approved. Project effect on NGOs: Many NGOs have approached the project promoters to join in the new financing opportunities to bring the benefits to the people.

Impact on ?

Individuals - around 300 masons and 90 NGO staff members got employment out of the project, and 5500 users were paid as much as Rs 1100 for contributing their labor to their project, with which they were able to buy pressure cookers and other useful goods.
Society: Other households ? both rural and urban households are now encouraged to build biogas plants; A veritable biogas movement is spreading in Bangalore independently. The nominee is supporting urban households to build biogas plants.

Economy: Biogas can reduce these fossil fuel energy requirements and make a large difference to the requirement for fossil fuel imports. The nominee is trying to persuade the Government of India to accept the need for emission reductions in India too, in order to create a greater momentum for biogas. A total of 1.1 million Euros was injected into the local economy.

Environment: In addition to reducing greenhouse gases, biogas relieves the stress on trees in drought prone areas.
Other corporate organizations - In future, the nominee expects to be able to show many new companies the way forward in the renewable energy field, by helping them understand how clean energy can generate Certified Emission Reductions or other new types of environmental market revenue streams.

The project will save trees being cut for to meet the cooking fuel needs of households; Biogas manure is excellent fertilizer for depleted soils; economically, a biogas plant is part of an integrated holistic local economy where dung cows is an extremely useful by-product.

The nominee is determined to get the new methodology approved before the next Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Co for financing clean energy initiatives in developing countries.