FUEL CELL
KENYA

Biogas as an alternative source of energy

A prison in Kenya is using inmate’s waste to power the kitchens and heating, reducing energy costs and improving the health of the prisoners.

“Since we got Biogasthere’s been a difference – there’s plenty of heat, but there’s no the smoke that there was before” Prisoner, Meru Prison

Meru prison in Kenya holds 9 times more prisoners than it was designed for. It is cramped, dirty and full of smoke from cooking fires. According to The World Health Organisation smoke from stoves and fires in homes causes around 1.6 million deaths per year worldwide. But a new biogas project, which uses the prisoners waste to power cooking and heating, has helped fix this problem – and it’s not just the prison inmates who are benefitting from this technology. Wherever there is a dense population of humans such as in, say a school or a hospital, biogas becomes economic. Skylink Innovators is a Kenyan company with big ambitions to stop the resource going to waste and saving, in the bargain, Kenya’s remaining woodland.