Husk Energy
We are a venture that seeks to make gas based on organic waste for domestic use.
We use rice husks as organic waste to generate cooking gas that is friendly to the environment. Cooking gas is used for cooking food and heating some homes in winter. In addition, it provides an economic alternative for rural communities that usually use firewood. The technology to convert rice husks into gas is through an anaerobic biodigestion process where a set of bacteria degrades organic matter in the absence of oxygen and in a dark environment, transforms it into biogas. The machinery to be used is a biodigester, which we have built in our small enterprise. A biodigester consists of several parts, but it is connected through a hose to a kitchen to be able to feed it with gas.
In Peru, 70% of the rural population cooks with polluting fuels. One of these is firewood. Cooking with wood has negative health consequences, as well as immediate detrimental effects on the environment, contributing to the release of greenhouse gases and deforestation. In 2017 alone, 1 million 751 thousand 433 households were registered that used some polluting fuel to cook their food, which represents 21.2% of the total registered households in the country. The census shows that this population is made up mostly of older adults (51%), followed by younger children (41%). Approximately 5.94 kg of firewood/day is used, that is, 2.17 T/year, with an emission of 3.96 T/year of CO2 into the atmosphere, the houses that mostly do not have windows, which causes a higher incidence of respiratory diseases.
Our beneficiary population is the households of the La Saucha farming community, located in Las Lomas in the Piura region, Peru. It is a community that produces and sells rice. This population tends to cook with polluting fuels because conventional cooking gas is expensive. In addition, their homes are not suitable for cooking with firewood because they are spaces that do not have ventilation, which causes a higher concentration of toxic gases and, therefore, more cases of respiratory diseases. It is then appropriate to provide an economical and environmentally friendly solution, such as biogas. The cost of making a biogas is much cheaper in its distribution. According to the estimates made, we will provide a cheaper service for the communities surrounding the Piura region, which are initially considered our direct suppliers, as well as promoting sustainable agriculture by giving added value to harvest residues.
To understand the magnitude of the problem, we visited a rice farming community called La Saucha, in Las Lomas in the Piura region of Peru. This agricultural community usually uses polluting fuels for cooking their food or other activities. So, we decided to talk with various actors within the community to learn more about their reality, we also wanted to know if they had organic waste and how they were used. First, we visited a rice mill where the workers pointed out to us that the rice husk was a residue that was given away and was found in abundance. Workers told us that they usually burned the husk, which produced overwhelming smoke that polluted the air in the community. After that, we carried out a mini census within the community to find out how many people lived in each household and how they cooked their food. Very few households used conventional gas because it is expensive. Finally, we decided to visit representatives of the communities to tell them about our idea and find out how we could form an alliance that would benefit the entire community. We were able to visit this agricultural community because one of our members has a family there, so we had that advantage to learn more about that reality.
- Taking action to combat climate change and its impacts (Sustainability)
- Prototype: A venture or organization building and testing its product, service, or business model
To build a biodigester, we carry out several financing activities. From the sale of food to raffles and bingos to get a total of 3,000 soles ($ 1,000 approximately). Since we were still university students, it was a bit difficult for us to obtain that financing. After that, we became a legal company to be able to participate in financing contests. Finally, we managed to build a biodigester and carry out some experiments with some organic waste and with rice husks. We have participated in some courses on entrepreneurship and received advice to improve our business model. The initial idea was not biogas, we have been evolving to be able to come up with a viable product that is useful and accessible for the communities. Currently, we are seeking financing and advice to be able to launch our product on the market and improve the quality of life of rural communities in our region.
- A new use of an existing technology (e.g. application to a new problem or in a new location)
Our main resource is the rice husk obtained from the mills found in agricultural communities (the mills are responsible for the separation of the grain and the husk) and the bacteria for the fermentation process of the husk. The machinery that we would need would be an industrial biodigester to optimize the efficiency of the gas, however, even though this technology already exists, it is not something within our reach; therefore, as this is crucial for the elaboration of the prototype, which we have already built. This homemade biodigester has the particularity that the biomass will be adapted to this type of system that allows the bacteria to digest the matter in degradation, whose transformation is biogas.
- Biotechnology / Bioengineering
- Peru
In the next year, we want to supply 25 families in the farming community. Although the number is small, we want to focus on improving the quality of our product, because although we want to produce biogas, it is necessary to obtain distribution companies. In order to supply 25 families, an eighth of a ton of rice husk is needed, which must be processed in at least 3 loads in a home biodigester. That is why we want access to financing that allows us to have much larger machinery that produces more to expand our market.
Husk Energy has three main goals:
- Produce, test and distribute an economical and environmentally friendly biogas.
- Create awareness in communities about the use of polluting fuels for cooking. This implies that we want more families to be able to take better care of their health, save money and thus improve their quality of life.
- By using the husk residues, we give them a second use. This allows us to reduce agricultural waste and make it more sustainable.
We think that as an organization we have grown because we entered into Peruvian legislation by becoming a company, we built our own biodigester and we managed to carry out experiments with organic matter.
Husk Energy is committed to meeting three of the sustainable development goals set out in the 2030 agenda: Clean and Affordable Energy (7), Responsible Consumption and Production (12) and Climate Action (13).
Financial barriers: Not having enough investment to continue carrying out experiments in our biodigester and improve the quality of organic biogas.
Cultural barriers: In many rural communities it is a tradition to cook with polluting fuels such as firewood.
Our team is made up of two engineers. A mechanical-electrical engineer who is responsible for reviewing the biodigestion process and an industrial engineer who is responsible for the production of biogas itself. Both have experience conducting experiments with raw materials. Our team is also made up of three economists who have experience in social and environmental projects. In addition, they have been responsible for establishing relationships in the agricultural community. Our team is diverse and has a common purpose.
We are not currently associated with any institution or organization. We have as an alliance the different relationships made in the agricultural community.
- No
Our solution is aimed at rural communities, but not specifically women, but to improve the quality of life in general for families.
- Yes
It would be an excellent opportunity to show our idea, since it mainly seeks to improve people's quality of life by offering them an organic gas alternative that does not harm their health and is friendly to the environment.
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