Nigerian Researcher Develops Waste-to-Biogas Facility

A researcher at the Bayelsa government-owned University of Africa Toru-Orua (UAT), Dr Faith Ogbole, has created a facility that turns waste into biogas or methane gas, which is used as cooking gas.

The accomplishment came after Ogbole’s year-long study, which was supported by the Bayelsa State Education Development Trust Fund (BYEDTF) of the Bayelsa Government.

The innovation helps to provide inexpensive cooking gas, reduce trash, and create jobs.

When BYEDTF representatives visited the University of Africa Toru-Orua in the Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa on Friday, Ogbole gave a demonstration of the research findings.

She expressed her gratitude to BYEDTF for providing funds for the project, which involved producing and purifying methane gas from septic tanks and other environmental wastes such as grasses, plantain peels, and animal manure.

According to Ogbole, the plant was made locally. She added that in order to produce gas, it would take in garbage of all kinds, grind it, and then pour it into a specially constructed, airtight tank.

She claims that after going through a purifier, the gas is transformed into methane gas, which may be used for cooking and other purposes.

She said that her efforts were motivated by the high price of liquefied petroleum gas as well as the necessity to generate revenue and jobs for the state and university. The discovery would benefit the ecosystem, she continued.

The project was inspected by other members of the state’s Scientific Research and Technology Development Committee under the direction of Prof. Francis Sikoki, the Vice-Chancellor of UAT and Acting Chairman of BYEDTF.

According to Sikoki, BYEDTF awarded funds to a few researchers at postsecondary institutions operated by Bayelsa in 2024. He said the biogas project was excellent.

According to Sikoki, BYEDTF is dedicated to funding research that solves problems and is commercially feasible.

Chief Evelyn Adombazi, the chairman of the Scientific Research and Technology Development Committee, had earlier stated that the BYEDTF made a wise choice in providing financing for the study.

She urged the researcher to refine the project so that the majority of residents could obtain the gas.

The group also examined the status of other initiatives supported by the BYEDTF, including the Separation of Cyanide from Environmental Waste project and the Bayelsa Larvae Project.

NAN