India and its energy fact file
\n\u00b7 population 1.2 billion
\n\u00b7 Access to electricity : urban areas = 93% of people; rural areas =
\n50%
\n\u00b7 About 400 million Indians don\u2019t have any access to electricity at all<\/p>\n
Development project
\nASTRA stands for the Application of Science and Technology in Rural Areas, and has been a major development project in India. Its researchers visited villages to
\nfind out about rural people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n
Problems
\n\u00b7 They found that most rural families spent hours doing routine things like collecting fuel and water, and preparing and cooking food
\n\u00b7 The most commonly used fuel was wood, but, with an increasing population, suitable firewood was becoming scarcer. So dried cow dung was often burnt instead
\n\u00b7 Women and girls did most of the domestic work, which left little time for helping in the fields, or for school<\/p>\n
The solution
\nCow dung! Instead of just burning the dung like wood, it can be used to produce BIOGAS. This gas can then be used for cooking and powering electricity generators.<\/p>\n
Benefits
\nBiogas has brought a range of benefits:
\n\u00b7 Women and children gain 2 hours a day, because they don\u2019t have to collect firewood. So children have more time to go to school
\n\u00b7 About 80% of families use this time to earn extra money
\n\u00b7 The slurry that\u2019s left after fermentation is used to increase crop yields, because it\u2019s high in nutrients
\n\u00b7 Cattle are kept in compounds to make collecting the dung easier. So they don\u2019t graze in the forest and eat all of the vegetation
\n\u00b7 Many villages use the biogas to power electricity generators. These generators can be used to pump water up from boreholes for domestic use and to irrigate crops, as
\nwell as generate electricity for light<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"