The Bhutan Ecological Society signed a Large Grant Agreement of Nu 15 M with the Bhutan Trust Fund for a project called ‘Bio-Waste to Biogas and Bio-Fertiliser Conversion Plant’, yesterday. According to the project summary, the project is a solution to the ever-growing waste issue in the country and will establish a sustainable and integrated system for converting bio-waste into biogas and bio-fertilisers.
At the grant signing event, representatives from the Bhutan Trust Fund shared their optimism about the project’s potential impact.
“This project is going to help us reduce the import of LPG gas from India and it is also expected to reduce greenhouse emissions in Bhutan. It is also expected to help in environmental conservation in the long run, which meets the environmental conservation mandate of the Bhutan Trust Fund,” said Phuntsho Choden, programme officer of Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation.
According to the project summary submitted to the Bhutan Trust Fund by the Bhutan Ecological Society, the construction of the 20-tonnes per day commercial biogas facility on the outskirts of Thimphu hopes to provide a new way of waste management practice in the capital region.
The project aims to divert almost 7,000 tonnes of organic waste from landfills annually. In addition, the project hopes to significantly reduce imports of LPG cylinders from India by supplying 250 tonnes of biogas annually.
Every year, the project also aims to produce around 800 metric tonnes of high-quality organic fertiliser and reduce the country’s dependency on imported fertilisers.
The commercial operation of the project is expected to start in February 2025.
Karma Samten Wangda
Edited by Sherub Dorji
