Petroleum price rally spurs search for clean energy

James Mungai has just finished cleaning the cow shed that houses his three dairy cows.

The fresh green slurry manure sitting in a concrete mixing tank is ready to be fed into a biogas digester.

“We no longer buy gas for cooking,” the Kiambu Road-based dairy farmer, on the outskirts of Nairobi, says as he opens a big tap to let out the slurry into the digester.

“We mix the manure using a one-to-one water to manure ratio and as the gas is produced in the digester the older substrate comes out using that outlet,” he says, pointing to a concrete outlet.

Mr Mungai is one of a new army of farmers who have embraced alternative energy sources as the cost of fuel continues to rise.

It is also a good answer to food security as the manure is used to enrich farmland.

“The manure is excellent and does not even smell foul. It will be taken to the nappier grass shamba tomorrow,” he says with a big smile on his face.

“If you accidentally left the gas on and lit a match stick, it will not explode because the methane in it readily mixes with air,” he adds.

Mr Mungai’s is one of the families that are embracing alternative technology in an effort to save on rising firewood, charcoal, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) costs.

Growing awareness of the benefits of alternative energy and increased availability of technology that helps generate clean fuel have pushed up demand and created revenue for some firms.

Companies dealing in biogas equipment, energy saving jikos, and light emitting diode (LED) solar lanterns are doing brisk business as more individuals and institutions turn to these technologies.

According to data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, between June 2009 and June 2010 kerosene prices rose by 13 per cent from Sh58 to Sh65 per litre, while the price of a 13 kilogramme cylinder of LPG rose by 11 per cent from Sh1,915 to Sh2,121.

In Nairobi, charcoal prices have risen from Sh600 per sack last year to between Sh800 and Sh1,000 this year.

Kerosene and LPG prices have increased at the same rate as diesel and petrol prices that have gone up 13 and 10 per cent respectively over the same period due to increased global demand and depreciation of the shilling.

As a result, the price of kerosene has increased from an average of $83 per litre in January to $93 by April per barrel. The average price today is about $86 per barrel.