Renewable energy: a Thai village uses cow dung to light its homes!

Pa Deng is a village lost in the Thai jungle, it is not connected to the electricity grid so the villagers had to find alternative solutions, cow dung being one of them.

"At first, it was hard for us to believe that dung could be used as fuel," said Wisut Janprapai, one of the villagers of Pa Deng , who was given the idea by a Burmese friend.

But since then they have taken the plunge and are obtaining electricity with solar panels biogas tanks powered by dung.

They have become pioneers in ecology in the country and are now trying to export their idea to other rural communities.

Report on the Thai village that lights up with cow dung

The video has been deleted, in exchange here is a tour of the village:

Biogas: an economical and ecological source of energy

This energy source, in addition to being economical, is more ecological and more sustainable than burning wood and helps preserve the surrounding forest.

"It's not complicated, you just put the food and garbage inside. And then the gas comes in," explains Kosol Saengthong.

Today there are only a few villages that operate, like Pa Deng , with green energy , often villages in the same situation, not connected to the electricity network, and which have no other solutions.

Thailand moves towards renewable energy

Thailand is a leading investor in renewable energy , with plans to increase the share of clean fuels from 12% to 25% over the next five years.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) believes that the country could do much better, however, thanks to its sunshine and geographical position.

And Phirat Inphanich of the Energy Ministry acknowledges that the kingdom could make better use of its resources. "But it's not easy to change mentalities ," says the analyst, who has been making frequent trips around the country to encourage communities to turn to clean energy, following in Pa Deng .

The first time this village had electricity was thanks to solar panels provided by the government, about ten years ago.

But after a few years of use, the panels broke down and no one knew how to get them working again.

"So we decided to send our villagers to study so that we could repair them ," says Kosol, one of the village leaders.

Today, these villagers, who have become experts in solar panels and other green technologies, will share their knowledge with other villagers and explain to them how to produce energy while reducing their ecological footprint.

"I was surprised to see how friendly people were and how eager they were to share their knowledge with me. Now it's my turn to do it, to teach others," Kosol said at a recent seminar in the village.

But not everyone is joining: only a fifth of families in the Pa Deng region contribute to the network.

Some simply want more, laments Wisut Janprapai, who owns several solar panels powering a fan and a television as well as a stove connected to biogas .

Yet, "we don't need air conditioning or a refrigerator," he says, adding that Bangkok is unenviable. "There is no night there .

Source: www.lapresse.ca