SHS biogas project to be completed by December
Work on the construction of septic tanks to provide biogas for senior high schools (SHS) in the Greater Accra Region is progressing steadily.
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The facility, which is expected to be completed before the end of the year, is aimed at generating biogas for cooking and powering office machines used in the schools.
Briefing the media after a tour of some selected SHS in Accra yesterday, the Minister of the Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Mr Mahama Ayariga, said the move was part of a national programme to provide alternative energy for government institutions.
Biogas is obtained from organic matter which includes all kinds of waste that does contain chemicals such as those from agriculture, household, industry, hospitals and hotels which create a nuisance when left unattended to and are therefore discarded.
Organic matter includes all kinds of organic waste from agriculture, household, industry, municipal, hospital and hotels among others, which create a nuisance when left unattended to and are therefore discarded.
This means that all the organic matter which forms part of the waste generated by people in their normal human activities, accumulated and or hauled daily in trucks either in their solid or liquid form to be disposed of constitutes a huge source of raw materials.
Some of the schools the minister toured were the Accra Girls, Presbyterian SHS at Legon, and St John’s Grammar.
With the exception of Accra Girls SHS, where a hole had been dug, the remaining schools had already begun concreting the floor to begin the installation of the septic tanks to collect their organic wastes.
Some heads of schools were busily supervising and monitoring work to ensure the standard and specifications were adhered to.
Government’s plans
Mr Ayariga said the construction of the biogas plant facility was in compliance with the directive of President John Mahama to ensure that second cycle institutions in all the 10 regions constructed septic systems to generate power to augment the current energy supply.
He pointed out that the gas generated from the biogas could also be used to power automobiles, adding that “We want to promote biogas as a technology”.
Mr Ayariga said the Ministry was undertaking the project in conjunction with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and the Ministry of Education.
“This is appropriate because of the enormous benefits that biogas development and operations can bestow on Ghana,” Mr Ayariga said.
Headmistress
The Headmistress of Presbyterian SHS, Mrs Queene Asiedu-Akrofi, commended the government for the project, saying that “this will help reduce expenses in running the school”.
“We have about 1700 students at Presec Legon and depending on the calculations, the school could save more money to manage the school,” she said.
