The conference is to assess the results of the phase II of the project "Production of small scale electricity from biogas" in some central provinces, conducted by the air engine researching team of the University of Da Nang (UD) with the support of Toyota Motor Vietnam (TMV) through the Go Green program.

In 2008-2009, the project installed 25 generator sets in five Northern and Central provinces of Vietnam with the total implementation cost of VND 353 million. The next stage in 2009-2010, 500 additional sets will be installed in the whole country. The total cost for the next stage is VND 500 million and TMV has funded half of the cost.

"Production of small-scale electricity from biogas" is the scientific project researched by professor - doctor of science Bui Van Ga, former director of UD, Deputy Minister of Education and Training. Based on results of the research on clean fuels changing model for combustion engines which use gasoline, he and his colleagues at the UD has successfully manufactured GATEC to install for diesel engine machines to switch to biogas. Professor, Doctor of science Bui Van Ga said: "Currently, the oil reserves of the world are depleting and prices of the product are increasing.

According to calculations of scientists, electrical energy produced from biogas is 20 times higher than the hydro-electric energy but it has been much untapped. In the future, if we focus on the use of different technologies to produce biogas and convert it into electricity or use it for other purposes, it will bring practical results. This type of alternative fuel is energy saving, cost effective and contributes to environment protection."

With diesel generators which has been converted to biogas to generate electricity, the farmers have taken the initiative to power the lighting, water pumping, cooking and serving production, ... ; many farms have saved tens of million of VND per month. Dozens of farms and farmers' production facilities in the provinces of Thanh Hoa, Quang Binh, Da Nang, Quang Nam, Khanh Hoa, Ba Ria-Vung Tau have successfully applied this model. Based on the results achieved in Phase II, UD and Toyota Motor Vietnam have continued to expand the development and better support the biogas convertion needs of small generators in rural areas of Vietnam.

By Minh Duc