Yesterday, COAM team accompanied by the Programme Manager of BORDA NGO visited the home of Mr. Sha Mohammed, the bio-gas inventor of Lala – Khil village in the Koh-e-Baba mountains, Bamyan.

Mr. Sha Mohammed is a unique and inspiring man. He heard about biogas technology from a friend in Kundus and made it his mission to bring it to Bamyan covering all costs and expenses himself.

Mr. Sha Mohammed and his biogas unit.

People in the community thought I was a mad man, but now they are all coming and want to learn how to build something like this.

-Mr. Sha Mohammed

Biogas is produced through the breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen, which is referred to as anaerobic digestion. Biogas provides a non-polluting and renewable source of energy, it saves fuels consumption, it reduces the time it takes for women and children spend collecting fuel for cooking and it produces a by-product of rich organic fertiliser.

“I want everyone in Bamyan to have access to this technology, it is good for the women and the children and is really sustainable for the future”

-Mr. Sha Mohammed.

BORDA advises and facilitates projects in the sectors of decentralised sanitation, wastewater treatment, water and energy supply, and solid waste disposal in Asia and Africa and has over 30 years of experience and is part of a network of international research and development organisations (http://www.borda-afg.org). COAM Design Team is now in discussions about what we can do to help promote this valuable technology in the Central Highlands of Afghanistan.