Cameroon: Biogas Plant Project to Cut Carbon Emission for 21 Years

A biogas plant has been constructed by the Hygiene and Sanitation Company of Cameroon (HYSACAM) at its waste disposal site at Nkolfoulou, Yaoundé.

The plant is expected to cut down on carbon emissions, a move which is in accordance with the provisions of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol.
Environment experts anticipate that in twenty-one years the Nkolfoulou biogas plant will cut the emission of about 1670 million tons of carbon.

For each ton of carbon reduced, the Yaoundé City Council is expected to pay FCFA 2,500 down from FCFA 9,840, thanks to aid from the Clean Development Mechanism project. Above all, Yaoundé city dwellers will be spared of health hazards related to poor waste disposal. They have been sensitized to simply put all their domestic waste at the disposal points of HYSACAM on a daily basis for collection and subsequent fermentation. It is during the breakdown process, biogas is produced.

Cameroon’s Minister of Environment and Protection of Nature, Hele Pierre has lauded the initiative by HYSACAM saying not only is the company disposing of waste that is a threat to the environment, it is also transforming it for better use.

HYSACAM’s General Manager Michel Ngapanoum says the biogas produced cannot be used for domestic cooking because it contains elements which are not friendly to human health but remains hopeful that with time that purpose could be fulfilled. The biogas project that has so far consumed FCFA 2 billion is expected to absorb another FCFA 1 billion. Close to 200 Cameroonians are employed by the project.

The Nkolfoulou household waste disposal site covers a surface area of 48 hectares. There are plans to construct another biogas plant in Cameroon’s economic capital Douala.