Biomass energy: use of biodigesters in a rural reserve, articulated to community food processing.

The experience is located in the village of La Cuchilla, in the municipality of Lebrija, in the peasant and community reserve «Camino a La Tagua», declared in 2010 as a territory of life.

Before the implementation of the biodigester, the wastewater from washing the garages was discharged into the open without any treatment. This generated difficulties with the neighbors, the regional environmental authority and the municipal health secretary, who pressured the company to close the activity. 

With the energy school, it was possible to find a technological alternative to treat these wastes and generate energy autonomy. The biodigester was built in a minga-workshop with the participation of eighteen (18) people, including alternative energy promoters and community families.

This technological practice makes it possible to treat the wastewater generated by raising pigs and the biol (liquid effluent from the biodigester), which is used as a liquid fertilizer for cocoa, citrus and other agroforestry crops in the reserve.

The biodigester produces biogas, which is used in multiple processes such as: roasting cocoa, chocolate production, boiling water for chicken slaughtering and heating milk for the preparation of homemade yogurt. The sale and marketing of these products benefits a group of women and young people. 

The positive results of the experience motivated other families in the village and the women’s association to implement biodigesters as an alternative use of biomass energy. The young people have been trained in energy transition proposals and have evaluated other options for good living in the countryside.

Technical characteristics of the proposal

The system consists of a tubular plastic biodigester, which is fed with wastewater from a family pig farm and toilet water from the main house. The biodigester is 8 meters long and has a total capacity of 25 cubic meters.

The following process was used for its construction and assembly:

1. Selection of suitable land (near the garage and the house, stable land, where it receives solar radiation, and where water is gravity fed).
2. Design of the assembly, according to the requirements: water channeling, construction of the pit, taking into account the length and dimensions of the plastic.
3. Cutting of the double-layer tubular plastic, installation of the valve for the biogas outlet, installation of the pipe for the sterilized water inlet and the biol outlet.
4. Installation of biogas outlet and filter, biogas pipeline connection to the micro food processing plant.
5. The animal breeding unit consists of 8 to 12 fattening pigs, which are fed with a portion of concentrate and alternative feed such as cassava, plantain, bore, whey, corn, husks from the kitchen and hoop or nacedero, all from the same farm.
6. The toilet in the house is used by six (6) people, and the wastewater is connected to the biodigester. In order to protect the biodigester, the toilet is washed without soap and cleaned to maintain active microbiological activity, and the biodigester is fed with molasses and yeast once (1) a month.
7. The biol (liquid effluent) is used to fertilize the cocoa, citrus and soursop trees of the farmers’ reserve, and is complemented with organic fertilizers produced by the organization through vermiculture.

Productive, community, environmental, or economic processes or activities that were positively impacted by the implementation of the community experience of TEJ.

The installation of the biodigester is linked to a process of peasant and community economy, with initiatives such as the raising of semi-colonial chickens, the production and processing of cocoa, and the processing of dairy products.

Through mingas with the committee’s families, bench terraces and vegetable gardens are built and plots are established with agroforestry systems. As an alternative to the water shortage, rainwater harvesting systems were built, which now allow the company to keep pigs, semi-breeding chickens and grow vegetables for self-consumption.

Also, in order to motivate the involvement of young people, we promote educational and cultural spaces such as the «Learning to Fly with Our Birds» school, which focuses on biodiversity monitoring, and artistic activities such as embroidery, thus strengthening the roots of the countryside and community processes.

There is adequate space for food processing; taking advantage of the biogas generated by the biodigester, as a group they are doing mingas to produce homemade chocolate, yogurt, cakes and bakery.

The products are marketed in the village, the Mercado Campesino del Buen Vivir, which is part of the rural-urban dialogue process led by the Colectivo de Reservas Campesinas y Comunitarias de Santander in the La Joya neighborhood, and the Mercado La Criolla in the La Ceiba neighborhood in the city of Bucaramanga.

Products are marketed directly to customers in the cities of Bucaramanga, Floridablanca and Lebrija. In the various marketing spaces, young people have participated in the process of production, sale and promotion of the products.

Women’s participation in the TEJ community experience

The La Cuchilla committee is part of the Municipal Association of Peasant Women of Lebrija, made up of a total of seventy (70) women and their families; one of the founders of Ammucale 24 years ago, who has become a promoter of the Collective of Reserves, in the area of gender and youth participation, is part of the process.

The generation of biogas by the biodigester allows food processing, an activity that boosts the participation of young people and women, and also gives  economic autonomy, as it is the women who plant, process, feed and sell in the farmers’ and solidarity markets.

In the community minga spaces and exchange of knowledge, the importance of overcoming gender inequality barriers is highlighted and the aim is to involve young women in the agroecological process and in training on energy transition.

Impact of the community experience of TEJ on public policy

Bureaucracy in Colombia and the lack of spaces for the participation of rural women and youth are barriers that are still in place and difficult to break down. The association has achieved a fluid dialogue with the municipal authorities, which motivates management alternatives to influence proposals for local economies.