Biogas

When food and plants rot, they give off a gas. This gas can be caught and used as fuel. It is called biogas. People use it for cooking, heating, and even running trucks and buses.

How Biogas Is Made

Biogas is made in a big tank called a digester. Farmers put in food scraps, animal poop, or old plants. Tiny germs called bacteria break down the waste without any air. As they eat, they give off gas. The tank catches this gas so people can use it later.

Why It Is Useful

Biogas helps in many ways. It turns smelly waste into something helpful. It gives families a clean fuel for cooking instead of wood. The leftover stuff in the tank can be used as rich fertilizer for crops. Biogas also helps the planet by keeping waste gases out of the air.

Fun Facts

• Biogas has been used in India and China for many years on small farms.
• One cow can make enough manure each year to power a biogas stove for a family.
• Some city buses in Sweden run on biogas made from food waste.

Did You Know?

Biogas is mostly made of a gas called methane, which is the same gas people use in home kitchens for cooking.