• Biogas Technology
• BIRU Partnership

1. What is Domestic Biogas?

Domestic biogas (BIRU) is one of the uses of clean energy technology that functions to convert animal waste, human waste, and other organic matter into biogas. Household consumption of biogas is used as a source of clean energy for cooking, lamps for lighting, and a source of organic fertilizers (from biogas waste).

There are six main parts of domestic biogas, namely:

2. What are the types of Domestic Biogas technology

There are two types of domestic biogas technology (BIRU): fixed-dome or concrete dome and mini home biogas (BIOMIRU). Both have different raw materials and shapes. What distinguishes the most is the raw material, namely if the fixed-dome or concrete dome is made from animal waste. In contrast, Biogas Mini Home (BIOMIRU) is made from kitchen waste. It is also distinguished from the building material; if the fixed-dome is made of concrete, the Biogas Mini Home is made of PE (Polyethylene).

Fixed-dome
Fixed-dome biogas technology is a biogas reactor technology in the form of a concrete dome. This concrete dome can convert organic waste, such as livestock manure, human manure, and other organic matter into biogas.

Resembling its name, this fixed-dome is a dome made of brick and concrete but buried underground and designed to be planted below ground level to avoid possible physical damage and save space. This fixed-dome can last up to 15 years, accompanied by a 1-year guarantee from Yayasan Rumah Energi. This concrete dome refers to SNI 7927: 2013 and home biogas design, which refers to SNI 7826: 2012.

BIOMIRU (Home Mini Biogas)
Meanwhile, Biogas Mini Home (BIOMIRU) is Rumah Energi’s newest product innovation for urban people. Suppose fixed-dome biogas products or concrete domes generally require a lot of space to build reactor installations and animal manure as raw material for energy fuel as well as heavier materials. In that case, BIOMIRU comes with a size for limited land and biogas fuel raw materials from organic kitchen waste with a lighter but stronger material, namely PE (Polyethylene).

BIOMIRU is here to provide solutions for urban people who want to choose daily energy sources, especially for cooking. If biogas is known as renewable energy that requires a large amount of livestock manure as raw material, then BIOMIRU focuses on managing kitchen waste so that it does not become a problem and returning it to the kitchen again. In addition, the land needed to build this reactor is not as large as a biogas reactor, which only requires 2-6 m2 of land.

3. How does BIOMIRU work?

Here are some steps to treat organic kitchen waste back to the kitchen through mini home biogas technology (BIOMIRU):

4. What benefits do you get when using BIOMIRU?

5. What is the BIRU Program?

The Domestic Biogas Program (BIRU) is a multi-stakeholder program initiated by HIVOS in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) in 2009 and then implemented by the Yayasan Rumah Energi in 2012. The BIRU program is a program that aims to disseminate renewable energy programs through the use of biogas as a clean energy source for cooking and the use of bio-slurry (biogas waste) as a natural fertilizer.

6. How does biogas work?

The manure and water mixture (which mixes in the inlet or mixing tank) flows through a dome pipeline. The mixture then produces gas after going through the digestion process in the reactor. The resulting gas is then stored in the gas storage chamber (the top of the dome).

The fermented manure is drained out of the dome to the outlet. This waste is called bio-slurry. It will flow out through the overflow outlet to the slurry collecting hole. The gas produced in the dome then flows into the kitchen through pipes. The Indonesian Biogas Development Model generally consists of the following parts:
1) Inlet (mixing tank)
2) Inlet pipe (adaptable to be connected to the toilet)
3) Digester
4) Gas Storage (Dome)
5) Manhole
6) Outlet & Overflow
7) Main Gas Pipe
8) Main Gas Valve
9) Pipeline
10) Water Drain
11) Pressure Gauge
12) Gas Tap
13) Gas stove with a rubber hose pipe
14) Lights (optional)
15) Bio-slurry pit

7. What raw materials are used for biogas?

In principle, the raw materials that can be used for biogas are organic waste, which is capable of producing methane gas. These include animals (cows, pigs, poultry), humans, and organic and kitchen waste.

8. Where does the BIRU program run?

Since it started in May 2009 to December 2019, it was noted that the BIRU program had built 24,769 biogas reactors in 12 provinces in Indonesia, namely Lampung, West Java, DKI Jakarta, Banten, Central Java, D.I. Yogyakarta, East Java, South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, and East Nusa Tenggara (Sumba). The development of the BIRU program is still ongoing today, involving multi-parties.

9. Who needs biogas?

Apart from producing energy from livestock manure and organic kitchen waste, bio-slurry can also be used as fertilizer. With this advantage, biogas is explicitly required for breeders or breeders as well as farmers in order to be able to produce zero waste. In addition, users will also reduce the health risks generated by traditional fuels, which are classified as high-polluting energy.

Also, with the existence of Biogas Mini Home Products (BIOMIRU), urban people can also access biogas by utilizing the organic kitchen waste they produce every day. In particular, urban communities who need energy cost-saving strategies or who need access to clean energy.

10. What is Bio-Slurry?

Bio-slurry is the waste or final waste of biogas in which gas can no longer be taken to produce biogas. Even though it is referred to as pulp, bio-slurry still has many nutrients that are beneficial to the soil. Therefore, bio-slurry can be used as a natural fertilizer.

11. How do I get bio-slurry?

To obtain bio-slurry, you must first use biogas, considering that bio-slurry is the waste or final waste of biogas. So, if you have used biogas, you can get bio-slurry at no additional cost.

12. What are the types of bio-slurry?

If you look at the creation process, namely through biogas fermentation, two types of bio-slurry are created. Namely, solid and liquid bio-slurry. These types of differences do not differentiate between the types of nutrients contained in the bio-slurry, only the composition of the mixture between water and dregs.

13. How do you use bio-slurry?

There are two types of bio-slurry that can be used for fertilizer. These differences differentiate the way they are used. Among others:

Solid or dry bio-slurry

The right time to use bio-slurry is when cultivating the soil for the first time before planting. You do this by mixing the soil with bio-slurry. In addition, bio-slurry mixing can also be done in the middle of the growing season. For the use of solid bio-slurry, it is better to dry it first for about 40 days in direct sunThe use of solid bio-slurry can be applied as a fertilizer or mixed into the soil when processing it for the first time. In addition, it can also be done by mixing it in the mulch hole.

For solid bio-slurry, it can also be used as a mixture for non-cattle animal feed such as poultry and pork. Some of the ammonia nitrogen in the bio-slurry can be processed by the growing bacterial biomass to be converted into amino acids. In addition, during the fermentation process, the bio-slurry is able to produce vitamin B12, which is suitable for livestock development.

Liquid or wet bio-slurry

Apart from being used as fertilizer, wet bio-slurry can be used for pesticides. How to use it is easy; you can pour it on the part of the land that is planted regularly. To get liquid bio-slurry, you need to mix it with water. The mixing ratio can be 1: 1 or 1: 2.

However, before use, the liquid bio-slurry that has just come out of the outlet is good to be deposited for one week. This deposition process is useful for removing gases that are not needed by plants and soil.

14. What benefits do you get from using bio-slurry?

• Able to repair damaged soil structure
• Able to be a natural pesticide
• As additional nutrition for animal feed, ammonia nitrogen contained in bio-slurry, due to the fermentation of biogas, is able to be digested into amino acids and vitamin B12, which are good for the development of non-cattle livestock such as poultry and pigs.
• Save on crop and livestock maintenance costs.
• Also, reduce the problem of household waste.

15. How does the BIRU program by Rumah Energi work?

16. What is needed for biogas development?

To build biogas requires the amount of livestock (cattle, buffalo, pigs, and poultry), which can produce at least 15 kg of manure per day and have at least 2m3 of land for biogas development. Or if you use BIOMIRU, you need 650 liters of organic kitchen waste for the smallest digester.

17. Can urban people (not owning livestock) use biogas?

Of course, I can. City people are also faced with the problem of kitchen waste that is produced every day. BIOMIRU is here to answer this problem.

18. What is the specification of domestic biogas technology?

Fixed-dome

The BIRU program develops household-scale biogas designs that refer to SNI standards. 7826: 2012, which regulates the procedure for the construction of a fixed dome digestion tank of concrete, while for the installation of the biogas network refers to SNI. 7927: 2013.

The design of household-scale biogas sizes ranging from 2 m3 to 12 m3 can be seen in the following table:

BIOMIRU

Besides having less land, BIOMIRU construction also requires less amount of kitchen waste as a raw material when using biogas. The amount of waste as raw material follows how big the tank you need. The following is a calculation of the specifications needed to build BIOMIRU.

• Land area for Biomiru development: 2m2 – 6m2
• Material: water reservoir made of polyethylene (PE) and PVC pipe
• Digester capacity: 650lt, 1,000lt, 2,000lt

19. What are BIRU installation materials made of?

The biogas installation material consists of 2 types, namely polyethylene (PE) for BIOMIRU and concrete (fixed-dome). Construction materials include sand, bricks, pipes, and cement.

20. How long does it take to build a biogas plant?

PE materials require two days to build and 6 to 12 days for concrete.

21. How much is the construction price of a biogas plant?

Materials, builders’ wages, prices adjust the availability of materials and costs of workers on site. Please contact the Rumah Energi team closest to you in 5 (five) provinces. Read more: http://www.rumahenergi.org/contact- us

We also have several funding programs with 0% credit services to make it easier for potential users. More (link to partners section)

22. Can biogas be built for use together / in groups?

The BIRU program only provides incentives to families, not groups. The reactor is recommended for individual household use so that the person responsible for maintenance is exact. In large reactors, additional connecting pipes to other households are allowed, provided a prior agreement with the registered biogas owner

23. How to register a biogas development?

You can visit the BIRU website www.biru.or.id or Rumah Energi www.rumahenergi.org or say hello to Rumah Energi on various social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, and Instagram) or call the Rumah Energi hotline +62 812-8030- 2020.

24. What is the relationship between biogas and the climate crisis?

In addition to waste utilization, building biogas will also contribute to environmental conservation, reducing CO2 gas (carbon dioxide) released in the air. According to the 2019 Biogas User Survey, at least per reactor contributes to reducing gas emissions by 2.6 tons of CO2e per year.

25. How much is the biogas saving compared to other resources?

Based on the February 2019 Biogas User Survey data, biogas saves around 12kg / month of 3 kg LPG cylinders, 14.6 liters/month of kerosene, and 5.4 kg/month of firewood.

26. What is the role of the BIRU program in women’s empowerment programs?
The leading implementer of the program, Yayasan Rumah Energi (YRE), encourages women’s emancipation and empowerment to achieve gender equality at all levels of society. Ensuring access and control over material resources and benefits leads to increased women’s temporal position and authority over non-sources and benefits. -materials such as participation in training, which encourages increased capacity, expression, and self-esteem of women.

YRE ensures women’s involvement in the decision-making process. YRE ensures that both partners sign the BIRU reactor construction agreement, providing equal access for men and women to certified construction training (target 10% of masons are women), bio-slurry management, and training in use and maintenance for BIRU users. YRE also provides access to micro-scale funding and the opportunity to earn additional income by utilizing biogas / bio-slurry.