On July 19th, Bavarian based biogas design and engineering company Snow Leopard Projects (SLP) conducted a “German Biogas Training Day” at the occasion of this year’s Biogas Africa Forum in Nairobi, which was met with great interest. The 35 participants were trained by CEO Katharina Danner in subjects such as biogas plant structure, fermentation biology, plant operation, economic profitability and safety of commercial biogas plants. The training day was conducted in cooperation with the GIZ (German Society for International Cooperation) and the German Biogas Association.
The strong participation in the training day reflects the current significant demand of qualified professional education and know how in the African biogas sector. Most of the existing biogas plants in Africa are small scale and very simple constructions operated by one household or small farm. They usually produce biogas only for cooking. Therefore, people have little experience in the operation of high-tech industrial scale anaerobic digestion plants. The lack of knowledge extends from the basic biological fermentation processes to the practical handling of modern plant equipment and process automation systems.
Accordingly, the demand for further training courses is high. Particularly for women, the biogas sector offers interesting perspectives. WISEE (Women in Sustainable Energy and Entrepreneurship), for example, a Kenyan organisation of women engaging in Renewable Energies, seized the opportunity to propose their participation in a biogas workshop exclusively set up for women. These training courses are part of a comprehensive biogas curriculum that SLP has designed within a develoPPP.de-project funded by the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development and SEQUA, aiming at specific and at the same time broad-impact skill building for future biogas plant operators.
The strong participation in the training day reflects the current significant demand of qualified professional education and know how in the African biogas sector. Most of the existing biogas plants in Africa are small scale and very simple constructions operated by one household or small farm. They usually produce biogas only for cooking. Therefore, people have little experience in the operation of high-tech industrial scale anaerobic digestion plants. The lack of knowledge extends from the basic biological fermentation processes to the practical handling of modern plant equipment and process automation systems.
Accordingly, the demand for further training courses is high. Particularly for women, the biogas sector offers interesting perspectives. WISEE (Women in Sustainable Energy and Entrepreneurship), for example, a Kenyan organisation of women engaging in Renewable Energies, seized the opportunity to propose their participation in a biogas workshop exclusively set up for women. These training courses are part of a comprehensive biogas curriculum that SLP has designed within a develoPPP.de-project funded by the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development and SEQUA, aiming at specific and at the same time broad-impact skill building for future biogas plant operators.
