Farmer uses biogas to heat poultry farm in Bhutan's Tsirang

Tsirang [Bhutan], February 19 (ANI): A commercial farmer in Tsirang San Man Subba has a unique way of using biogas. He has been using biogas to maintain room temperature on his 4,000-bird poultry farm in Bhutan's Tsirang, Bhutan Live reported.
Generally, biogas is used for cooking purposes but 38-year-old San Man Subba uses it to keep his poultry farm warm which has 4,000 birds, broilers and chicks.
Maintaining a huge farm like this is not energy efficient and San Man Subba had to pay hefty sums in electricity bills. But in June of last year, San Man decided to switch to biogas to maintain room temperature on his poultry farm, the Bhutan Live reported.
Making the best use of manure from his piggery and dairy farms, San Man Subba constructed a mega biogas plant. The plant is almost as deep as an Olympic swimming pool, which can easily sustain 7,000 birds, as per Bhutan Live.
"Last year, during one of the winter months, I had to pay around Nu 60,000 as an electricity bill. So, I had to think about an alternate way to warm up my poultry farm and reduce expenditure. So, in this way, I can use the amount saved for other purposes," said San Man while speaking to Bhutan Live.
However, owing to the size of his farm and the higher temperature requirement for chicks, he still had to rely on electricity this winter. Maintaining room temperature in a poultry farm is crucial for the development of chicks and to prevent them from dying.
"The required room temperature for chicks is around 32 degree Celsius but it was quite difficult to maintain the required temperature with biogas heating, especially during the peak winter season. So, I had to depend a little bit on electricity. But for adult birds, biogas heating is enough, since they require only around 18-20 degree Celsius," said San Man Subba.
San Man and his family depend heavily on biogas to prepare meals and to cook cow fodder.
The use of biogas saves his family about Nu 40,000 every month. San Man now plans to use biogas to heat his piggery farm in the coming months.
San Man also aims to refill LPG cylinders from his plant.
"If the government could support me in procuring a compressor machine, I plan to expand the existing biogas plant. This is because the plant has the potential to refill liquefied petroleum gas cylinders. This could at least help residents of Tsirang to refill LPG cylinders," San Man said while speaking to Bhutan Live.
Initiatives like San Man Subba's will go a long way in making Bhutan an energy-efficient country while giving hard-working farmers like him a decent income. (ANI)