Africa’s Masai tribals turn slaughterhouse waste to biogas

A Masai-owned slaughterhouse in Kiserian, just outside Nairobi in Kenya, recycles blood from slaughtered animals and turns it into biogas. It has now packaged the biogas produced in modified cylinders and will make them available for sale to Masai households at half the price of LPG.

Masais, who are primarily cattle herders, sell their animals to the Keek Onyokie slaughterhouse in Kiserian. Keek Onyokie uses the waste blood to generate 200 cubic metres of biogas every day. Until recently, the slaughterhouse was using the biogas to generate electricity for its operations. They were also trying to find a way to package the biogas to use in cooking.

But the existing cylinders were not suitable for packaging. In a unique breakthrough, the slaughterhouse managed to fill and store biogas in discarded car tyres. While this method was efficient, the tyres couldn’t hold enough gas for cooking.

With assistance from Kenya's Climate Innovation Center (CIC), an organisation supported by the World Bank's infoDev, the slaughterhouse modified the design of gas cans and has now managed to make portable cooking gas available for sale. It has patented this innovation and intends to sell at least 100 cans every day.

The availability of portable cooking gas is expected to reduce the use of firewood and charcoal and help conserve the bushland of the Masais.