The importance of cattle in biogas production

The Indian livestock produce an enormous amount of dung which can be put into proper use for the purpose of harnessing energy. The dung of cattle undergoes putrefaction in the normal course by decaying bacteria and releases a gas. Researchers have shown that this gas can be used for the same purposes as natural gas.

Popularly called gobar gas or biogas, the gas obtained from the dung of cattle can virtually create an energy revolution in rural India. An estimate shows that the average annual pro­duction of cattle dung in our country exceeds 1,500 million tonnes. Even if a small quantity of this is used for the purpose of biogas production it will solve the entire energy problem of rural India.