In Thailand, clean energy is in the pigsty
Good quality Voluntary Emission Reduction (VER) projects don’t just reduce CO2 emissions and help fight climate change; they can also change the lives of the local community for the better.
The SPM projects located in the Ratchaburi province of Thailand (South) are a great example. EcoSecurities and its clients are helping a group of four pig farms to successfully reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by installing high-rate anaerobic wastewater treatment reactors to capture methane gas from the degradation of pig waste.
These projects utilise technology developed by the Energy Research and Development Institute (ERDI) at Chiang Mai University in Northern Thailand. The projects commenced this year and are expected to continue for at least ten years. This will result in voluntary emission reductions (verified to the Voluntary Carbon Standard) of 258,100 tCO2 over this period.
The recovered methane is then used as a power source to further reduce emissions by displacing power drawn from Thailand’s national grid which is driven by fossil fuels. This is all good news for climate change and reducing harmful methane emissions. However, the projects are not just about the greenhouse gas emissions. Good emission reduction projects will also bring socio-economic benefits to the local community.
Good quality VER projects can create employment opportunities for the local community both during construction and also in operating the new technology. In the case of the SPM project, 50 people have been employed from the local community across the four farms. Meanwhile, the cables, transformers, and construction equipment were all procured from local businesses.
The SPM projects also enable the transfer of valuable knowledge and training which would otherwise
Wastewater is filtered before entering the digestor
not take place. The Energy Research and Development Institute (ERDI) trains the site employees on the installation, operation and maintenance of the biogas systems. This is knowledge the local community can adapt and use for the future.
SPM further improves local infrastructure since the end product of the treatment process is clean, irrigation standard water which is used by the adjoining communities.
These demonstrate how good quality emission reduction projects such as SPM really make a difference both in combating climate change and contributing to local communities’ sustainable development.
Details on more EcoSecurities projects are available on our website www.ecosecurities.com or alternatively contact Niall Thorburn or Claire Davey on +44 1865 202 635 or info@ecosecurities.com.