2009 Environment Award Laureate
Dr. Joseph Adelegan: Cows to Kilowatts
| Laureate Country: Nigeria |
| Project Countries: Nigeria (with replication in Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa) |
| Website: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/publications/africa_casestudies/kilowatts.pdf |
Dr. Joseph Adelegan's 'Cows to Kilowatts' project transforms slaughterhouse wastewater into energy-from electricity to cooking gas.
Slaughterhouses are a major source of water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Untreated wastewater enters local water sources, often carrying animal diseases that can be transferred to humans, while the anaerobic degradation of wastewater generates greenhouse gases.
Cows to Kilowatts is a zero-emissions, commercial-scale anaerobic fixed film reactor used to treat the waste stream from slaughterhouses. The project's biogas technology prevents water and air pollution at the same time it generates energy and organic fertilizer through nutrient recovery. The organic fertilizer and clean-burning methane produced by Cows to Kilowatts are sold to low-income farmers and poor families for farming and for use as cooking gas at a fraction of prevailing market prices.
