A researcher at the Bayelsa Government-owned University of Africa, Toru-Orua (UAT), Dr Faith Ogbole, has developed a plant for converting waste to methane gas or biogas which serves as cooking gas.
The feat followed Ogbole’s year-long research funded by the Bayelsa Government through the Bayelsa State Education Development Trust Fund (BYEDTF).
The breakthrough aids in waste management, job creation and provision of affordable cooking gas.
Ogbole demonstrated the research findings when officials of BYEDTF visited the University of Africa Toru-Orua in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa, on Friday, February 7, 2025.
She thanked BYEDTF for funding the project – production and purification of methane gas from sceptic tanks and other environmental wastes such as plantain peals, animal dung and grasses.
Ogbole said that the plant was locally fabricated.
She said that it would accept waste of all kinds, grind and pour them into a specially built air-tight tank to generate gas.
According to her, the gas is then passed through a purifier and ends as methane gas for cooking, among other uses.
She said that the high cost of Liquefied Petroleum Gas and the need to create jobs and wealth for the university and the state, propelled her work.
She added that the the discovery would improve the environment.
The Vice-Chancellor of UAT and Acting Chairman of BYEDTF, Prof. Francis Sikoki, led other members of the state’s Scientific Research and Technology Development Committee to inspect the project.
Sikoki said that BYEDTF, in 2024, gave grants to some researchers in Bayelsa-owned tertiary institutions.
He described the biogas project as outstanding.
Sikoki said that BYEDTF was committed to supporting commercially viable and problem-solving research.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Scientific Research and Technology Development Committee, Chief Evelyn Adombazi, said the BYEDTF took a good decision in funding the research.
She encouraged the researcher to improve on the project to make the gas accessible by most homes.
The team also inspected the progress of other BYEDTF-funded projects such as the Bayelsa Larvae Project and the Separation of Cyanide from Environmental Waste project.
By Nathan Nwakamma