China’s rapid economic growth has provided a rapid rise in
living standards for much of its population. It has also
produced a rapid rise in deforestation, soil erosion and
pollution as wood and coal are burnt to fuel the growth. In
Shaanxi province in the west of the country, the government has
restricted tree-felling and encouraged farmers to plant trees
and keep pigs. And it is the pigs that are delivering the bacon.
Or to be more precise, the slurry that is converted in to biogas
for the stoves in many homes across the province. The idea is
not new of course, but it needed promotion and an infrastructure
of installation and support. Shaanxi Mothers’ Environmental
Protection Volunteer Association, China provided that network.
Set up in 1997 as an NGO to raise money to plant trees they are
another example of how solutions to problems evolve. With pig
manure widely available and biogas plants already manufactured
in China, the Shaanxi Mothers seized their opportunity, training
technicians and villagers in in