13 October 2011: The World Bank’s Nepal Biogas Program has successfully generated 92,000 Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) from biogas projects, with added benefits in terms of social development and health.

Through the installation of easy-to-operate biogas plants, 225,000 families in Nepal living in remote and isolated areas will generate about 170,000 carbon credits per year, reducing emissions and deforestation, while relieving women from the arduous task of collecting firewood and reducing respiratory illnesses due to indoor smoke. The World Bank program mainly targets isolated and socially marginalized groups in rural Nepal who can’t access or afford to use modern cooking fuels and had previously been buying kerosene or charcoal, or collecting firewood. It took four years to successfully verify and certify the CERs due to the fragmented and remote locations where the biogas plants are located. Evaluation of the program shows that 5 years after installation, more than 95% of the plants are operating smoothly, illustrating the robustness of technologies, program design and implementation.

The World Bank’s Community Development Carbon Fund committed US$7 million to the program to purchase the carbon credits that it generates, and a US$5 million grant was provided by GPOBA (the Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid, a partnership program administered by the World Bank) to subsidize the construction of the biogas plants. [World Bank Blogs]