Alston High School Launches Bio-Digester System

The Alston High School in North West Clarendon, has officially launched its bio-digester system, which will convert waste from the school’s pig farm into useful, environmentally-friendly energy.
The bio-digester was constructed for the institution by the Scientific Research Council (SRC), through funding from the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Minister of State for Industry, Investment and Commerce, Micheal Stern, in his remarks at the launch held recently at the school, said that the use of bio-gas digesters and similar mechanisms, designed to reduce the cost of energy, was prevalent in Europe and North America, where people were becoming increasingly creative in harnessing readily available materials, to provide alternative forms of energy.
He said Jamaica, like many of these countries, should begin to explore the variety of ways in which innovations of this nature could serve to create jobs, entrepreneurial opportunities, and cheaper and more efficient methods of coping in these harsh economic times.
“We, in Jamaica, have a lot of waste, and we can use this waste just like some European countries have done. Many communities in Europe are doing bio-gas production already and it is .creating jobs, it’s making them far more efficient at what they are doing,” he stated.
He urged the school to use the bio-digester system as a learning tool for children and “to make sure the community understands that the waste can be converted into something that will lessen the cost of the domestic use of energy, and out of it, can come bio-gas community projects. This is of economic value to a place like Alston.”
Mr. Stern further expressed the hope that both students and persons from the community would seek to become involved in the construction of bio-gas digesters on a commercially viable scale.
Principal of the school, Headley Cross said that the bio-digester, which was the first of its kind in that part of the parish, would be of benefit to both the institution and the community, in terms of helping to reduce energy cost and generate income.
Initially, the gas produced will be used in the canteen, the home economics department and the science laboratory. In addition to bio-gas, organic fertiliser and treated water for irrigation purposes will also be derived.