Argentina: Biogas

Creation - not for sale

Caring for the creation, a biogas in the city!

Young reformers: Liliam Dalinger, Rodrigo Niche

Church: Evangelical Church of the River Plate

Implementation period: July 2015-ongoing

How many people were involved? 3

How many people did you reach? 75

What did you aim at?

Reuse organic material
Obtain energy with the biodigester system

What did you achieve?

Learned how to operate the biodigester system
Experimented with different recycled organic materials to generate gas
Presented the project to the different districts of the Evangelical Church of Rio de la Plata (IERP).

What did you do?

We held meetings to decide what type of biodigester system was suitable for the project.
Purchased materials for the manufacturing of the biodigester system.
Manufactured and installed the biodigester and put it into use.
Presented the project to the different districts of the Evangelical Church of the River Plate (IERP).
Held an informative meeting with the church youth coordination team for the presentation and explanation of the realization of biodigester system in the church.

Interview with young reformers

What is the ongoing reformation you want to see in your church?: I would like to see a spiritual reformation in every person and in every heart in our church. The reformation should be to reflect on our path in God’s mission.
What has been the reaction of the project among the youth?: The reaction of the youth and youth leaders was very good and very positive. They were excited about how a biodigester system could help us take care of the environment and produce energy in an ecological way.
How has been the participation of the youth in the reformation project?: The youth leaders in our church who had the technical knowledge necessary for the project were interested in supporting the project and helped make it happen for the benefit of our church. Having a biodigester system installed in our church youth center in Crespo, Argentina helped in an ecological and pro-environment way. The biodigester project allowed the youth to learn about environment protection. We also had workshops in some parishes to teach about the biodigester and how other parishes could make a similar system.
What has been challenging about creating the project?: The biggest challenge was the coordination of the leading team, since the members were all contributing their time voluntarily. Also, once when we tested the biodigester it did not work as it should have, so we had to reinstall the system. The technical aspect was very challenging.
Did everything go as planned?: Everything went as we had planned with the leading team of the project. In this kind of project it was necessary to have an awareness campaign so people could understand why pro-environment actions are important. However, we did not think about how we could implement this project in Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay where our church also has parishes.
How do you see the continuity of the project?: It is possible to continue and it will be viable to have a biodigester in every community, church and even houses in rural and urban areas. We hope the church is interested in continuing to support this project, which especially benefits rural communities.