What is Biogas?

Biogas is generally considered the gaseous product of anaerobic digestion of organic materials. It doesn't really matter what the source is so long as it's organic; for example, you can create biogas by fermenting anything from cow, pig, or horse manure--to leaves, kitchen waste, or even human feces. The end result is a gaseous mix of mostly carbon dioxide and methane. The latter of these two gases, methane (CH4), makes up 60-70% of biogas and is generally what people would consider the biogas in this context.

Biogas, just as any energy source, has a wide variety of uses. It can be burned for cooking or heating, or converted to electricity.

Biogas is created in contraptions called digester or "biodigesters". Check out this biogas project in Costa Rica to get a better idea of how everyday peole are using biogas in their daily lives.