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Biogas, which can be piped into homes and used for cooking fuel, is generated during the anaerobic digestion process. Human waste generates relatively low volumes of biogas, but when combined with animal manure and crop residue (biomass), the production of biogas is enhanced. Communities of just a few houses and animal pens or large communities of up to as many as 200 families can connect to the system and begin realizing benefits almost immediately. In this case, the community is defined by the slope of the land and the ability for families to connect their wastewater outlets through plumbing. Utilizing energy production from wastewater reduces reliance on more traditional sources of cooking fuel, and it burns cleaner too!

Biogas generally refers to the gases produced from the microbiological breakdown of organic materials under anaerobic conditions. While biogas contains a host of different gases, it is the methane that contains the majority of the energy that can be captured for direct use in heating, or converted to electricity through a biogas generator.