The biogas programme in Vietnam assisted by the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) has won for the Energy Globe Award. Since 2003, the programme has provided 25,000 Vietnamese families with cooking facilities, lighting and a toilet. It is being implemented by the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in collaboration with the SNV and is being co-financed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The biogas programme has been selected from among 700 projects competing for the prestigious Energy Globe Award. The winner was announced at a ceremony in the European Parliament building in Brussels on Wednesday 11 April. The prize was presented by Hans-Gert Pöttering, President of the European Parliament. The Energy Globe Award enjoys the support of the United Nations and several leading European energy organisations.

Any family with at least two cows or four pigs can run a simple biogas plant. The family toilet can often also be connected to it. Such a plant – the last word in sustainability – will generate enough gas to power a stove and a lamp. The cost of a biogas plant, between 300 and 400 euros, can be recouped within a few years through savings on firewood, and the rest can still be used as manure. What is more, biogas is a clean cooking fuel, unlike firewood. Research by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has shown that 1.6 million people die every year owing to fuel fumes and poor indoor ventilation. The biogas programme is also creating much employment in rural Vietnam.

The Netherlands is committed to improving access to modern energy in developing countries and has undertaken to extend such access to 10 million people by 2015. The SNV’s biogas programme is helping achieve this objective by making plants available to 1.3 million people in Asia.