Biogas production in refugee camps: when sustainability increases safety and dignity

This paper describes a project implemented by Action Contre la Faim (ACF, a French Non-Governmental organisation) in a set of refugee camps in the vicinity of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The political situation of this population is quite complex and will not be discussed here but for the understanding of the reader we will present briefly the humanitarian context that can be summarised in a few words: WASH in these camps remains a challenge due to the lack of space available for the construction of new infrastructures. ACF tried several options for sanitation but none of them was fully satisfying until biogas reactors were tested and implemented. This technology is not often used in emergency situations such as refugee camps (Makhanu, Sibilike and Waswa, G.W., 2010), but in this case it helped to reduce the amount of sludge without using too much space in the camps as the reactors are buried underground.