Bangna Starch Wastewater Treatment and Biogas Utilization Project

Published 2019-01-17 by Kalle Nilvér

Updated at 2025-10-28

We have now offset another 15 000 ton CO2eq in another CDM and Gold Standard certified project! A big thank you to all our more than 2300 users for making this possible!

The Bangna Starch Wastewater Treatment and Biogas Utilization Project takes care of harmful and odorous methane emissions from wastewater. The methane have been cleverly repurposed to generate biogas energy at a Cassava starch plant in the Kalasin Province. This has greatly improved the air quality in the area, and created new training and job opportunities for local workers.

Embedded in the forests at the foot of the Phu Pan hills, the Kalasin Province region is typified by agriculture. The growth and processing of Cassava starch is a huge aspect of the economy here. However these starch processing factories place significant strain on the environment, requiring a high demand of water for washing the cassava, with pungently odoured methane emissions and high fossil fuel reliance. The Bangna Biogas Project neatly addresses all of these environmental issues by replacing the old cascading open anaerobic lagoon treatment system with a modern Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactor system. It captures biogas from plant wastewater that would have previously been emitted into the atmosphere, instead using it to replace fossil fuels to generate electricity which is then exported to the national grid. In addition to this, the treated wastewater can now be recycled and used for cleaning the cassava, which saves many tonnes of fresh water per day.

For the local community, the air quality has improved vastly, special training opportunities have been provided and several permanent jobs created to operate and maintain the biogas facilities.

UN Sustainable Development Goals that the project also contributes to: