{
  "id": 834709,
  "title": "South Africa school uses cattle dung to generate biogas for cooking meals",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/14/south-africa-school-uses-cattle-dung-to-generate-biogas-for-cooking",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-14T02:45:18.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Mongabay",
    "slug": "mongabay",
    "url": "https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/south-africa-school-uses-cattle-dung-to-generate-biogas-for-cooking-meals/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "At Tiyani Secondary School in South Africa’s Limpopo province, women preparing meals for over 1,000 students no longer solely depend on firewood for cooking. Biogas generated from cattle dung sourced from Tiyani village powers much of the culinary process. This community-driven initiative could alleviate pressure on forests and decrease greenhouse gas emissions, according to experts. The pilot program, initiated in 2022 with support from the University of Venda, involves four community volunteers who collect cattle dung from nearby households using an ox-drawn cart every weekday. The manure is mixed with water and fed into a biogas converter digester, an airtight container where microbes transform it into methane-rich biogas. The gas is piped directly to the school kitchen, fueling the preparation of breakfast and lunch for the school’s 1,054 learners. When there's insufficient cow dung, the school compensates with firewood. Community project manager Fosta Chavalala expressed surprise that waste could become a source of energy, stating the team's hope to expand the project to rely more on gas than firewood in the future. Biogas Research team head David Tinarwo explained in a March 2025 ReSource magazine article that the project aims to reduce firewood dependence while utilizing livestock waste productively. The demand for firewood was putting pressure on local trees, and the article continues.",
  "summary": "Women preparing meals for more than 1,000 students at Tiyani Secondary School in South Africa’s Limpopo province no longer rely only on firewood. Instead, much of the cooking is powered by biogas generated from cattle dung collected from Tiyani village. This community-led project could reduce pressure on forests while cutting greenhouse gas emissions, experts say. […]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}