South Africa’s waste and energy issues can seem impossibly large, especially when focusing on major metros. The larger metros are seen as epi-centres of the crisis and draw large portions of the available funding.

Thabo Mngomezulu, director of Kasi Gas, a biogas company, says, “I grew up in a rural area. I know firsthand how opportunities are passed over us in favour of funding projects in the cities.” For Mngomezulu, the neglect of rural areas is shortsighted and opposed to real notions of sustainability.

“I sum up this problem with this: If you drive to a village and you see a solar panel, it will be for a telecom tower. No one sees the land and thinks ‘solar farm,’ no one sees small-scale farmers as economic resources the way large-scale farmers are seen,” adds Mngomezulu.

He also says, “When government fails in large metros, the private sector is there to fill those needs or push the government to do what it is supposed to do. We need this spirit in rural areas, too. When we are not given proper waste removal, we need to turn to ourselves to find solutions. What I am finding is that people are very willing, and if enough is done to show these communities that they can change their communities and boost their livelihoods at the same time, then these neglected areas will become a hotspot for innovation and change.”

The challenges of rural life

Far away from city planning, rural communities are often left out of water, waste, and energy operations, instead relying on old methods of community management, which are at odds with the economic expectations placed on them. The rural communities that Mngomezulu seeks to work with comprise subsistence and small-scale farmers, labourers, micro-businesses, and families who are trying to make do with what they have. With no formalised waste management, rural communities are left out of recycling conversations and rely on local waste entrepreneurs rather than integration in larger systems of waste diversion.

On the energy front, Mngomezulu says, “The prime need and use of energy is for heating and cooking, not necessarily electricity. When we think of waste-to-energy as an initiative, we can put too much emphasis on adding electricity to the grid, but in these villages, there is no grid to speak of. People are heating their homes and using energy to cook for their families or businesses.”

Mngomezulu asserts that in rural areas, the main sources of energy come from wood, LP gas, and paraffin, all of which pose their own risks.

“The dangers of paraffin are well documented, LP gas can leak and lead to fires, and often, rural communities’ use of wood is unsustainable and inefficient.”

Biogas

One of the ways rural communities can get their heating and cooking needs met without the dangers, costs, and inefficiencies is through biogas. This gas consists of methane as opposed to the propane and butane of LP gas, which makes biogas less volatile, less explosive, and more efficient. Mngomezulu explains, “Compared to LP gas and paraffin, biogas is much safer, and as methane burns more efficiently than both, there is greater efficiency when using it for cooking and heating. Of course, there must still be safeguards against leaks, but comparatively it is much less dangerous.”

Biogas is also made through a process that is much more sustainable than wood farming and addresses waste within these communities. Organic waste is collected and put into anaerobic digestors, which produce gas and a rich fertiliser which can be used by small-scale and subsistence farmers.

Anaerobic digesters are also scalable, and in Mngomezulu’s case, this is where they become especially useful in rural areas.

“Having a massive digester that requires too much input is a liability in rural South Africa. Making these digesters smaller and manageable means that people can use and benefit from them daily without much interruption.”

While Mngomezulu says that securing funding for these smaller-scale projects is challenging, he hopes that his case will make way for more serious investment. In 2014, when he set out to make this project a reality, he ran into this problem, but his belief in this project led him to apply for the Mercedes-Benz Fellowship, where he was shortlisted to pitch and secure funding.

“When Kasi Gas was selected, it was very affirming; it showed me that my ideas and beliefs were worth investing in, and allowed Kasi Gas to get the funding it needed to run a pilot project. South Africa is very risk-averse, and investors like projects that are already proven, and now this was the opportunity to have a working model to show South Africa that rural investments are worth taking note of.” The location for the pilot project is near the village where Mngomezulu grew up in Mpumalanga.

Micro-franchising and community engagement

The model that Mngomezulu worked with in the pilot project was designed by South African company Agama and built to Kasi Gas’s specifications.

“We wanted something smaller, so we commissioned a one-tonne digester,” adds Mngomezulu.

This smaller scale allows villages to create the gas they need and maintain the amount of organic waste needed to sustain the use. Too big and there would be lags in waiting time where gas is not created, and too small, then there would not be enough gas to be useful.

Sourcing the organic waste was a crucial step, and Mngomezulu explains, “I wanted the waste to come from the communities it would serve. Kasi Gas partook in extensive community engagement to ensure that local businesses like the women selling food are able to discard their waste to be used in the digester. We have also partnered with schools in the area that are reliant on feeding schemes to ensure a constant stream is made available. Farmers are also encouraged to give the waste over during harvest.”

The business model that Kasi Gas is exploring is that of a micro-franchise, which means that villages own and operate the biogas digesters for their own use, and the design, installation, and maintenance are handled separately. This ensures that the community feels part of the process, “We did not want to come in and give away the digester. What we wanted was something the community could own and take pride in, which opens them up to the project and its benefits while making it as easy as possible,” adds Mngomezulu. Rural areas are ideal locations for co-operative ownership models and decentralised networks that immediately add value to an area by directly addressing the needs there.

The value proposition is more than just offering sustainability, and Mngomezulu wants to avoid this sort of moralising, instead focusing on how this project can help communities and be sustainable in tandem.

“If biogas ended up being more expensive than LP gas, it would not work. These are fragile economic ecosystems, and the competitive price point of biogas is a big draw for villagers. LP Gas is more expensive outside the city due to travel costs and is not always available. The price of Biogas is R150 for 5 kgs, which is significantly lower than LP Gas in rural areas, and always available because these plants will be in the community they serve. This means the women who operate small food businesses can make more money on their product, and those who need heat have a constant and cheap source.”

The byproduct of these biogas digesters is a nutrient-rich fertiliser, which further adds to the economic and sustainable goals of Kasi Gas. Rural areas in South Africa rely on subsistence and small farms, which can pose their own challenges. Using chemical fertilisers and depleting the soil is a real problem according to Mngomezulu, who says, “By having fertilisers sold for cheaper than chemical fertilisers, it encourages farmers to buy locally and opens up the conversation about sustainable farming too. Having this byproduct also generates income and helps the local community is as important as the energy generated.”

For an initiative like this one, the circular economy and the push for sustainability can create real economic growth in rural South Africa, and by partnering with local companies like Agama and engaging with the communities directly, Kasi Gas are paving the way forward for sustainable businesses to develop in rural areas.

“I hope that Kasi Gas can serve as a touchpoint for people looking to invest in rural-based solutions and show investors that this is not just doable but necessary in terms of the circular economy and aiding these communities who get left out.”