Eco-friendly jail uses biogas to cook, bake
MANILA, Philippines—Even if they are in prison, inmates of the Cagayan de Oro (CDO) city jail are very much involved in the climate change campaign as the country’s detention facilities are exploring alternative energy sources of cooking fuel.
For over a year now, CDO inmates have been operating a small bakery that is fueled by environment-friendly biogas. The bakers, who are the inmates themselves, prepare an assortment of bread with cheese, pineapple or peanut butter fillings so that visitors to the city jail are now greeted by the smell of freshly baked bread.
“Our sales are really good. Oftentimes, the bread is sold out,” said 28-year-old Nick as he switched on two oven valves, one of which was connected to a biogas tank, quite unheard of even in jails outside the Philippines.
“With biogas we save money and it’s environment-friendly. The bread also comes out well because the fire is consistent,” said Nick, who has been baking bread for six months.
Elimination of firewood
The use of biogas or methane began in the CDO jail in 2009 when the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) ordered the elimination of firewood in its detention facilities.
The CDO was one of five jails chosen by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to implement the biogas project, and it remains to be a model of the innovative program to reduce financial and environmental costs.
In CDO jail’s kitchen, biogas is utilized to cook viands while liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is used in cooking huge pots of rice for more than 1,000 inmates.
Julius, the head cook, expressed relief that he no longer has to inhale the smoke from firewood.
“Before the kitchen used to be filled with smoke, and we used to sweat so much. The fire was difficult to control, and it took a long time to cook anything,” he said.
Better sanitation
While a substantial amount of money is spent for LPG, none is spent for a renewable fuel like biogas.
“Biogas has a natural source of energy, which in this case is human waste. From the toilet, the waste goes to an inlet box where it breaks down and gives off methane. From the production chamber, the gas goes to an outlet box and flows into the pipes used for cooking,” said Gavin Macmillan, the ICRC’s water and habitat engineer.
Going for alternative sources of energy is a good choice nowadays when the prices of crude oil and other non-renewables are rising, Macmillan said.
“It saves BJMP money because a huge part of BJMP money goes to feeding inmates,” he said.
Apart from minimizing cooking costs, the biogas project also improves the jail’s sewage system because it has replaced the less-effective septic tank.
The organic waste has yet another use. It is turned into fertilizer for the jail’s vegetable garden.
“The government has limited resources so the biogas project is a big help to us. We thank the ICRC because they are not only helping the inmates but the environment as well,” said the CDO jail warden, J/Supt. Russel Tangeres.
Hot water from solar power
In the country’s south, another eco-friendly innovation is helping a Bukidnon jail cope with expenses, which has inspired other sustainable projects.
Water for cooking in the Valencia City Jail is heated by solar panels installed on the kitchen’s roof. Only a month after the system was installed, there has been substantial improvement in terms of cooking time and reduced firewood use, according to J/Sr. Insp. Francis Acelo, the jail warden since 2001.
“Before we only used tap water and heated it over firewood. It usually took three sets of firewood to get it boiling. Now we prepare food faster and the supply of firewood lasts for a longer period,” said Acelo.
Valencia used to be one of the country’s most overcrowded jails until its recent transfer to a spacious three-hectare property leased by the local government.
“The old 200 sq m jail was intended to house only 48 inmates. When the number of inmates grew to more than 100, the jail became too cramped. Many detainees got sick, the heat and smell were too much,” Acelo said.
Less troubles
With the new facility and the setting up of the solar water heating system, the warden said many things have changed for the better.
“We have less troubles now unlike before when we had to go to the forests to get the firewood. But we have not gone back since there’s still a lot of firewood left,” he said.
Savings from the use of the solar water heater will go to improving the jail infrastructure.
“When the necessary facilities are in place, the money could then be used for improving the inmates’ food,” Acelo said.
Working together
Among the planned projects are a vegetable garden and piggery, projects that will help the jail to become more self-sufficient. There are also plans to construct a school building that will offer alternative learning for inmates.
“The coordination efforts of the LGU, BJMP and other organizations like the ICRC have a huge impact. It showed that problems are easily solved when people work together. It’s seldom that we have something as fortunate as this, when all the projects come together,” Acelo said.
(The author, a former Inquirer reporter, is the communications officer for the International Committee of the Red Cross Manila office.)
For over a year now, CDO inmates have been operating a small bakery that is fueled by environment-friendly biogas. The bakers, who are the inmates themselves, prepare an assortment of bread with cheese, pineapple or peanut butter fillings so that visitors to the city jail are now greeted by the smell of freshly baked bread.
“Our sales are really good. Oftentimes, the bread is sold out,” said 28-year-old Nick as he switched on two oven valves, one of which was connected to a biogas tank, quite unheard of even in jails outside the Philippines.
“With biogas we save money and it’s environment-friendly. The bread also comes out well because the fire is consistent,” said Nick, who has been baking bread for six months.
Elimination of firewood
The use of biogas or methane began in the CDO jail in 2009 when the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) ordered the elimination of firewood in its detention facilities.
The CDO was one of five jails chosen by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to implement the biogas project, and it remains to be a model of the innovative program to reduce financial and environmental costs.
In CDO jail’s kitchen, biogas is utilized to cook viands while liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is used in cooking huge pots of rice for more than 1,000 inmates.
Julius, the head cook, expressed relief that he no longer has to inhale the smoke from firewood.
“Before the kitchen used to be filled with smoke, and we used to sweat so much. The fire was difficult to control, and it took a long time to cook anything,” he said.
Better sanitation
While a substantial amount of money is spent for LPG, none is spent for a renewable fuel like biogas.
“Biogas has a natural source of energy, which in this case is human waste. From the toilet, the waste goes to an inlet box where it breaks down and gives off methane. From the production chamber, the gas goes to an outlet box and flows into the pipes used for cooking,” said Gavin Macmillan, the ICRC’s water and habitat engineer.
Going for alternative sources of energy is a good choice nowadays when the prices of crude oil and other non-renewables are rising, Macmillan said.
“It saves BJMP money because a huge part of BJMP money goes to feeding inmates,” he said.
Apart from minimizing cooking costs, the biogas project also improves the jail’s sewage system because it has replaced the less-effective septic tank.
The organic waste has yet another use. It is turned into fertilizer for the jail’s vegetable garden.
“The government has limited resources so the biogas project is a big help to us. We thank the ICRC because they are not only helping the inmates but the environment as well,” said the CDO jail warden, J/Supt. Russel Tangeres.
Hot water from solar power
In the country’s south, another eco-friendly innovation is helping a Bukidnon jail cope with expenses, which has inspired other sustainable projects.
Water for cooking in the Valencia City Jail is heated by solar panels installed on the kitchen’s roof. Only a month after the system was installed, there has been substantial improvement in terms of cooking time and reduced firewood use, according to J/Sr. Insp. Francis Acelo, the jail warden since 2001.
“Before we only used tap water and heated it over firewood. It usually took three sets of firewood to get it boiling. Now we prepare food faster and the supply of firewood lasts for a longer period,” said Acelo.
Valencia used to be one of the country’s most overcrowded jails until its recent transfer to a spacious three-hectare property leased by the local government.
“The old 200 sq m jail was intended to house only 48 inmates. When the number of inmates grew to more than 100, the jail became too cramped. Many detainees got sick, the heat and smell were too much,” Acelo said.
Less troubles
With the new facility and the setting up of the solar water heating system, the warden said many things have changed for the better.
“We have less troubles now unlike before when we had to go to the forests to get the firewood. But we have not gone back since there’s still a lot of firewood left,” he said.
Savings from the use of the solar water heater will go to improving the jail infrastructure.
“When the necessary facilities are in place, the money could then be used for improving the inmates’ food,” Acelo said.
Working together
Among the planned projects are a vegetable garden and piggery, projects that will help the jail to become more self-sufficient. There are also plans to construct a school building that will offer alternative learning for inmates.
“The coordination efforts of the LGU, BJMP and other organizations like the ICRC have a huge impact. It showed that problems are easily solved when people work together. It’s seldom that we have something as fortunate as this, when all the projects come together,” Acelo said.
(The author, a former Inquirer reporter, is the communications officer for the International Committee of the Red Cross Manila office.)
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