Biogas Consumption

Customer – SustainEarth

“Creating value from waste.”

Problem Statement

SustainEarth sought to introduce biogas digesters to smallhold dairy farmers by monetizing the biogas generated and used for cooking. They needed a relatively simple and econmomical solution to be able to deploy at scale.

Solution

Proxy Measurement

We worked closely with a SustainEarth intern and helped design a solution that measured time that a pump was on, instead of measuring gas flow directly. Since the flow was relatively constant, this proxy measurement was accurate enough for their purposes and significantly more cost effective. To eliminate expensive GPRS modems, we integrated a BLE + App based workflow that involved a human operator who would routinely visit the sites to service the digesters.

Challenges

  1. Identifying the right proxy measurement was both critical and a fun ideation exercise.
  2. This was one of the first instances of us mentoring an external team rather than owning and builing the solution ourselves. It helped us refine our process and really appreciate the value of keen young engineers!
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