The Nepali Times recently published an article on the work of John Finlay, an Irish Interserve Partner based in Nepal with UMN. Here is a report written by Rishi Ram Paudyal - Communications Officer, UMN - summarising the article.

UMN has done a lot of things in the past fifty years of which we can be and are proud. UMN has pioneered many things which have contributed to the development of Nepal and UMN's focus has always been to benefit the poor and the marginalised people. One of the pioneering works that UMN did was establishment of commerciliased gobar gas plants that transcended the techology used in India, China and other countries where gobar gas plants were used. This year marks the 30th Anniversary of Gobar Gas in Nepal. In this regard UMN shared this good news with the media. The Nepali Times, a weekly newspaper, responded and published an article on 11 February, 2005, having interviewed John Finlay, the promoter of biogas technology in Nepal. 

Thirty years ago, when textile engineer John Finlay was involved in constructing a biogas plant for a private household in Bhairahawa, the last thing he expected was that this technology would transform Nepal.

Finlay was a young and ambitious engineer at the Butwal Technical Institute set up by the United Mission to Nepal (UMN) in 1974. He was looking forward to creating small-is-beautiful technologies that would help Nepali farmers.

Finlay went to Ajitmal across the border in Uttar Pradesh in 1974 and met Ram Baux Singh of Gobar Gas Research Station, the Indian biogas pioneer. Together with Nepali engineers, the first plant from an oil drum was constructed and exhibited at an agricultural fair during the coronation of King Birendra in 1975.

UMN helped set up the private sector Gobar Gas Company (GGC) in 1978 which started building affordable biogas plants with indigenously designed inderground digesters that did not need maintenance like the Indian drum model.

With the UMN, Agricultural Development Bank and Fuel Corporation as their major shareholders, GGC built 10,000 plants in 10 years.

The Nepali biogas design was so cheap and efficient that it spread like a tarai grass fire. The design proved to be far superior and popular than those built in India and China, where biogas technology has existed for 100 years.

"If we reach the target of building 200,000 plants by 2009, Nepal can claim $30 million every year from the International Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project," says Finlay for whom the success of Nepal's biogas programme is also his crowning achievement.

If you would like to read the whole article or a short interview with John, you can access the Nepali Times article via www.nepalnews.com and click on the Nepali Times icon.