Poo power: fuelling schools and teaching students a lesson

Kasiisi school in Uganda is harnessing the power from human waste. Journalist Matthew Jenkin explores the educational and environmental issues

Students and teachers at Kasiisi nursery and primary school in Uganda have found an innovative way to save money and protect the planet when nature calls - by building a biogas digester that allows them to harness the energy contained in human faeces.

The thought of it is enough to put most people off their food, but the plan is to produce enough methane to cook meals for the school lunch programme, which provides rural schoolchildren living near the Kibale national park with a meal every day. A large brick-lined vessel was installed in a pit beneath the latrine. Here, the waste is mixed with cow dung to aid the process of breaking down the organic materials into methane, carbon dioxide gas and nutrient rich fertiliser.