The Hanoitimes - The office for the biogas program for the animal husbandry sector in Vietnam announced that its 2nd phase has been extended to 2014.

The program is implemented by the Livestock Production Department (under the Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development - MARD) in cooperation with Netherlands Development Organization (SNV).

The overall objectives of the project are to effectively exploit biogas technology and to develop a commercially viable biogas sector in Vietnam; and to contribute to rural development and environmental protection via provision of clean and affordable energy to rural households, improvement of community sanitation and rural people’s health, creation of rural jobs and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

The first phase of the project (2003-2005) covered 12 provinces nationwide, installing 18,000 biogas plants. 2006 was a bridging year between Phase I and Phase II when a separate MOU was signed in April and 7,672 plants were constructed.

The 2nd phase of the program was implemented from 2007 with the additional objective of establishing a commercially viable biogas sector in Vietnam - 58 provinces are involved, with a target of 140,000 biogas plants.

By the end of June 2012, about 130,000 biogas plants had been installed. In April 2007, program was awarded the Energy Globe Award 2006 in Brussels, Belgium. In July 2010, it was honoured with another international award in London, UK - The Ashden Award 2010 for sustainable energy.

The MARD Minister issued Decision 2418/ QĐ-BNN-HTQT dated 5/10/2012, extending program implementation to 2014 with total funds of 44,180,000 Euro, including ODA from the Netherlands, other donors and carbon finance./.