Leveraging Potential of Dung for Energy Security and Sustainable Agriculture

In developing countries, rural communities have long recognized the importance of dung as a source of renewable energy for domestic purposes and organic fertilizers for crop production. However, the utility of dung, both as a source of energy and fertilizers, has diminished owing to the increasing use of chemical fertilizers and fossil fuels, rendering it a less essential resource and a potential environmental contaminant. Nevertheless, owing to their increasingly negative externalities on natural resources and the environment, a new perspective has emerged on the utility of dung as biogas and bio-compressed natural gas (CNG), while maintaining its traditional use as an organic fertiilizer.