Ashden Awards Case Study | Sky Link Innovators, Kenya | Summary

Case study summary 2010 Ashden Award for

Sky Link Innovators, Kenya Avoided Deforestation

Supported by the Waterloo Foundation

Kenya statistics 2006/7

Sky Link Innovators 2010 Ashden Award recognises its work (UNDP/WRI)

to increase the use of biogas systems in Kenya for cooking, GDP: US$788/year per person
tackling both deforestation and rural poverty. CO2 emission: 0.3 tonnes/year per person
40% of people live on less than US$2/day
86% of people lack grid electricity

Kenya currently has only 1.9% forest cover, which is well below the 10% minimum Location
recommended by the UN. The population of Kenya continue to rely on wood and charcoal for
fuel despite their increasing cost. Sky Link Innovators has tackled this problem by
spreading the use of biogas systems to produce fuel for cooking.

Biogas systems process organic matter in an air-tight brick tank, to produce a mixture of
methane and carbon dioxide.
Household systems range in size from 12 to 16 m3, mostly use cow dung.
Larger systems for institutions use human waste from latrines, as well as animal dung,
and have final open-air filtration stage.
Customers pay for domestic biogas systems through a combination of cash and labour.
Typical cost is US$1,850.
Institutional systems for schools and prisons are built by Sky Link technicians. A typical
school system costs about US$19,753.
To date, Sky Link has installed 200 domestic biogas systems, five in schools and one in The cook likes it, because he doesnt
Meru Prison, benefiting some 5,200 people overall. have to chop the wood, the food cooks
Use of wood has been reduced by about 800 tonnes/year, resulting in an estimated1,100 faster, and the kitchen doesnt get
tonnes/year reduction in CO2 emissions. smoky like before. And the children
Owners of biogas systems spend less time and money collecting or buying firewood. love it because their food doesnt taste
Cooks enjoy a healthier smoke free environment, due to the elimination of indoor air of smoke!
pollution from cooking with firewood. Mercy Mungania, Tania School, Kenya
Hygiene and sanitation improved in institutions through better management of sewage.
Residue from biogas plants is a nutrient-rich fertiliser, and saves on the purchase of
chemical fertilisers.
Significant potential for expansion of the use of biogas in Kenya.

Cooking on a biogas stove, Tania School, Kenya.

Contact
Sky Link Innovators is a Kenyan biogas company which has grown rapidly since it was
established in 2007. The company installs and maintains household and institutional
Sky Link Innovators
biogas plants and has a small core staff and 20 contracted technicians. Sky Links turnover
Samwel Kinoti
in 2009 was US$40,000 (KSH 3,240,400).
skylinkinnovations@gmail.com
http://skylinkinnovators.blogspot.com/

info@ashdenawards.org
www.ashdenawards.org/winners/Skylink10
Document last updated May 2010
Ashden Awards Case Study | Sky Link Innovators, Kenya 1

Case study
Sky Link Innovators, Kenya

Background
The technology in more detail
Kenya currently has only 1.9% forest cover, which is well below the 10% minimum
recommended by the UN. Clearing land for agriculture and cutting trees for wood has led to SkyLink domestic biogas systems
lack of forest cover, which in turn has resulted in increased soil erosion. The rural have a cylindrical, domed digester
population of Kenya continue to rely on wood for fuel despite its increasing cost, and many vessel built from brick. Biogas, which
city dwellers use charcoal which puts even greater pressure on wood resources. collects under the dome, is taken
through a pipe to the kitchen. The
Sky Link Innovators has tackled this problem by introducing the use of biogas as a source of cattle dung is mixed with water in an
fuel for cooking, heating and electricity. inlet tank and flows under gravity into
the digester. Bacteria decompose the
slurry under anaerobic (oxygen-free)
conditions, and the biogas produced
The organisation
pushes the digested slurry into an
outlet tank. The system is built in an
Sky Link Innovators was established in 2007 by two cousins, Samwel Kinoti and Agnes
underground pit which is re-filled
Marete, with George Onyango joining shortly afterwards as the third partner. It aims to
with soil, so that only the inlet and
develop biogas technology as a commercially viable source of energy, and to tackle the
outlet tanks, and the dome with the
issues of deforestation, indoor air pollution and access to affordable energy. The company
biogas pipe through it, are visible
has grown rapidly over the last three years and now works through a small core staff and 20
when the system is completed.
contracted technicians. Sky Links turnover in 2009 was US$40,000 (KSH 3,240,400).
The larger sewage-treatment plants
The technology
use a series of digesters, with an
aerobic gravel filter as the final stage.
How does it work?
These increase biogas production and
Biogas systems take organic material such as animal dung into an air-tight tank, where
kill pathogens in the output material,
bacteria break down the material and release biogas a mixture of mainly methane with
so that the liquid effluent can be used
some carbon dioxide. The biogas can be burned as a fuel, for cooking or other purposes,
on crops.
and the nutrient-rich residue which remains can be used as organic compost. The biogas
systems used by Sky Link are fixed-dome designs, built from brick in underground pits.
Sky Link installs 12 to 16 m3 size domestic systems which are designed to use mainly
animal dung. Such a system requires the household to have between about three and eight
cows. The gas is used mostly for cooking but can also be used to generate electricity.

Sky Link also installs larger systems for institutions, ranging in size from about 30 m3 for
schools to 124 m3 in Meru prison. These can also process animal dung, but the main
purpose of the larger ones is to manage human sewage from latrines.

How much does it cost and how do users pay?

US$1 = KSh81 (Kenyan Shillings) [May 2010]

The cost of a 12 m3 domestic biogas system is about US$1,850 (KSh 150,000). This is a
substantial amount, but can be paid back in about four years through savings on
increasingly expensive fuelwood. This time can be reduced to about three years if savings Mixing water and manure for Mary Waringa Ngukus 16m3
made from substituting commercial fertiliser for biogas residue are included, since these biogas plant, Ngecha village, Kiambu West, Kenya
amount to about US$230 (KSh 18,600) per year for a small farm.

Households buy the construction materials and provide unskilled labour. 50% of the cost of
Sky Link labour is paid on signing the contract, 30% when the work is almost completed,
and the remainder when the system is fully commissioned. In this way households are able People can see the rivers drying out;
to spread the cost of buying a biogas system. Sky Link does not offer any credit to the can see the loss of forests and
customers, but offers help to households wishing to borrow money from their local Savings theyre worried about it. So they know
and Credit Society. we need alternative sources of energy
[to wood].
A typical school system costs about US$19,753 (KSh 1.6 million), and the 124 m3 plant for John Mugethe Mbugua, Sky Link
Meru prison cost about US$42,000 (KSh 3.4 million). Community Worker
Ashden Awards Case Study | Sky Link Innovators, Kenya 2

How is it manufactured, promoted and maintained?

The institutional systems are built entirely by Sky Link technicians, including sourcing
materials and construction. As far as possible materials are sourced and manufactured
locally, including quarry stones, clean river sand, cement, bricks, ballast, steel bars and
timber. In the case of the domestic biogas plant, the customer is told what materials to buy
and how to dig the pit. Sky Link makes the measurements and marks the pit outline, and
the householder can work at their own pace. A technician then comes in to install the
system.

Sky Link offers a one year guarantee on all its systems. The technician will visit a new
installation every month for six months to make sure everything is running smoothly. After
that, technicians can be contacted if anything goes wrong or parts need replacing.

Sky Link trains all its technicians, who in turn educate the end users on how to use the
system. They also train the community leaders, who are usually contacted by Sky Link
when they enter a new community to serve as informal consultants to provide introductions
and sales leads, as well as give advice and support to customers.

The benefits of biogas are advertised through leaflets and brochures. Sky Link also gives
live demonstrations at agricultural fairs and promotes through word of mouth.

Kabuku Farms 30m3 biogas plant.

Benefits

Sky Link has installed about 200 domestic biogas systems, benefiting some 1,200 people
(assuming an average household size of six). It has also installed institutional biogas I was really suffering from a shortage
systems in five schools and orphanages, benefiting about 2,500 students and one in Meru of firewood. The only alternative was
Prison, improving sanitation for 1,500 prisoners and staff. The company is currently LPG, and that was becoming
providing consultancy services for the installation of a second prison system. expensive. Then I saw the biogas at my
brothers place, and thought I must
Environmental benefits have it. Its so fast to cook with,
People in rural Kenya are very aware of the impacts of deforestation. Helping to avoid compared to firewood, and you dont
deforestation by reducing the use of unsustainable fuelwood (and the charcoal which is have to stay in the kitchen the whole
made from it) is seen as the most important environmental benefit of the biogas systems. time, feeding the fire. You can leave a
pot simmering and just get on other
Biogas plants cut greenhouse gas emissions, by reducing the use of unsustainable things.
fuelwood and (particularly for the larger plants) reducing methane emissions from poorly- Mary Waringa Nguku, farmer.
managed sewage disposal.

Based on typical measurements on biogas systems from elsewhere, a SkyLink domestic

system probably saves about 3.5 tonnes/year of unsustainable wood or 5 tonnes/year CO2,
and a school system about 10 tonnes/year wood and 15 tonnes/year CO2. From estimates
made by SkyLink, the prison saves about 22 tonnes/year wood and 33 tonnes/year CO2. The
savings related to reduced methane emission have not been estimated but are probably
significant as the system was installed to replace a connection to the municipal sewage
system, which had frequent leaks.

All the biogas systems installed to date therefore save about 800 tonnes/year of wood and
reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of about 1,100 tonnes/year CO2.

Farmer Mary Waringa Nguku and Sky Link community

support consultant John Mugethe Mbugua by her 16m3
digester, Ngecha village, Kiambu West, Kenya.
Ashden Awards Case Study | Sky Link Innovators, Kenya 3

Social benefits
Owners of biogas systems have a better quality of life because less time and money is spent
collecting or buying firewood. Indoor air pollution from cooking with fuelwood is greatly
reduced, so cooks enjoy a healthier and cleaner environment.

Managing manure with a biogas plant improves hygiene and reduces the smell. For
institutions, hygienic management of human sewage is a particular advantage.

Children who would previously have spent time collecting fuelwood can now attend school
more regularly. The slurry, used as a fertiliser, increases crop yield and food security for
families.

Economic and employment benefits

Eating lunch cooked on biogas - Tania School.
Sky Link employs five people at the head office. They also work with a team of 20 field
technicians who are contracted out to each project, mostly on a full-time basis. The
technicians receive training from Sky Link.
Were saving a lot of money by not
There are additional income generating opportunities associated with biogas production,
having to buy firewood, and we dont
such as slurry-fertilised crops and fishponds. Young people trained as technicians can also
need so much fertiliser either; so the
earn extra income from maintaining and repairing systems in place.
plant will pay for itself in about six
months or so.
Potential for growth and replication Mercy Mungania, Tania School.

Sky Link continues to grow, with orders for biogas systems on the rise. Forest cover is
diminishing rapidly, making biogas very attractive as an alternative cooking fuel.
Lack of consumer awareness and upfront costs are Sky Links main obstacles to growth. It
plans to increase awareness through education campaigns and advertising. SkyLink is
particularly keen to expand the use of biogas in schools, to cut the heavy wood use and also
serve as demonstrations for the wider community.Sky Link will also be looking at other
renewable energy technologies, such as wind and solar, to bring the benefits of renewable
energy to as many people as possible whilst at the same time benefiting the environment.

Meru Prison - main digester under construction.

Contact details
Sky Link Innovators
Samwel Kinoti
P.O Box 64459-00620
Nairobi
Arch Cad Studio House
Next to Kenol Petrol Station,
Ngong Road-Nairobi
Theres so much less smell now that
skylinkinnovations@gmail.com
the dung goes straight into the
http://skylinkinnovators.blogspot.com/
digester. Its much cleaner and
healthier, and thats important,
because of the patients.
Dr Thiakunu CK Mwirabua, clinic, Meru
This report is based on information provided to the Ashden Awards judges by Sky Link Innovators, and findings from visits by
members of the judging team to see its work in Kenya.

The Ashden Awards have taken all reasonable care to ensure that the information contained in this report is full and
accurate. However, no warranty or representation is given by The Ashden Awards that the information contained in this
report is free from errors or inaccuracies. To the extent permitted by applicable laws, The Ashden Awards accept no liability
for any direct, indirect or consequential damages however caused resulting from reliance on the information contained in
this report.
Last updated: May 2010