Buddied tree planting: In addition to the carbon offset credits, we plant 2 trees per tonne of CO₂e offset. Our tree planting partners include Ripple Africa and Eden: People+Planet (formerly Eden Reforestation Projects), both of which plant trees to improve livelihoods where they're needed most. Alongside our tree planting, we also commit to diverting 50p per tonne of CO₂e from every sale to support our free data, tools, and resources. Find out more: Circular Ecology's Scaling Carbon Reductions Initiative (SCRI).

About this Project

The Cambodia national biodigester programme is a Gold Standard Certified offsetting project which improves the quality of life and environmental sustainability for communities in Cambodia.

Traditional domestic cooking consisted of local people felling trees for firewood to use for cooking inside the home. This not only caused deforestation but also released CO₂ into the atmosphere and increased the amount of time locals had to spend collecting fuel, which could otherwise be spent on more beneficial activities such as education and agriculture. Additionally, the health of communities was negatively impacted by particulate matter emissions from burning the wood, specifically, particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions.

The Cambodia national biodigester programme works with locals to install domestic fixed dome biodigesters. These are installed by trained locals.

The local population often keep a small number of animals. The biodigesters use waste from 2-3 bovines and 4-6 pigs to generate biogas and organic fertiliser. The biogas typically displaces energy from wood. The fertiliser can be used to grow crops, providing a more closed-loop farming system.

The biogas can be used for cooking as a cleaner fuel inside the homes – a clean cookstove. This also saves time spent collecting fuel and reduces household expenditure on cooking fuels. A byproduct of the biodigesters is a slurry of water and animal waste, which can be used as fertiliser for local crops, improving their quality.

Benefits of Cambodia Biodigester Carbon Offsetting Credits

• On average, 5 tCO₂e is reduced per digester per year
• 88% reduction in Particulate Matter (PM2.5) pollution in kitchens
• Bringing benefits to improved health
• Particularly with benefits to the health of children, who are more susceptible to the harmful effects of Particulate Matter emissions
• $143 household expenditure saving each year on cooking fuels
• With an average household income of £1,376 (2017) in Cambodia, this represents a saving of over 10% of their family income each year
• >250,000 tonnes of wood saved since 2006
• Community education and job creation to build and maintain the biodigesters

Time Saving Per Household From Biodigesters

117 minutes are saved per household every day, particularly by women and children, due to the biodigesters, as fuel does not have to be collected and prepared.

• Over 3,500 minutes saved per month
• Over 42,700 minutes saved per year
• This is equal to over 710 hours saved per year
• When converted to a full working day (5 full days a week), this is a saving of around 90 working days, or a saving of 18 full working weeks each year

Alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goals

Biodigesters from the Cambodia biogas offsetting project are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals:

• UN SDG 1 – No Poverty
• UN SDG 2 – Zero Hunger
• UN SDG 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy
• UN SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth
• UN SDG 13 – Climate Action