<<-- Back to the course calendar

Biogas project: Building a Methane Gas Bio-Digester Course with Tom Kendall, PRI Maungaraeeda, Sunshine Coast, Kin Kin, Queensland, Australia

Starts Oct 22, 2012 and runs for 5 day(s).

In 2013 we are undertaking a Biogas project and will be building a Methane Gas Bio Digester as part of our building courses, which can be attended as individual courses or as a series during the year.

A bio-digester is an anaerobic system which creates energy from waste products. In this case the system will be designed to create methane gas (Biogas) for cooking and other energy purposes, by feeding pressured methane gas from a chamber holding manure. A bio-digester system can be implemented in farms but also in urban situations, and one can use other waste to create the methane gas as well.

Methane gas bio digesters are becoming more common in developing countries, but are fairly rare in developed countries like Australia. Don't miss out on being part of constructing this amazing system, teaching you how to become more self reliant with your energy needs!

For more information see this article.

This course is a specialist course and is part of the Permaculture Life Skills Internship but can be attended as a separate course.

First course (18 - 22 March): Planning and design of the Methane Gas Bio Digester and putting in footings

Second course (27 - 31 May): Pouring the cement floor and building the Bio Digester using fired bricks for double walls, building the inlet and outlet

Third course (26 - 30 August): Finishing off the building and connecting the outlets, testing connections

About the Teacher:

Tom Kendall grew up and worked on his parents' farm and took on the farm in 1992 when his father retired. He downsized the 11,000 acre farm to 7,000 acres and converted to Biodynamics. The farm produced wheat and barley and ran cattle and sheep. In 2000 he sold the farm and moved to the Sunshine Coast. In 2005 he and his partner Zaia found their ideal property in Kin Kin, Noosa Hinterland. Tom had by then become interested in Permaculture, and started converting the property into a Permaculture site.

With his background in farming, he was able to take on most jobs that needed to be done himself; renovations, building, operating heavy machinery for earthworks etc, gardening, fixing, installing plumbing and many other jobs that came with setting up the property. He became a wwoof host and always taught the wwoofers about Permaculture and why the property was set up the way it was. In 2008 he did a Permaculture Design Certificate with Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton. He followed that up early 2010 with a Teacher Training Course with Geoff Lawton. At that stage he realised he had so much knowledge to share with people about Permaculture and Self Reliance skills that he decided to focus on teaching. It was a natural extension from teaching wwoofers for all those years.

Tom is a very practical person with an wealth of knowledge about shaping landscapes and creating tools and infrastructure. Having spent all his life working the land he has an astute awareness about today's environmental issues and aims to minimise his footprint as much as possible. His courses are unique in that he shows a lot of practical applications on his property Kin Kin Souls, now a Permaculture Demonstration Site, to complement the theory taught. His aim is to bring Permaculture to as many people as possible, and to empower people to be self reliant. He is now a Permaculture Research Institute accredited teacher and runs The Permaculture Research Institute Maungaraeeda, Sunshine Coast.

Map

Important information about this course

Course location:

The Permaculture Research Institute Maungaraeeda, Sunshine Coast, 93 Golden Gully Road, Kin Kin QLD 4571, Australia.

Course hours:

9am - 5pm daily

Accommodation:

Camping (tent) accommodation is included in the course fee, please byo tent and camping gear (bedding etc). Limited cabin accommodation ($30 per night per cabin) or backpacker style shared accommodation ($10 per night per person) also available.

Food:

Fully catered for, 3 meals per day plus morning and afternoon tea.

Directions:

Directions to get to the Permaculture Research Institute Maungaraeeda, Sunshine Coast: Take the Bruce Highway towards Gympie from the South or toward Brisbane from the North. Take the Pomona Kin Kin turnoff. Follow the road, turn right at the T-intersection. Take the road through Pomona town, straight through the roundabout, over the railway line, then turn left at the T-Intersection. Follow that road to Kin Kin. Turn left to go into Kin Kin and past the pub. Follow that road for about 3 kms, Golden Gully Road is on your left (a dirt road). Kin Kin SOULS is 930 metres down that road on your left.

Course price:

$795 inc. all meals. $100 non-refundable but transferable deposit upon booking, full amount due 3 weeks prior to course start.

For further information for this course please contact education@permaculture.org.au.

Course pricing / bookings

Prices in Australian dollars

$795	Regular price for this course	This price has expired
$100	Non-refundable deposit to lock in booking	This price has expired