Biogas plants: Instruments for sustainable environmental management and integrated rural development

The purpose of this paper is to show how remote rural communities can adopt the process of anaerobic digestion (the construction of biogas plants) to convert pollutant organic wastes from farms and the food processing industries as a means of lessening the dangers of pollution to land, air and water while at the same time generating new sources of income and employment. The evidence is based in the experiences of local communities in the Northern Atlantic Arc Region in which they face the problems of high unemployment, outward migration and declining service provision. This paper examines the underlying, causes of deprivation, the problems arising from pollution incidents and the socio-economic benefits which can be derived from the construction of biogas plants in such localities.