In the beginning, Athar felt reluctant to have a biogas reactor. This farmer living in Kebon Lauk Hamlet, South Masbagik Village, East Lombok, thought that the concept of biogas was not that beneficial. To cook, he and his family could rely on firewood collected from his neighbors’ fields. Moreover, he thought that the price he had to pay to get a reactor was going to hurt his wallet.

Amaq Djadun made the decision to use biogas without a slight doubt. The decision was made after he saw a biogas reactor at one villager’s house in Teniga Village, Tanjung Subdistrict, Lombok Utara, which had been functioning perfectly. Amaq Djadun believes that biogas is the safest fuel for cooking. Moreover, cow droppings as the raw material for biogas are available in abundance in the area. He is a farmer and a cattle raiser. The people in his neighborhood in Pendua Village, Kayangan Subdistrict, Lombok Utara mainly work on the fields and raise cattle.

One night in September 2011, Darto’s house in Pendem, Mojogedang, Karanganyar, was full of people. Several people walked around while others were seen cramming his brightly lit living room. They were curious about Darto’s biogas lamp. In an animated fashion, Darto related the story of his new biogas lamp. “All you need to do is strike a little fire near the lamp’s sheath, and it will immediately light up,” he said with delight.

Menggantungkan hidup dari hasil peternakan memang tidak mudah. Harga jual susu yang tidak sebanding dengan harga pakan yang meroket membuat keluarga Eti, 32, hidup pas-pasan. Untunglah, dengan bertani di lahan terbatas dekat rumah mereka di Kampung Arang, Lembang, Jawa Barat, mereka masih bisa menambal kekurangan penghasilan.

This story is currently only available in Indonesian.

Holding a hoe, the man was sitting against the wall of a brick house. Sweat wets his t-shirt. Looking pleased, he looks a glimpse at the half-finished biogas construction behind the house. "This is the 30th biodigester that I built," he says proudly.

It has been eleven years since Fatchiyah and her husband, Yusuf, 35, started a business as milk cow farmers. Started with two cows, they saved money and now have four cows in their stable. The family lives in Nongkojajar, Pasuruan district around 60 km south of Surabaya, Indonesian second-largest city and provincial capital of East Java. In this area, dairy farming was first attempted by Dutch colonials in 1911 to satisfy a demand for fresh milk. As commonly faced by milk cow farmers in in Tlogosari village where they live, the couple also struggle with the high need of cooking fuel. “We spend almost 1/3 of our monthly income to buy fuel,” says the 32-year-old woman.