KUDUS, KOMPAS.com - Residents of Undaan Kidul Village, Undaan District, Kudus Regency, are determined to create a biogas village by utilizing cow dung as alternative energy.

""Until now, in our area there are seven biogas processing units using cow dung,"" said Undaan Kidul Village Chief, Hadi Sucahyono, in Kudus, Friday (07/30/2010).

With seven biogas units built since 2008, he said, currently able to be utilized by 15-20 households. Before building the biogas units, he said, representatives of his community were trained in biogas processing at the Central Java Province Livestock Community Resource Development Center (BPSMP) in Semarang in 2007.

Furthermore, he said, residents began to pioneer the biogas program by building processing units in each house of residents who have cattle. Cow dung, he said, is not only used to produce alternative energy, but the community also utilizes the remaining dung used for making biogas into organic fertilizer.

He said, to make one biogas unit, it is enough to use a biogas reactor tool in the form of a large tube that serves to accommodate livestock manure. ""To save funds, this tube can be made of large thick plastic, while the plastic reactor is planted in the ground,"" he explained.

The first filling of manure required is around 80 percent of the reactor volume. As for daily home energy needs, only one bucket of manure diluted with water or about 30 liters is needed.

To drain the methane gas coming out of the reactor, it is flowed through a hose from the reactor to the biogas reservoir which is also made of plastic, then channeled to the biogas stove. So that the volume of gas is not excessive, he said, a stabilizer is installed.

""Every day, the community can replace the manure with a new one, while the unused manure can be used for fertilizing plants,"" he said.

He is determined to make Undaan Kidul village energy independent, considering that there are already seven biogas processing units. Moreover, the construction of each biogas processing unit received assistance from the National Program for Community Empowerment (PNPM) Mandiri.

To create a biogas village, he said, Undaan residents can take advantage of the Cattle Farming Business Credit (KUPS) program from the Kudus Regency Government in collaboration with local banks. ""We will encourage every resident to have cattle, so that the construction of biogas processing units can be done by every house,"" he said.