Cairo: Minister of Local Development and Environment Manal Awad emphasized the significance of expanding biogas plant technology applications across Egypt. This statement was made during her leadership at the inaugural meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Bioenergy for Sustainable Development Foundation for the fiscal year 2025/2026.
According to State Information Service Egypt, the foundation aims to maximize the use of animal and agricultural waste to generate biogas and electricity, expand the application of premium organic fertilizers, support sustainable agriculture, create job opportunities, and optimize the use of natural resources. The meeting commenced with the ratification of the previous Board of Trustees meeting minutes for the fiscal year 2024/2025, along with the approval of the executive committee meetings' minutes.
The board also endorsed the foundation's internal bylaws, administrative structure, budget, and action plan for the future, aligning with the state's shift towards a green economy and sustainable development. Awad directed the coordination with governorates and allocated space within Cairo's 15 May slaughterhouse area for establishing a biogas unit.
Furthermore, Awad advocated for replicating the Kafr Shukr slaughterhouse biogas unit as a scalable model, emphasizing the need for regular maintenance programs to ensure the sustainability of established units. She called for a dedicated unit within the foundation to oversee operations and secure maintenance funding.
The minister advised against launching new projects without comprehensive studies detailing the responsible entities for operation, follow-up, and maintenance. She also instructed the expansion of biogas units in Upper Egypt governorates to capitalize on agricultural waste and in Wadi El-Natrun for livestock farm waste. Additionally, she recommended studying the feasibility of medium-sized units and creating centralized units to assist small farmers.
Awad stressed the importance of conducting a study on collecting and compressing biogas for use as an alternative fuel in factories. She emphasized leveraging the expertise of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency to establish an effective system for operating and monitoring biogas units. Awad also called for a comprehensive report to assess the current status of existing units and enhance their operational efficiency.
During the meeting, the foundation reviewed activities from June to December 2025, noting the implementation of 1,932 biogas units with an estimated annual production of about 2.1 million cubic meters of biogas, equivalent to nearly 70,000 butane cylinders. The units processed 53,000 tons of animal waste annually and produced around 84,000 cubic meters of high-quality organic fertilizer, benefiting about 7,000 feddans of agricultural land and nearly 9,500 beneficiaries, while creating direct and indirect job opportunities and establishing 31 startups in the bioenergy sector.
The foundation also conducted specialized technical studies to support Egypt's biogas sector development. These studies included optimizing slaughterhouse waste for biogas and electricity generation, feasibility studies for electricity production from biogas, and evaluations of global biogas technologies. The work explored opportunities to export bio-fertilizer produced by large-scale biogas units and involved developing an efficiency assessment guide, conducting beneficiary satisfaction surveys, and a comprehensive field survey.
The foundation carried out a thorough technical study on the application of biogas plant technology in Egypt.