Securing the supply of energy derived from reliable, sustainable sources climbed the agenda for 2022.

GreenAl proposes a solution for communities in southern Algeria, which can produce 'biogas', electricity or fertiliser. Citizens in isolated regions in the North African country often lack access to energy.

The start-up company manufactures 'bioreactors' in PVC tarpaulin which produce biogas from the fermentation of organic food waste and fresh animal manure. It sells a kit containing a bioreactor, a gas adapter, a gas burner and gas production booster, which retails for between about $600 and about $1,000, depending on the version of the kit.

The process, which takes about a week, can decompose waste to produce a biogas that can be used for cooking or heating or that can be converted, via the gas adapter, into electricity for lighting.

The company claims that through this process it can save three cylinders of fossil gas per month.

GreenAl's website says that the company is in the process of joining the International Organization for Standardization TC255 technical consortium that defines standards for all types of biogas systems.