The Philippine Department of Science and Technology is urging livestock farmers to make use of a technology that easily converts gas-fed generators into biogas generators to contribute to a cleaner environment and help mitigate global warming.

Dr Christopher Silverio, environment division chief of the Industrial Technology Development Institute said they have developed a small gadget dubbed the new energy adaptor (NEA) that could transform a gas-fed generator into methane or biogas-fed generator.

He said the institute targets piggery and poultry farms in rural areas as the primary users of the technology, adding that an owner of a piggery farm in Mindoro has already expressed interest in the technology wherein it is expected to adopt the technology within the year.

Silverio said the NEA gadget that could convert a 13 horsepower generator only costs P300 (US$6.17) since the raw materials used to produce the technology are locally available.

He added that the the technology has already been filed for patent before the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of the Philippines.

Aside from the NEA, SIlverio's team also developed the energy facilitated adopter (EFA), which can convert a gas-fed generator into a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) generator.

Both the EFA and NEA are fabricated from poly-vynil (PVC) materials, which could facilitate the intake of methane or LPG into air-intake combustion port of the generator.

Silverio said these gadgets would run a generator without the use of gasoline, adding that such generators can power electrical appliances like exhaust fans, light, refrigerator, among others.

With these simple conversion kits, Silverio said electric operators would run their generating units with either biogas or LPG instead of gasoline, making operation more cost-effective.