BPP Partnership Impact Series: Affordable bio-energy transforming households in rural Bangladesh

Since its launch, the Business Partnerships Platform (BPP) has worked with ambitious partners to deliver meaningful, lasting change in communities across the world. Our BPP Partnership Impact Series celebrates outcomes and lessons from our partnerships, highlighting their contributions to inclusive economic growth, resilience and sustainable development.

This story features one of our COVID-19 Recovery partnerships in Bangladesh, which concluded in 2024. These partnerships responded to the urgent social and economic impacts of the pandemic, delivering improved living conditions, stronger livelihoods, and more resilient supply chains.

Putting waste to work

In Bangladesh, a BPP partnership between clean technology company ATEC Bangladesh and the Australian Government has been transforming lives by helping farming families convert agricultural waste into clean energy.

The machines, called biodigesters, convert farm waste such as animal manure into free bio-gas and organic fertiliser. The gas provides a low-cost, efficient alternative to traditional cooking fuels like wood, charcoal and cow dung, which are still used by 85% of rural households.

By improving indoor air quality and reducing harmful smoke, the technology supports better health outcomes, especially for women and children. Each biodigester also saves more than 112 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and 6.5 tonnes of firewood over its lifetime, making it a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable solution for rural households.

About the partnership

The partnership has supported the adoption of ATEC’s biodigester technology across more than 50 districts in Bangladesh, creating lasting environmental and social impact. Designed for resilience, the biodigesters are built to withstand floods and cyclones – and once ordered, they’re delivered within four days and installed in just three hours.

While most units are purchased by men, nearly 90% of the direct benefits are experienced by women, who typically spend up to 28 hours a week gathering fuel, cooking and cleaning. By replacing polluting cooking methods with clean, efficient bio-gas, the technology reduces the household work burden by an average of three hours per day, freeing up time for education, caregiving or income-generating activities.

The partnership also promotes women’s economic empowerment by training them to become village referral agents, earning commission through local sales and helping to drive uptake of the technology within their own communities.

Impact

During the BPP partnership period, the impact included:

• 2,000 biodigesters installed: saving time, energy and money for families
• Clean local energy: farms converting animal manure to free bio-gas and chemical free organic fertiliser.
• Reduced burden for women: an average of three hours of labour a day saved for women who had a biodigester installed at their property
• Healthier communities: reducing exposure to smoke and chemicals from burning wood, charcoal and cow dung over open fires for thousands of people.
• Cutting carbon emissions: 112 tonnes of greenhouse gas saved over one biodigester’s lifetime.

Clean, green and life changing: Monir’s story

Livestock farmer Monirul Islam’s decision to have a biodigester installed at the family’s home in Jhenaidah village changed everyone’s lives for the better.

Previously, the family used wood fuel for cooking, as this was the only viable option for them.

As well as spending hours collecting wood, Monir’s wife used to continuously cough, experiencing debilitating breathing problems from years cooking directly over flames.

After receiving a recommendation from a relative, Monir immediately invested in an ATEC biodigester. He used livestock manure to create readily available, cost-effective bio-gas and organic fertiliser for his farm.

Cooking over bio-gas saved hours of labour each day and his wife’s health also improved. She is now learning how to sew, which will create more income for her family.

“This ATEC biodigester was the best gift for my wife and mother,” he said proudly.

Monir estimated the family also saved about USD$3.50 each week on fuel costs thanks to the biodigester, allowing them to buy needed goods and items for his son.

View the full partnership impact story below or download here.