时文摘要
能源缺乏在不少地方都是生活质量提高的障碍，而厨余和动物粪便等又到处可见。最近在一个巴勒斯坦地区，人们发明了一种能利用食物残留和动物粪便制造沼气的装置，这为当地人们提供了能源，为他们的生活带来了方便。
Rural communities in developing countries often have trouble getting supplies of energy for cooking and lighting. But energy exists everywhere organic waste is breaking down. It is just a question of how to harness or make use of it.
A Palestinian community in the West Bank has been successfully testing a device that turns food and animal wastes into biogas（沼气）. The village of al-Awja has no running water or electric power. Solar panels（电池板） provide energy from the sun, but not enough for cooking equipment. But as in many other parts of the world, villagers keep chickens, cows or other animals.
Recently, about 40 families started using portable devices that turn food and animal waste into biogas. The European Union and the Peres Center for Peace provided money to pay for the devices.
One villager says, "This is a very good machine... The machine provides us with 70 to 80 percent of the gas that we need for our household."
An Israeli company, HomeBioGas, designed the machine, called a bio-digester. Anaerobic bacteria（厌氧细菌） are added to the device the first time it is used. The bacteria helps break down organic waste. The bio-digester creates enough biogas for cooking three meals a day. It also produces about 10 liters of liquid organic fertilizer.
Biogas is smokeless and has no smell. In addition to cooking, biogas can be used to heat water and for lighting devices. A built-in, hand-powered grinder （砂轮机）helps break down the solid parts in household waste.
The HomeBioGas system is designed for areas where the daily temperature does not drop below 15 degrees Celsius. The price is about $2,500, a little expensive for most families. So, communities must depend on aid from governments or private donors.
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