Shell LiveWIRE Champions: BIOPE

Shell LiveWIRE is a Social Investment program by Royal Dutch Shell. With a mission to encourage young generations to start businesses and create job opportunities, Shell LiveWIRE has benefited 9.2 million young entrepreneurs in 20 countries worldwide.

Since 2003, Shell LiveWIRE Indonesia has been on a mission to inspire young people’s interest and mindset toward an entrepreneurial career. Through practical business advice, mentoring, and coaching, young individuals aged 18-35 can turn their ideas into reality and start their businesses for Indonesia.

Starting in 2018, Shell LiveWIRE has focused its support on new and renewable energy (NRE) entrepreneurship and energy efficiency. Through the Energy Solutions program, energy startups in Indonesia have the opportunity to develop their business ideas or enhance their NRE or energy efficiency ventures into sustainable businesses.

The BIOPE biogas innovation offers a highly affordable price, aiming to help livestock farmers manage their waste without worry.

Drinking milk and consuming beef are part of daily life for people on Earth. However, livestock farming accounts for 18% of global warming. Greenhouse gas pollution and unpleasant odors are environmental issues that livestock farmers, including those in Indonesia, often overlook. Not because they do not care, but because the high cost of biogas reactor construction makes it difficult for them to address waste management.

The BIOPE biogas innovation was developed by Izza Auliya Amukholidi, Abdau Zidni, Rahayu Dwi Agustin, Arifatul Kamila, Mohammad Fadil Luqman, and Febi Romana Devi. Inspired by the challenges faced by Pak Zaini, a dairy farmer in the village of one of the team members, they saw a problem: the large amount of livestock waste that remained unused.

Based on this concern, BIOPE offers a solution. BIOPE enables farmers to manage their waste efficiently without worry. The system produces energy equivalent to 1 kg of LPG and dozens of liters of high-quality liquid fertilizer daily, which can be used to nourish plants.

Currently, BIOPE has developed a prototype biogas reactor made from thick, durable plastic, significantly reducing production costs by up to 70% compared to standard biogas reactors. This biogas reactor not only makes it easier for farmers to process their waste but also simultaneously generates energy equivalent to 1 kg of LPG and 150 liters of liquid fertilizer per day.