Methane Emission during Rubber Production in Sri Lanka, its Quantification and Conversion to Useful Energy

Rubber was introduced to Sri Lanka in the late  19th century and now the country has around 138,000 ha under rubber cultivation, 68% of which are owned by smallholders. They are responsible for 77% of the country’s rubber production.  
Manufacturing of rubber starts with tapping for latex and during the process of converting latex to end products, large volumes of water and chemicals are used. This results in a lot of liquid waste, which is systematically handled in larger factories, but smallholders discharge such waste  without any control. This gives rise to Methane emissions. Methane is a Green House Gas (GHG) environmentally hazardous and these emissions over a ten year period were found to be around 189,000 MTCO₂e. This situation has prevailed from the start of the rubber industry, yet no meaningful steps have been taken to find a solution.  
Provision of anaerobic digesters to smallholders for the collection/treatment of wastewater appears to be the best solution.  Gases will then separate and collect in the tank. Gas mixture is similar to biogas and the energy potential available would be around 9GWh/year.. It is recommended that a project be launched with funds sourced from international agencies for GHG emission mitigation, where CDM/CER stands out as the best option. The project has the potential to raise around US$ 900,000 from the Carbon market.