March 28, 2025 – The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Forward7 Initiative—formerly known as the Clean Fuel Solutions for Cooking Initiative—has collaborated with Air Products, a world-leading industrial gases company, and Sistema.bio, a leading social enterprise specializing in modern biogas technology, to launch a project providing subsidized Biodigesters to small farm owners in Begusarai, Bihar. This initiative aims to install over 400 biogas plants across the region by March 2025, enhancing access to clean energy, improving farming practices, and driving rural development.
Forward7 supported by the Middle East Green Initiative, aims to transform the lives of rural communities by providing access to clean cooking solutions that improve health, empower women, uplift marginalized groups, and protect the environment by reducing CO2 emissions caused by using traditional cooking methods such as wood and coal. The project will also drive economic growth, create jobs, and develop infrastructure in rural areas. By scaling up international cooperation, it seeks to prevent and mitigate the impacts of climate change, while supporting a sustainable future. Forward7, is committed to providing millions of people with clean cooking solutions, contributing to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7.
This collaboration will establish a robust project management strategy that includes proactively identifying potential risks, installation, quality control, end-user adaptation, and product affordability. Realistic and achievable goals are set based on Sistema.bio’s extensive experience and thorough market research, incorporating feedback from local organizations. Resources are strategically allocated to essential tasks like farmer communication, digester installation, and maintenance training, leveraging 14 years of global experience and established local networks. Advanced data collection tools such as Salesforce and TaroWorks will monitor progress and track targets, with regular audit visits ensuring the initiative stays on course for successful completion by March 2025.
Under this project, biogas plants with a capacity of 2 cubic meters will be installed in the Begusarai area of Bihar. These systems convert organic waste into clean energy, reducing reliance on traditional cooking fuels. Additionally, the plants produce biofertilizer as a by-product, offering farmers an organic alternative to chemical fertilizers, improving soil quality, and reducing farming costs.
About Sistema.bio:
Sistema.bio is a social enterprise that provides access to innovative biodigester technology, training and financing to address the challenges of poverty, food security, and climate change. They manufacture and distribute high-quality, affordable biodigesters that enable farmers to convert waste into renewable energy and organic fertilizer. Working together with farmers worldwide, Sistema.bio delivers high-quality carbon mitigation, sequestration and climate change adaptation programs backed by Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) supported with IoT. Sistema.bio works with small-holder farmers all over the world to reduce their carbon footprint, make them more productive and more efficient and create a healthier sustainable environment on their farms. With national headquarters in Pune, Sistema has a team of over 800 people who work with 100,000+ smallholder farmers across 22 states including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Assam, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
About Forward7 Middle East Green Initiative:
Launched in 2021 as part of the Middle East Green Initiative (MGI), Forward7 aims to provide clean cooking solutions, including Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), electric and solar powered stoves, and biodigesters, to hundreds of millions people around the world. This Initiative is dedicated to offering solutions to vulnerable populations globally, many of whom face dire consequences due to traditional and hazardous cooking practices, such as coal and wood usage. These clean cooking solutions have the potential to save countless lives by mitigating the risks associated with these traditional practices.
About Air Products:
Air Products (NYSE:APD) is a world-leading industrial gases company in operation for over 80 years focused on serving energy, environmental, and emerging markets and generating a cleaner future. The Company supplies essential industrial gases, related equipment and applications expertise to customers in dozens of industries, including refining, chemicals, metals, electronics, manufacturing, medical and food. As the leading global supplier of hydrogen, Air Products also develops, engineers, builds, owns and operates some of the world’s largest clean hydrogen projects, supporting the transition to low- and zero-carbon energy in the industrial and heavy-duty transportation sectors. Through its sale of equipment businesses, the Company also provides turbomachinery, membrane systems and cryogenic containers globally.
Air Products had fiscal 2024 sales of $12.1 billion from operations in approximately 50 countries and has a current market capitalization of over $65 billion. Approximately 23,000 passionate, talented and committed employees from diverse backgrounds are driven by Air Products’ higher purpose to create innovative solutions that benefit the environment, enhance sustainability and reimagine what’s possible to address the challenges facing customers, communities, and the world. For more information, visit www.airproducts.com or follow us on LinkedIn, X, Facebook or Instagram.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Suman Sharma
Sistema.bio
suman@sistema.bio
