( CNN ) -- In the crowded slums of Lagos , Nigeria , untreated sewage mingles with the chaotic network of pipes that deliver water to the city . Those who ca n't afford a local borehole or a private vendor know better than to take their chances with the taps -- most preferring to go thirsty instead . That 's according to Olatunbosun Obayomi , a Lagosian microbiologist and inventor who has lived in the city all his life . But now Obayomi thinks he 's found a solution -- one that not only tackles the slums ' sanitation issues , but creates free , clean energy in the process . `` With a cheap retrofit , household septic tanks -- the source of the sewage -- can be converted into biogas generators , '' said Obayomi , 29 , whose concept has earned him a TED fellowship , a Nigerian Youth Leadership Award and growing international acclaim . `` The idea of turning waste into energy has been around for centuries . My innovation is simply applying the chemistry in a practical way by using the resources we already have , '' he explained . In most homes in Lagos , toilet waste is stored in rudimentary septic tanks beneath the ground . Here it decomposes into a poisonous compound , before being sucked out by a tanker that deposits it all in a nearby lagoon . `` Unfortunately , the system of water pipes is very disorganized , and they often pass through the same place where the sewage is dumped , '' said Obayomi . `` And it 's not uncommon for poorly constructed septic tanks to leak directly into the drainage system . '' But rather than attempt a wholesale overhaul of Nigeria 's waste system , Obayomi 's approach makes use of the existing septic tanks -- equipping them with new waste entry pipes that remove oxygen from the decaying process . As he explained : `` When excreta decompose with oxygen , it creates a useless , incombustible mixture that carries disease . But without oxygen , the germs die and the mixture produces a combustible gas . '' This biogas -- a mix of carbon dioxide and methane -- can be stored in an adjacent underground chamber and used to power cooking stoves , heat homes or even generate electricity . Opinion : Tackling climate change still a luxury in developing world . `` Converting waste into biogas is a win-win strategy , '' said Sarah Butler-Sloss , founding director of the Ashden Awards , an organization that champions local energy innovations around the world . `` What makes it so elegant is that it resolves a life-threatening sanitation issue -- by treating harmful , waterborne germs -- while simultaneously creating a much-needed source of carbon-free energy , '' she said . Butler-Sloss added that recent figures from the U.N. say 1.4 billion people worldwide have no access to electricity , while 2.7 billion still prepare food on grossly inefficient and carbon-hungry open fires . `` We have seen similar projects in places like India and China -- where everything from domestic garbage to animal waste has been used to produce energy with great success ... Clearly this is the time to embrace domestically produced biogas , especially in the developing world . '' It 's a view shared by the United Nations Environment Program ( UNEP ) . Patrick Mwefigye is program officer for sustainable consumption and production at UNEP 's regional office for Africa . He says that in areas where there is `` little funding , capacity or infrastructure '' for complex waste management , `` we see the production of biogas as having great potential . '' At present , Mwefigye says the gas is regularly produced in just a handful of African nations . `` In Rwanda , for instance , the prisons have been fitted with large biogas generators , so that they are almost entirely self-powering , '' he said . But , although Obayomi 's retrofitted biogas generator is relatively cheap to build -- requiring only low-tech materials such as plastic pipes , cement and sand -- and despite all the recognition it 's attracted , only a prototype has been installed so far . Yet Obayomi conservatively estimates that the average street in Lagos could produce 1,720 liters of biogas a day -- enough for an engine-powered water pump to serve the daily domestic needs of at least 50 families . So what 's the hold-up ? `` Biogas generators tend to be constructed in situ , '' said Butler-Sloss , `` And while the materials are relatively cheap , they 're not mass-produced like solar panels or wind-turbines so , at present , it 's difficult to scale-up . '' Obayomi has a different take , however . For him , it 's not an issue of resources or need , but attitude . `` Although I 've been filmed by government TV and won these awards , no politician has approached me to build anything . In Nigeria there is a lot of talk but very little walk , '' he lamented . There is also a problem of credibility , he said . In Obayomi 's experience , the hardest place to be taken seriously as a Nigerian inventor is in Nigeria itself . `` It is a new concept for many Nigerians , '' he said . `` There 's still this feeling that unless an idea or a piece of new technology comes from the West , then it 's not glamorous ... it 's not valid . ''
Microbiologist says he has simple solution to sanitation problems in Lagos . Conversion of septic tanks to biogas generators treats sewage and generates power . Score: 6