The current status of biogas technology in Ghana, a developing country, was explored focusing on factors affecting dissemination of the technology and the associated challenges. Data collection was by personal interview and physical observations, and was conducted between July and October 2017. Non-probabilistic sampling procedures were used to select 61 respondents from 162 users, while 54 digesters were selected from 120 digester sites. The findings revealed that: initial installation and maintenance costs appear high; the needs of most biogas users had not been fully met, thus, they were only partially satisfied with the outcome of the technology; and 21% of the biogas service providers were engineers and 79% from other disciplines (plumbers, masons, carpenters, and graduates from arts, social sciences, business, etc.). These factors affect technology diffusion. In addition, bottlenecks for more intense use of biogas technology that need to be addressed include lack of government subsidies or financial support, poor or unstandardized digester design, lack of gas production, lack of follow-up, lack of maintenance, lack of monitoring, and market value for bio-fertiliser (digestate). It is recommended that financial institutions support individuals and institutions with soft loans to acquire biogas digesters/plants, and that a regulatory body be formed for the activities of biogas service providers in developing countries.

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Evidence abounds that biogas technology has enormous health and environmental benefits, including improvement of community livelihood and health, sanitation, sustainable energy and reduced emissions. In spite of these benefits, intentions to adopt biogas technology are low among household heads in developing countries, notably Ghana. This study aimed to investigate the dynamics of household heads' intentions to adopt biogas technology, based on the theory of planned behavior. The study adopted an exploratory design and collected data from 394 household heads' using questionnaires. It was discovered that attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control are significant predictors and independently contributed to predicting household heads' intentions to adopt biogas technology. Additionally, the study found that, the dynamics of ethnicity and education have a significantly direct effect on household heads' intentions to adopt biogas technology. The study recommends that respected persons in local communities, using Osei-Marfo et al.; JENRR, 4(2): 44-56, 2020; Article no.JENRR.55025 45 different ethnic dialects, lead public education and awareness creation on the benefits of the use of biogas technology. Besides, government should subsidize the cost of biogas plants installation so as to promote its adoption rate. Original Research Article

This paper explored people’s perceptions on the use of human excreta for biogas generation in Ghana using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). It sought to assess the effect of attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control on people’s behavioural intention to use human excreta (HEx) for biogas. Data collection was by questionnaire designed with the TPB constructs and other demographic information, and the analysis was done by structural equation modelling (SEM). The analysis produced two structural models: the standard TPB model and the adjusted model. Based on SEM, this study revealed that the adjusted model provides a useful and effective framework for analysing the interrelationships between socio-demographic variables and the standard TPB constructs than the standard TPB. Therefore, the results show that the effect of attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control are all significant and positive. Though all the constructs were significant and positive, participants showed low perceived behavioural control or they perceive low ability of using HEx for biogas. Results revealed an adequate fit for people’s behavioural intentions to use HEx for biogas. The adjusted model, generated by the inclusion of gender and education into the TPB model, provided a useful and effective framework for the interrelationships between socio-demographic variables and the TPB constructs than the standard TPB. Attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control significantly influenced intentions to use HEx for biogas. Though perceived behavioural control showed low controllability, subjective norm was a major factor with religion being key on intentions to use HEx for biogas generation. Gender and education had no direct significant influence on intentions, but their effects were mediated through the TPB factors. It was further revealed that knowledge on the benefits of biogas as well as the perceived effect of using human excreta was strong and positive. Interventions aimed at promoting the use of HEx for biogas should address low controllability and that should include government subsidy and financial support as well as education to address stigma and HEx knowledge. The intervention should also bring on board important persons such as religious leaders and persons from relevant institutions to lead more open discussions on HEx use for biogas.