Empirical study on influencing factors of biogas technology adoption in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abstract

Climate change caused by global warming, and the growing scarcity of nonrenewable energy sources, have driven Pakistan to shift from a traditional energy consumption pattern to a renewable-energy-use pattern. The per capita energy consumption in rural Pakistan is very low, especially in rural areas heavily relying on traditional energy sources. This paper presents the extent of biogas technology adoption by Pakistani rural households and the factors affecting their decision to adopt the technology in three selected districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The data were collected by interviewing 480 respondents by using a pretested and designed questionnaire. The results show that the household adoption rate of biogas technologies is low. The factors affecting the adoption decision of households included household income, access to credit, cultivated land area, the number of cattle in the household, education, and family size. The study also found fundamental barriers to the household adoption of biogas technologies, such as a lack of proper technical services by implementing organizations and insufficient governmental support. The authors make recommendations based on the findings to increase the adoption rate of biogas technologies in rural Pakistan.

Determining the Influencing Factors of Biogas Technology Adoption Intention in Pakistan: The Moderating Role of Social Media

“…Biogas is the fourth leading energy source in the world that provides almost 14 percent of primary energy and power [2]. Biogas is one of the best alternates of fossil fuel, fuel wood, agricultural residues and animal dung, which are mostly used as energy and cooking sources in rural areas.…”

“…The concept of environmental sustainability and protection has become a major topic in research and policy agendas in the past few decades because climate change is the most critical factor that causes adverse impacts on the sustainable development of the global economy [1]. Environmental deterioration, the increasing demand for energy, and the scarceness of nonrenewable sources of energy have forced countries to shift from the conventional sources of energy to renewable energy sources worldwide [2]. Renewable energy techniques address environmental issues and provide sustainable solutions for such energy problems [3].…”

“…However, there are still a limited number of biogas plants in the country (approximately 5357), even though the country has an enormous potential to install many more plants [20]. In spite of social and environmental benefits, the adoption rate of biogas technology in Pakistan is extremely low [2,3]. Hence, at this juncture, it is valuable to understand potential factors that trigger biogas technology adoption [2,20] particularly in the context of a developing country [3] such as Pakistan.…”

Perceptions of the Impact of Biogas: A Case Study from Pakistan’s Southern District Muzaffargarh

“…These sources of cooking and lighting fuels are not only expensive on the budgets of the people but also are a potent source of creating environmental pollution. Further in national context the country each year end upon spending almost 7-8 billion US$ on importing fossil fuels [20,21]. Much of this expenditure could be cut down if only the use of biogas in every village is made compulsory [22].…”

Challenges and potential to adopt biogas technology: A case study of Faisalabad, Pakistan

“…on the adoption rate of rural Pakistani communities to build, accept and practice successful biogas plant applications. Few of the studies such as (Iqbal et al, 2013), (Abbas et al, 2017), (Amir et al, 2020) and (Ashraf et al, 2019) are found in literature focusing in biogas with special reference to Pakistan. However, these studies were mainly focused on adoption of biogas technology.…”