Socio-economic hurdles to widespread adoption of small-scale biogas digesters in Sub-Saharan Africa: A review

Mwirigi, Jecinta; Balana, Bedru; Mugisha, Johnny; Walekhwa, Peter N.; Melamu, Rethabile; Nakami, Sylvia; Makenzi, P. M.

doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2014.02.018

Cited by 177 publications

(171 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…In many African nations, biogas technology has become an important strategy to provide sustainable energy [3,7,15,[23][24][25]. In Ethiopia, the increasing rate of deforestation coupled with the strident pace of population growth has escalated energy poverty, severe land degradation, and loss of soil fertility [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing the adoption of biogas digesters in rural Ethiopia

et al. 2017

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Background: Increasing energy demands on farm households in Ethiopia have escalated challenges related to land degradation, indoor air quality, and rural economic development. Soil deterioration followed by reduced carbon sequestration compounds the adverse effects of environmental degradation and climate change. The Ethiopian government has disseminated thousands of bio-digesters across rural villages with the hope that introducing biodigesters to rural farm households would address all of these issues. However, there is scant information about how households make energy choices and consequently how the introduction of biogas energy will affect income and the environment in these rural agricultural communities. Therefore, this study aims to verify how biogas energy adopters make decisions about their energy consumption and how biogas energy use compares to traditional alternatives such as firewood, charcoal, and dried animal dung. Methods: Quantitative data were gathered using semi-structured questionnaires of 300 farmers in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, following the collection of qualitative data obtained via focus groups. Using descriptive analysis, we quantified weekly consumption of traditional energy sources and major reasons why households choose each energy source. We estimated a multivariate probit model and conducted correlation tests to verify the use of biogas energy as a substitute or complement for traditional energy sources. Results: Results show that a household's choice for biogas energy was statistically and positively correlated to both firewood and charcoal use. Despite biogas digester adoption in several households, the majority continue to depend upon traditional energy sources. This suggests that overall household energy consumption increases with the availability of biogas digesters. The study reveals that the size of cattle holding, working age, gender, access to electricity, access to credit services, and livestock mobility influence household energy choices. Conclusions: The study concludes that household biogas energy use remains below expectations, even though subsidies make the units affordable for small farmers. We assert that households are more likely to adopt technologies that facilitate cooking food, baking injera, and preparing coffee. Biogas utilization might improve if farmers have access to improved stoves and credit services. However, policy makers also need to consider the possibility that providing access to biogas digesters may actually increase the use of traditional fuel sources and have the reverse effect than that intended.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing the adoption of biogas digesters in rural Ethiopia

et al. 2017

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“…Yet, around 50-80 % failure of the technology was reported in countries such as India, China, Europe, Thailand, Russia and Africa throughout the concern period. Although through extensive societal and governmental pressure, digester farms reached a modest success rates (Mwirigi et al 2014). Feasibility of biomethanation process highly depends on the composition of the feedstock, operating parameters, design of the reactor and microorganisms.…”

Section: Biomethanationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring untapped energy potential of urban solid waste

Vaish

Srivastava

Singh

et al. 2016

Energ. Ecol. Environ.

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There is continuous increase in quantum and variety of waste being generated by anthropogenic activities. Burgeoning amount of waste being generated has potential to harm the environment and human health. Aggravating the problem, ever-increasing energy demand is putting strain on the non-renewable sources of energy and there is huge gap between the demand and supply of energy. This has led the scientific communities to adopt innovative methods to reduce, reuse and recycle them. Therefore, there is an urgent need to minimize the quantity of waste and meet the current demand profile of energy is required; technologies to recover energy from waste can play a vital role in substantial energy recovery and reduction in waste for final disposal; in addition to meet the rising energy requirement. Generating power from waste has greatly reduced the environmental impact and dependency on fossil fuels for electricity generation. Economically also it is an optimal solution for recovery of heat and power from waste. This paper gives an overview of energy potential stored in waste, major available waste-to-energy technologies and also strategic action plan for implementation of these technologies.

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“…Kegagalan penerapan biogas secara teknis biasanya disebabkan: 1) pemilihan jenis digester yang tidak sesuai dengan metode penanganan kotoran dan tata letak peternakan sehingga pemeliharaan dan perbaikannya menjadi mahal, 2) teknologi biogas yang optimum belum diperoleh, 3) operator tidak mempunyai kecakapan atau waktu agar sistem berjalan baik, serta 4) tidak ada penyuluhan, pelatihan, dan bimbingan teknis yang memadai (Haryati 2006;Melse dan Timmerman 2009;Rustijarno 2009;Hartati et al 2012;Mwirigi et al 2014;Herriyanti 2015). Orskov et al (2014) menyarankan agar desain digester dibuat sederhana dan terintegrasi sesuai dengan kultur setempat.…”

Section: Pengembangan Program Biogas Kendala Pengembangan Biogasunclassified

Peluang Pengembangan Biogas Di Sentra Sapi Perah

Dianawati

Mulijanti

2016

J. Litbang Pert.

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ABSTRAKKotoran sapi perah yang tidak diolah dengan benar dapat mencemari lingkungan serta memengaruhi produksi dan kualitas susu. Limbah peternakan ini dapat dimanfaatkan sebagai sumber energi alternatif untuk mensubstitusi kebutuhan energi fosil yang semakin meningkat dan ketersediaannya makin terbatas. Biogas merupakan sumber energi terbarukan yang dihasilkan dari proses pengolahan limbah pertanian maupun peternakan. Makalah ini mengulas alternatif pemanfaatan kotoran sapi perah sebagai biogas. Pengolahan kotoran ternak menjadi biogas memberikan banyak manfaat, yakni sebagai sumber energi alternatif, pupuk organik padat maupun cair, dan pakan ternak, serta dapat memperbaiki sanitasi lingkungan. Oleh karena itu, pembuatan biogas perlu dimasyarakatkan terutama di sentra sapi perah. Biogas lebih murah dibandingkan sumber energi lain sehingga peternak lebih baik berinvestasi membangun digester secara swadaya dibandingkan membeli gas elpiji. Pemerintah dapat memberikan subsidi digester kepada peternak sapi perah untuk mengurangi ketergantungan pada elpiji. Perbaikan teknologi biogas, integrasi sistem biogas dengan produksi pupuk organik, serta sosialisasi dan bimbingan teknis produksi dan pemanfaatan biogas dapat memperluas pengembangan biogas di masyarakat. Peminjaman kredit lunak dari pemerintah maupun swasta juga dapat mendorong pengembangan biogas.

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Socio-economic hurdles to widespread adoption of small-scale biogas digesters in Sub-Saharan Africa: A review

Cited by 177 publications

References 15 publications

Factors influencing the adoption of biogas digesters in rural Ethiopia

Factors influencing the adoption of biogas digesters in rural Ethiopia

Exploring untapped energy potential of urban solid waste

Peluang Pengembangan Biogas Di Sentra Sapi Perah

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