Biogas Bonanza for Third World Development

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20 Jun 2005 20:49:55 -0000

Biogas Bonanza for Third World Development

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ISIS Press Release 20/06/05

 

 

Biogas Bonanza for Third World Development

 

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Biogas, a by-product of farmyard waste-treatment, has

emerged as a major boon for Third World countries, bringing

health, social, environmental, and financial benefits Dr.

Mae-Wan Ho

 

 

Biogas energy, readily available, cheap and decentralized

 

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 1997 Report,

Energy After Rio: Prospects and Challenges [1] identified

community biogas plants as one of the most useful

decentralized sources of energy supply. Unlike the

centralized energy supply technologies, such as power plants

based on hydroelectricity, coal, oil or natural gas, that

have hitherto been the only choices open to rural

communities, biogas plants do not require big capital to set

up, and do not pose environmental problems that excite

public opposition. Instead, in most cases, they offer

solutions to existing environmental problems, and many

unexpected benefits besides.

 

The organic materials needed for producing biogas in an

anaerobic digester are readily available in developing

countries. These include firewood, agricultural wastes and

animal wastes. Many countries have large cattle and buffalo

herds producing tonnes of manure. Traditionally, these

wastes are carefully collected in India and used as

fertilizer, but the increasing scarcity of firewood has

forced many villagers to burn dung-cakes in cooking their

food.

 

As biogas plants yield good quality sludge fertilizer, the

biogas fuel and/or electricity generated is an additional

bonus. And this has motivated the large biogas programmes in

a number of developing countries, starting with China.

 

 

Overcoming early obstacles

 

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China began mass adoption of biogas in 1975 under the slogan

" biogas for every household " . Within the first few years,

1.6 million digesters were constructed annually, but these

were of low quality; and by 1980, half of all digesters were

not in use and the rate of adoption had slowed. By 1992,

only 5 million family sized plants were still operating,

many of them redesigned to avoid leakage [2].

 

In India, as in China, a too-rapid implementation policy in

the early 1990s exceeded the capacity of India's research

and development organizations to produce reliable designs

and to optimise digester efficiency. The situation has

improved since, especially with the introduction of a low-

cost polyethylene tubular digester. Now, everyone in India

installing a biogas plant has the right to an allowance paid

by the central government [3].

 

In a report, Biogas in India: A Sustainable Energy Success

Story [4], the authors identified women and children as the

major beneficiaries of biogas in India, where every year,

200 000 families turn away from the traditional fireplace

and have a biogas plant installed to provide energy for

cooking and lighting. By 2000, more than 2 million biogas

plants have been built in India and almost 200 000 permanent

jobs created.

 

India's early difficulties and recent success is being

replicated in countries such as Nepal [5], Sri Lanka [6] and

Vietnam [2].

 

In Vietnam, as in other developing countries - Colombia,

Ethiopia, Tanzania, Cambodia and Bangladesh - the

polyethylene tubular digester was promoted to reduce

production cost by using local materials and simplifying

installation and operation. The resulting low-cost digester

has been well received by poor farmers, especially when

farmers participate fully in the necessary maintenance and

repair work. Within ten years, more than 20 000 polyethylene

digesters were installed and mainly paid by the farmers

themselves. However, the digesters are still not fully

integrated into the farming system, as there is only limited

use of the effluent as fertilizer for fish and crops ( " Dream

farms " , this series). There are also potentials for

improving the digester for greater efficiency, ease of

maintenance and durability. More cooperation between

scientists and farmers and credit systems for poor farmers

to install digesters will also help to increase the adoption

rate.

 

In Sri Lanka, biomass accounts for 45% of the country's

energy needs, with petroleum and hydroelectricity supplying

41% and 14% respectively [7]. Sri Lanka's economy is still

largely based on agriculture. A major constraint to

production is the increasing cost of fertilizer, while solid

waste, mainly organic, is collected and disposed at a large

number of unprotected sites, affecting the health of the

poorest.

 

Although biogas digesters have been introduced in Sri Lanka

since the 1970s, poor design, lack of maintenance skills and

insufficient capacity to deal with the problems meant that

only a third of the 5 000 units installed functioned

properly [6]. The Intermediate Technology Development Group

(ITDG) started a project in 1996 to improve the success rate

of the units on a national level by setting up demonstration

units to help spread information, restoring abandoned units

and training users to operate and maintain them. In

addition, individual farmers get help to install biogas

units on their farms to make use of the manure from their

cows.

 

Mr. Ratnayake is one of the lucky farmers. With nothing more

than cow dung, he now has enough power to cook with, iron

the laundry and provide heat and light for his home without

using a single piece of wood. All he has to do is to collect

the manure from his cows in a specially adapted cattle shed

where they feed, mix it with water and leaves it to ferment

in a large concrete tank or pit. The gas produced is

collected in a simple storage tank, from where it is piped

into his house to use.

 

The women and children, freed from firewood collection and

from cleaning smoke-blackened utensils and the disposal of

animal waste, gain some two hours a day for other

activities. About 80% now use this time to earn extra income

that currently accounts for approximately 24% of the

family's monthly income. Another advantage of using biogas

is that there is very little waste from the process and it

is environmentally friendly.

 

The dried manure left after biogas is generated is richer

than ordinary manure and makes a fantastic organic

fertilizer for Mr. Ratnayake's crops, which he can sell at a

higher price as organic produce.

 

 

 

Biogas brings numerous benefits

 

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The many benefits of biogas are now generally recognized. It

has resulted in a smoke-free and ash-free kitchen, so women

and their children are no longer prone to respiratory

infections, and can look forward to longer, healthier lives.

Women are spared the burden of gathering firewood, a load of

60-80lb per week, which can take up to one day a week. That,

and the practice of containing livestock for manure

collection, which might otherwise graze in the forest, both

contribute to protecting the remaining forests and allowing

the forests to regenerate.

 

The sludge remaining after digestion is richer in valuable

nutrients than the animal manure, providing vegetables,

fruits and cereals with a top quality fertilizer that

guarantees better crops.

 

In rural areas where there is otherwise no electricity

supply, biogas has enabled women to engage in evening study,

literacy classes and other home and community activities.

 

Cattle dung is no longer stored in the home, but is fed

directly to the biogas digester along with toilet waste. The

anaerobic digestion process also destroys pathogens. As a

result, sanitation has greatly improved.

 

 

Carbon trading bonanza

 

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There are other benefits for countries that decide to adopt

biogas. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change has set up a Clean Development Fund, and the World

Bank has put together a Carbon Finance Unit to allow rich

countries, which are pumping more carbon into the atmosphere

than is allowed under the Kyoto Protocol, to buy emissions

that poor countries prevent through conserving forests or

promoting renewable energy. An article in the Nepali Times

[8] pointed out that Nepal's successful biogas programme not

only brought farmers a non-polluting fuel, conserved forests

and provided high quality fertilizer for crops; it can make

the rest of the world pay hard cash for not burning firewood

to release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

 

About 85% of the fuel used in Nepal comes from biomass

sources like firewood, animal manure and agricultural

residue. The remainder, kerosene, diesel or liquefied

petroleum gases. Its biogas programme would not have been

possible if the users had not received subsidies. Each

biogas unit costs $300 to set up, but the government pays

one-third of the amount.

 

Nepal's biogas programme is internationally regarded as a

model for successful use of alternative energy for the rural

Third World. Nepal has now overtaken China and India in the

number of biogas plants per capita. Each of its 125 000

functioning digesters prevents five tonnes of carbon dioxide

equivalents from being pumped into the atmosphere every

year. This `saved' greenhouse gas is what rich countries are

buying to offset their own emissions, and is worth US$5

million. This money can be invested back into clean energy

that would make Nepal eligible to trade even more carbon

offset to rich polluters.

 

" We have an initial agreement with the World Bank, " said

Sundar Bajgain, executive director of the Biogas Support

Project, which has played a leading role in installing

biogas plants in private houses in 66 districts across the

country. The biogas model can be applied to other renewable

energy sources such as hydropower (under 15MW, as

recommended by the International Panel on Climate Change)

and solar power to reap rewards from carbon trading.

 

Admittedly, paying cash to poor countries not to burn

firewood is a measure of desperation for rich countries like

the United States, which, at 4.6 percent of the world's

population and growing, is responsible for 25 percent of

global greenhouse gas emissions due to human activities [9].

It would make much better sense for developed countries to

cash in on the benefits of biogas themselves ( " Bug power " ,

this series), as they also have greater capacity for

research and development to optimise the production and use

of biogas.

 

 

 

 

 

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