A multi-criteria decision support tool for the assessment of household biogas digester programmes in rural areas. A case study in Peru

Abstract

Household biogas digesters are a sustainable technology that can help rural families of low income countries meeting their basic energy needs and improving their standard of living. However, household biogas digester programmes are often promoted without any systematic planning which might help to overcome several challenges for household digesters dissemination (e.g. lack of stakeholders' involvement, investment cost, technology reliability and durability, lack of site-specific designs). The aim of this study is to develop and validate, for the first time, a multi-criteria decision support tool for the assessment of household biogas digester programmes in rural areas of Latin America. The method is divided into three decision levels. First of all, the rural communities where household digesters may be implemented are evaluated and prioritized. Secondly, the most appropriate digester model (i.e. masonry or plastic tubular digester) is selected. Finally, the most appropriate household digester design (e.g. volume, materials) is identified considering local conditions and beneficiaries' needs. For that, a set of technical, environmental and socioeconomic criteria were defined and weighted by stakeholders at all the decision levels. Furthermore, the tool was validated using three case studies dealing with the implementation of household anaerobic digesters in rural areas of the Peruvian Andes in order to show how it can assist non-profit organizations designing sustainable and successful biogas digester programmes.

Multicriteria-based methodology for the design of rural electrification systems. A case study in Nigeria

“…First, a set of appropriate criteria is defined. These criteria are then weighted in order to establish their relative importance [42,43]. Next, the electrification alternatives generated in phase 1 are evaluated according to each criterion by assigning a score to each pair criterionalternative.…”

“…This study utilizes the compromise ranking method, due to its proven effectiveness in energy applications in rural areas. In detail, it has been applied to design low-scale electrification systems [21] and biogas digesters for rural areas [43,53]. This method consists of comparing each alternative to an ideal solution, which is an utopian solution that performs optimally for all criteria [54,55].…”

Portable Biogas Digesters for Domestic Use in Jordanian Villages

“…There are over 35 million biogas installations worldwide, with production widely spread in Europe and North America; however, these installations are plant-based, while India and China focus on household biogas production [3]. Those biogas production methods are not applicable for rural areas, so studies in Africa [4,5], Asia [6], and South America [7,8] attempted to adjust biogas production from digesters to meet family needs in rural areas.…”

Emission and Neutralization of Methane from a Municipal Landfill-Parametric Analysis

“…Biowaste fermentation processes are also possible to implement without a centralized system-for instance, in rural areas, contributing to the energy needs of the local communities. Such a solution can improve the living standard of the inhabitants as well as reduce energy consumption [8]. In fact, the generation and disposal of municipal waste is becoming a progressively significant environmental, economic and social issue.…”