Household energy economics in rural Ethiopia: A cost-benefit analysis of biogas energy

Gwavuya, S.G.; Abele, Steffen; Barfuss, Isabel; Zeller, Manfred; Müller, Joachim

doi:10.1016/j.renene.2012.04.042

Cited by 113 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Subsidy schemes for biogas systems already exist in several developing countries which make it possible for rural households to switch to cleaner fuels. Household biogas systems in Ethiopia enjoy subsidies of between 34-36% of the investment cost from the National Biogas Programme Ethiopia, depending on the size of the digester (Gwavuya et al, 2012). Prior to the year 2000, Chinese states subsidized biogas production through the provision of more land for farming, free technical and labour services, or supplied all the cement needed for construction which often accounted for 30% of the total cost (Ghimire, 2013).…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling the socio-economic impacts of modern bioenergy in rural communities in Ghana

Kemausuor

Bolwig

Miller

2016

Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments

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This study analyses ex-ante socio-economic impacts of biogas systems using a remote rural community in Ghana as a case study. An analysis was performed for a 300 m 3 bio-digester that relies on crop residue and animal manure as feedstock to produce methane gas for cooking using selected bioenergy economic and social indicators. With a 10 percent discount rate, a 30 year bio-digester lifetime and methane tariff starting at US$ 0.7/m 3 , the project will have a Net Present Value of approximately US$ 22,000, 16 year payback and an Internal Rate of Return of 11%. The project will create 4 full time unskilled labour positions during the investment year and 3 positions during operation years. Using methane from the bio-digester for cooking will displace approximately 170 tonnes of firewood per year and save the women in the community a total of 3,400 hours per year not fetching firewood. However, only 5% of households are willing to pay the base tariff of US$ 30 /m 3 with up to 60% willing to pay less than half the monthly tariff. To make tariffs affordable to rural households, there is the need for subsidy schemes from government or relevant agencies.

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Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling the socio-economic impacts of modern bioenergy in rural communities in Ghana

Kemausuor

Bolwig

Miller

2016

Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments

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“…The first phase was between the years 2009-2013 when Ethiopia planned to install 14,000 biogas digesters, out of which 57.6% is achieved [55]. The installation of the digesters is based on the subsidy schemes where about 60% of the total costs (about 8,000 ET birr) are born from the households [55,56]. The feasibility assessments for the program require households to have at least four cows [21].…”

Section: Opportunities and Challenges Of Using Bio-wastes As Cooking mentioning

confidence: 99%

Bio-Wastes as an Alternative Household Cooking Energy Source in Ethiopia

Tucho

Nonhebel

2015

Energies

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Abstract:Up to the present day, wood has been used to supply the needs for cooking in rural Africa. Due to the ongoing deforestation, households need to change to other energy sources. To cover this need, a large amount of people are using residues from agriculture (straw, manure) instead. However, both straw and manure also have a function in agriculture for soil improvement. Using all the straw and manure will seriously affect the food production. In this paper we first determine the amount of energy that households need for cooking (about 7 GJ per year). Then we estimate the amount of residues that can be obtained from the agricultural system and the amount of energy for cooking that can be derived from this amount when different conversion techniques are used. The amount of residues needed is strongly affected by the technology used. The traditional three stone fires require at least two times as much resource than the more advanced technologies. Up to 4 ha of land or 15 cows are needed to provide enough straw and manure to cook on the traditional three stone fires. When more efficient techniques are used (briquetting, biogas) this can be reduced to 2 ha and six cows. Due to large variation in resource availability between households, about 80% of the households own less than 2 ha and 70% holds less than four cows. This means that even when modern, energy efficient techniques are used the largest share of the population is not able to generate enough energy for cooking from their own land and/or cattle. Most rural households in Sub-Saharan Africa may share similar resource holding characteristics for which the results from the current findings on Ethiopia can be relevant. OPEN ACCESSEnergies 2015, 8 9566

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“…The technology is envisaged as a de-centralized energy source for improved livelihood and a source of organic fertilizer. The Ethiopian national biogas program installed about 8,000 household biogas units (4 to 10 m 3 ) in 2009-2013 [12,13]. Most of the biogas digesters are fed with cow dung or latrine waste.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogas Potential of Coffee Processing Waste in Ethiopia

et al. 2018

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Primary coffee processing is performed following the dry method or wet method. The dry method generates husk as a by-product, while the wet method generates pulp, parchment, mucilage, and waste water. In this study, characterization, as well as the potential of husk, pulp, parchment, and mucilage for methane production were examined in biochemical methane potential assays performed at 37 • C. Pulp, husk, and mucilage had similar cellulose contents (32%). The lignin contents in pulp and husk were 15.5% and 17.5%, respectively. Mucilage had the lowest hemicellulose (0.8%) and lignin (5%) contents. The parchment showed substantially higher lignin (32%) and neutral detergent fiber (96%) contents. The mean specific methane yields from husk, pulp, parchment, and mucilage were 159.4 ± 1.8, 244.7 ± 6.4, 31.1 ± 2.0, and 294.5 ± 9.6 L kg −1 VS, respectively. The anaerobic performance of parchment was very low, and therefore was found not to be suitable for anaerobic fermentation. It was estimated that, in Ethiopia, anaerobic digestion of husk, pulp, and mucilage could generate as much as 68 × 10 6 m 3 methane per year, which could be converted to 238,000 MWh of electricity and 273,000 MWh of thermal energy in combined heat and power units. Coffee processing facilities can utilize both electricity and thermal energy for their own productive purposes.

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Household energy economics in rural Ethiopia: A cost-benefit analysis of biogas energy

Cited by 113 publications

References 17 publications

Modelling the socio-economic impacts of modern bioenergy in rural communities in Ghana

Modelling the socio-economic impacts of modern bioenergy in rural communities in Ghana

Bio-Wastes as an Alternative Household Cooking Energy Source in Ethiopia

Biogas Potential of Coffee Processing Waste in Ethiopia

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