Returns, setbacks, and future prospects of bio-energy promotion in northern Ethiopia: the case of family-sized biogas energy

Abstract

Background: Solid biomass-based energy is expected to retain its position as a sole fuel source for households in the rural part of Ethiopia unless alternative energy sources are introduced. Synthesizing small-scale renewable alternative energy sources, such as biogas energy, into the energy mix has become an important strategy to overcome the energy hunger of its rural residents. As part of the government policy, small-scale biogas digesters have been installed in selected districts and regions of the country since 2007. There is, however, limited evidence on whether or not the intended objectives of the domestic biogas initiative have been actualized by the participants of the project. This paper, therefore, intends to investigate the economic benefits of domestic biogas plants along with the challenges facing it and future prospects of the biogas initiative in selected districts of northern Ethiopia. Methods: Qualitative data were gathered using focus group discussion and key informant interviews. A survey of 400 households was also administered to capture cross sectional data using structured questionnaires. The qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. A propensity score matching model was employed to evaluate the effects of domestic biogas technology on energy expenditure, crop yield, and the substitution of chemical fertilizers. Results: The study finds that biogas adopters have reduced their monthly energy expenditure on average by 20-36%. Moreover, the existence of a positive crop yield premium of 1.5 quintal/year/household was observed as a result of using bio-slurry as a fertilizer. The key factors that limit the extension of biogas technology to potential biogas adopters are the presence of failed digesters, an inadequate plot of land for the digester construction and a water availability problem. In light of such barriers, however, the study finds that more favorable environments for the widespread use of the technology exist. Conclusions: Biogas user households have significantly reduced their energy expenditure compared to non-biogas adopters. Nevertheless, despite the modest increase in crop yield, the overall effect of bio-slurry application on crop productivity and substituting chemical fertilizers was not significant because of an improper bio-slurry utilization and management.

The current status, challenges and prospects of using biomass energy in Ethiopia

“…According to Sime (2020), these challenges include the limited technical skill of installation and maintenance service masons, weak institutional responsibilities of implementation units, insufficient and high maintenance service, poor and malfunctioning success stories, and the unwillingness of users to own and maintain installed digesters. In addition, the major obstacles constraining the implementation of the NBPE are high initial investment costs, inflation in the cost of raw materials for the construction and installation of bio-digesters, and limitations in the size of loans [ 70 , 80 , 84 – 86 ]. Similarly, in SSA, inadequate distribution strategies, lack of project monitoring and follow-up by promoters, poor ownership responsibility by users, are major challenges to biogas technology domestication programs [ 87 ].…”

Biochemical methane potential of agro-wastes as a renewable source alternative for electrical energy production in Cuba

“…In this sense, biogas, biodiesel, and bioethanol are some of the candidate alternative fuels from biochemical transformations receiving wide attention because of their inherent "green" potential (Koryś et al, 2019;Martínez-Gutiérrez, 2018;Nzila et al, 2010). Nevertheless, in terms of technological and social-economic considerations, biogas technology is preferred due to its economic feasibility (Kelebe, 2018), sustainability potential (Guerini Filho et al, 2019), and ability to meet all the Sustainable Development Goals (Clemens et al, 2018;Dada & Mbohwa, 2018;Yasmin & Grundmann, 2020). Also, biogas technology is a mature technology and offers a very appealing route to utilize diverse categories of biomass (Martínez-Gutiérrez, 2018;Theuerl et al, 2019) and the inherent biowaste for meeting energy needs as well as contributing to resource and environmental conservation.…”

“…With the development of decentralized swine production, anaerobic digestion technology has played a crucial role in treating manure to obtain biogas for energy purposes, fundamentally for cooking (Kelebe, 2018;Nevzorova & Kutcherov, 2019). Nevertheless, despite the experiences in the subject, in the authors' opinion, several criteria have contributed to the low efficiency of these technologies, which has limited their use for power energy purposes, including a) the use of Chinese and Indian technologies, whose designs do not take into account agitation (intermittent, mechanical or biogas), b) the limited use of inoculums or active sludge (Li et al, 2010), and c) the minimal physical-chemical and microbiological control of the process.…”

Energy efficiency in an integrated agro-ecosystem within an acidic soil area of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

“…In Germany, family farms use biogas plants as an important economic sector for rural sustainable development [7]. Biogas, as a renewable energy source, can be a supplement for other fossil fuels popular in rural areas [8][9][10]. A study of Yang and Chen [11] shows the experiences of energy analysis linking agricultural and biogas systems.…”