Factors affecting households' decisions in biogas technology adoption,the case of Ofla and Mecha Districts,northern Ethiopia

This study examined the factors that influence households' decisions on adoption of biogas technology in northern Ethiopia. It involved 179 biogas-user and 179 non-user sample households. They were selected using proportionate simple random and purposive sampling techniques, respectively. Data were collected mainly using semi-structured questionnaires. Data analyses employed logistic regression model. The results of the study showed that male-headed households are more likely to adopt the technology than female-headed ones. Educational level, heads of cattle, income level, access to credit, distance to the main fuelwood source, and number of planted trees have significant (p < 0.01) positive influences on adoption of biogas technology. Significant (p < 0.01) spatial variations are also obtained between the two study sites. Furthermore, the interaction effects of a few pairs of explanatory variables were found significant (p < 0.1). Empowering females and female-headed households, improving educational levels of the household heads, increasing cattle size, raising income levels, improving access to credit, and encouraging households to plant more trees are likely to be some of the way forward to increase the adoption of the technology. Considering the spatial variations, ensuring the creation of satisfied biogas-users, upgrading the existing biogas model through addition of ‘injera’ stove can also enhance adoption of biogas technology.     

Biogas energy from family-sized digesters in Uganda: Critical factors and policy implications

Dependence on fossil energy sources is increasingly becoming unsustainable due to ecological and environmental problems and rapid depletion. Biogas energy could augment these conventional energy sources but despite its advantages and favourable conditions for its production, biogas energy use in Uganda remains low due to technical, economic and socio-cultural impediments. Based on primary data on households in Central and Eastern Uganda and the use of logistic regression, this study analyses factors affecting the adoption of biogas energy in Uganda. The empirical results suggest that the probability of a household adopting biogas technology increases with decreasing age of head of household, increasing household income, increasing number of cattle owned, increasing household size, male head of household and increasing cost of traditional fuels. In contrast, the likelihood of adoption decreases with increasing remoteness of household location and increasing household land area. Policy options and recommendations including educational and awareness campaigns on biogas benefits and successes, the provision of financial and non-financial incentives to households and establishment of an institutional framework could bolster wider biogas energy acceptance in Uganda.     

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

The unsustainable use of fossil fuels has led to increased awareness and widespread research on the accessibility of renewable energy resources such as biogas. Biogas is a methane rich gas that is produced by anaerobic fermentation of organic material. Despite its potential to replace biomass in Africa, where over 70% of the households use wood fuel and agricultural waste for cooking, biogas technology has not been adopted by Sub-Saharan African countries compared to their Asian counterparts. This paper examines the socioeconomic constraints to adoption of biogas in Sub-Saharan Africa and explores factors that could enhance adoption of the technology. These include standardization and quality control, as well as an approach of integrated farming using biogas and slurry. The article recommends mobilization of local and external funds to promote biogas, use of ready to use funds such as the Clean Development Mechanisms in overcoming the initial construction costs of biogas units, and formation of user and disseminator associations to reduce costs by joint procurement and linkage to finance. It further advocates the promotion of multiple uses of biogas for purposes other than cooking and lighting. It is expected that widespread adoption of the technology could lead to self-sufficiency in household energy provision for cooking. This would facilitate environmental management and economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa.     

Determinants of functional status of family size bio-digesters: empirical evidence from southern Ethiopia

The main objective of this study is to investigate factors that determine the functionality of bio-digesters in southern Ethiopia. Data were collected through personal interview of adopter households using a semi-structured questionnaire and focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Results indicated the proportion of the functional status of digesters was ‘never operate’ (17.9%), ‘poor’ (19.4%), ‘fair’ (18.6%), ‘good’ (17.2%) and ‘excellent’ (26.9%). Sex of household head, household total income, institutional technical follow-up and support, and level of satisfaction with the biogas programme service significantly and positively influence the functionality of bio-digesters. Whereas, distance from residence to water source and to the nearest market for appliances significantly and negatively influence the functionality of digesters. Advances in these perspectives could improve the functionality of bio-digesters, the reputation of biogas technology among members of communities as well as help ensuring a sustainable energy security in rural Ethiopia.     

Household level innovation diffusion model of photo-voltaic (PV) solar cells from stated preference data

We focus on predicting the adoption time probabilities of photo-voltaic solar panels by households using discrete choice experiments and an innovation diffusion model. The primary objective of this research is cohesively mapping the theory of disruptive innovation into diffusion of innovations to aid policy makers by linking two critical uncertainties of new technology: (1) whether households prefer the new attributes of the new technology and how these preferences vary by market segments? and (2) when are they going to adopt (if at all)? Our study uses recent developments of discrete choice experiments and establishes a causal link between the attributes of the technology, attitudinal constructs and socio-demographics, and adoption time probabilities using the Bass diffusion model. The data was collected from Ontario, a province of Canada. The innovation diffusion model allows us to compute the cumulative probability of adoption over time per household. Technology awareness and energy cost saving have a significant effect on the adoption probability, reinforcing the need for effective education. These findings also suggest that campaigns should explain more about investment criteria, feed-in tariffs and environmental attributes. This study findings call for a need to use seeding strategies to accelerate exogenous Word-of-Mouth (WOM) for this new technology.     

The environmental benefits of domestic biogas technology in rural Ethiopia

This study examined the diverse environmental impacts of domestic biogas technology in rural Ethiopia. It employed a cross-sectional survey approach involving a total of 358 sample biogas-user and non-user households. The results of the analyses showed that the substitution of traditional biomass fuels and kerosene with biogas energy enabled the biogas-user households to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on average by about 1.9 t of CO₂ equivalents per digester per year. The reduced use of chemical fertilizer also assisted GHG emission reductions. Moreover, the technology helped in reducing depletion of woody biomass through improving efficiency of energy use and energy substitutions. It assisted in improving the fertility of soil via reducing biomass removals as fuel and the direct use of nutrient enriched bio-slurry. Furthermore, the reduced biomass removals contributed to carbon sequestration. To further enhance the diverse environmental benefits of the technology, proper and uninterrupted operation and utilization of the biogas technology should be ensured; skillful and standby biogas technicians should be present at reasonable distances to provide maintenance and aftersales services. An operational platform for joint stakeholders' actions should also be in place to assist in exploiting its full potential, and seeking and realizing the carbon reduction financial incentive for the households.     

Dairy farming and biogas use in Rungwe district, South-west Tanzania: A study of opportunities and constraints

This study examined the opportunities and constraints of biogas use in Rungwe district, South-west Tanzania. Two hundred households with and without biogas facilities were selected randomly from four villages. Structured, semi-structured and open-ended discussion was used to gather information. Findings show a number of opportunities for biogas technology adoption including large numbers of indoor-fed cattle and inadequate firewood in the district, which has increased its cost of such commodity. Households generally spend an average of TShs. 20,656.50 per month or TShs. 247,876.8 per annum for energy. The demand for biogas (90%) among respondents is high and the energy policy as well as donor community favour the promotion of energy efficient technologies such as biogas. Constraints encountered in establishing biogas plants were found to include unaffordability (75%) and water scarcity. Also there is inadequate expertise where some of the biogas plants have been poorly constructed leading to ineffective performance. There is also a small proportion of the respondents who admitted that they had heard nothing about biogas technology. It is being suggested that credit should be available as well as developing affordable biodigestors. Communal biogas should be encouraged to reduce the cost per unit and the government should undertake the improvement of water services.     

Biogas: A promising renewable technology and its impact on rural households in Nepal

Nepal, one of the least developed countries, is characterized by very low per capita energy consumption. Because of a lack of other commercial sources of energy, the country relies heavily on traditional fuel source, especially firewood. In order to solve the energy problem in rural areas, the country initiated production and distribution of several renewable energy technologies. Among several technologies, biogas has been proved to be viable and emerged as a promising technology. It has been one of the most successful models for the production of clean, environmental friendly, cost effective source of energy and has multiple benefits. In this paper we present the current state and discuss benefits of the biogas technology in Nepal. Improved health, increased crop productivity, saved time for women are some of the major benefits to the users. It provides economic benefit to the country through reduced deforestation and carbon trading. In addition, by reducing green house gas emission, the technology helps in mitigating global warming and climate change. Thus biogas is a renewable, sustainable and clean source of energy that provides multiple benefits; locally and globally. With some exception, cattle dung has been used primarily as an input and the technology is limited to households only. More systematic and comprehensive study supported by research and development is required to use other degradable waste such as municipal waste to produce biogas on a large scale.     

Drivers of renewable technology adoption in the household sector

Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we undertake a simultaneous assessment of the importance of factors that are individually found to be significant for the adoption of renewable energy systems by households but are not yet tested jointly. These are sociodemographic and housing characteristics, environmental concern, personality traits, and economic factors; i.e. the expected costs of and revenues from the investment. Our results suggest that household decisions to invest in photovoltaic systems and solar thermal facilities are mainly driven by economic factors. Taking account of sociodemographic and housing characteristics, environmental concern, or personality traits has comparatively little relevance, while the quantitative nexus between the decision to invest and returns on the investment is robust to their inclusion.     

Stoves or sugar? Willingness to adopt improved cookstoves in Malawi

Malawi has set a target of adoption of two million improved cookstoves (ICS) by 2020. Meeting this objective requires knowledge about determinants of adoption, particularly in rural areas where the cost of traditional cooking technologies and fuels are non-monetary, and where people have limited capacity to purchase an ICS. We conducted a discrete choice experiment with 383 households in rural Malawi asking them if they would chose a locally made ICS or a package of sugar and salt of roughly equal value. Six months later, we assessed adoption and stove use patterns. Sixty-six percent of households chose the ICS. We find that having a larger share of crop residues in household fuel supply, awareness of the environmental impacts of woodfuel reliance, time the primary cook devotes to collecting fuelwood, and peer effects at the village-level increase the odds of choosing the ICS. Having a large labor supply for fuelwood collection and experience with a non-traditional cooking technology decreased the odds of choosing the ICS. In a rapid assessment six months after stoves were distributed, we found 80% of households were still using the ICS, but not exclusively. Our findings suggest considerable potential for wide-scale adoption of low cost ICS in Malawi.     

Hybrid application of biogas and solar resources to fulfill household energy needs: A potentially viable option in rural areas of developing countries

The absence of clean cooking facilities and electricity means billions of rural people are deprived of much needed socioeconomic development. Livestock residues (dung) and solar radiation are two renewable energy resources that are abundantly available in rural areas of developing countries. Although it is not feasible for these two resources separately to meet both thermal (cooking) and electricity demands, hybrid applications have not been given due attention. To facilitate integrating these two resources in rural energy planning, and to promote their dissemination through hybrid applications, it is necessary to evaluate their economic merits, and assess their ability to deal with the demands. In this paper, we examine the techno-economic performance of hybrid applications of these two resources by applying a simulation technique using the HOMER tool, and by giving derived cost-saving equations. We also quantify the monetary savings from replacing traditional fuels, and perform a sensitivity analysis on a number of variables (e.g. dung cost, fuelwood cost) to see how they affect the performance of different energy supply alternatives. Furthermore, we examine the practical applicability of the biogas system in the households through a structured survey of 72 ongoing household biogas plants. This study finds that households that have between three and six cattle can potentially meet their cooking and electricity loads through a hybrid implementation of biogas and solar PV (Photovoltaic) system. By replacing conventional fuels households can achieve savings that are more than the total annualized costs incurred for installing new services.     

4m3商品化户用玻璃钢沼气池的实际运行效果

在云南省已试验示范和推广了4m^3商品化户用玻璃钢沼气池1000多口，基本上能够解决5口之家的日常生活用能，使用管理方便，深受农户欢迎。实际运行的统计分析表明，平均年产沼气600m^3以上，原料产气率为0．377m^3/kg，沼气的甲烷含量超过65％。     

Impact of single versus multiple policy options on the economic feasibility of biogas energy production: Swine and dairy operations in Nova Scotia

The economic feasibility of on-farm biogas energy production was investigated for swine and dairy operations under Nova Scotia, Canada farming conditions, using net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and payback period (PP) economic decision criteria. In addition, the effects of selected environmental and “green” energy policy schemes on co-generation of on-farm biogas energy production and other co-benefits from anaerobic digestion of livestock manure were investigated. Cost-efficiencies arising from economies of scale for on-farm anaerobic biogas production were found for swine farms, and less so for dairy production systems. Without incentive schemes, on-farm biogas energy production was not economically feasible across the farm size ranges studied, except for 600- and 800-sow operations. Among single policy schemes investigated, green energy credit policy schemes generated the highest financial returns, compared to cost-share and low-interest loan schemes. Combinations of multiple policies that included cost-share and green energy credit incentive schemes generated the most improvement in financial feasibility of on-farm biogas energy production, for both swine and dairy operations.     

Rural wood consumption patterns of local and immigrant households with differentiated access to resources in Xishuangbanna,Yunnan, China

In Xishuangbanna, China, rubber production has spread rapidly, resulting in extensive land use changes and an increasing influx of migrant workers who have come to find work on the plantations. These migrant workers have limited access to subsidies and the local collective forest due to the household registration system in China called hukou. To assess how these policy-based restrictions on access affect wood consumption and local communities, a case study was conducted in Manlin village, Xishuangbanna, undertaking a household and weight survey with local and immigrant households. The results show no significant difference in firewood consumption between the subpopulations, despite predominantly more local than immigrant households have access to subsidised alternative energy sources. On the other hand, limited access to the collective forest is found to influence the choice of housing materials and living standards in immigrant households as they cannot access timber or afford brick houses. This paper highlights rural issues connected to the hukou system and suggests that rural energy and resource policies should take the growing population of immigrant workers into consideration in future to expand the reach of the polices to the de facto and not only de jure rural population and thus optimise policy efficiency.     

Household level domestic fuel consumption and forest resource in relation to agroforestry adoption: Evidence against need-based approach

The need-based approach (assuming that higher consumption of tree products would motivate farmers to adopt agroforestry) has led to uneven success, in many cases failure, of many agroforestry projects. Current study investigated the association between fuelwood and forest resource use, and agroforestry adoption based on a survey of 401 households in the Indian Western Himalaya. Data on household domestic fuel utilisation and forest resource use were collected using a questionnaire in personal interviews. Agroforestry adoption increased significantly with increase in distance of nearest State forest from the house, distance travelled to collect fuelwood, and consumption of cattle dung, crop residues, charcoal, kerosene and liquid petroleum gas as domestic fuels by the household. Agroforestry adoption was also significantly higher in households with non-forest than those with State forests as primary source of fuelwood and timber. The proportion of adopters decreased significantly with increase in quantity of fuelwood used for domestic consumption, frequency of collection from State forests, total domestic energy consumption, fuelwood dependency, timber consumption and availability of timber through rights of households on State forests. Logistic regression analysis revealed that none of the factors related to need (quantity of fuelwood and timber used) appeared in the model but primary source of fuelwood, distance travelled to collect fuelwood and availability of timber through rights on the State forests appeared as important factors. This implies that need of the tree products is not a necessary condition to motivate farmers to adopt agroforestry, rather, it is accessibility of tree products which influence agroforestry adoption.     

Norwegian households’ perception of wood pellet stove compared to air-to-air heat pump and electric heating

In 2003, the high dependency on electric heating combined with the high electricity price prompted a significant number of Norwegian households to consider alternative heating systems. The government introduced economic support for wood pellet heating and heat pumps. In contrast to the fast growing heat pump market, this financial support has not resulted in a widespread adoption of wood pellet heating. This paper studies factors that influence the choice of heating system based on Norwegian households’ perceptions. Electric heating, heat pump and wood pellet heating were compared, with a special focus on wood pellet heating. This study was conducted as a questionnaire survey on two independent samples. The first sample consisted of 188 randomly chosen Norwegian households, mainly using electric heating; the second sample consisted of 461 households using wood pellet heating. Our results show that socio-demographic factors, communication among households, the perceived importance of heating system attributes, and the applied decision strategy all influence the Norwegian homeowners. The significance of these factors differs between the two samples and the preferred type of anticipated future heating system. Strategies for possible interventions and policy initiatives are discussed.     

Who benefits from energy policy incentives? The case of jatropha adoption by smallholders in Mexico

Understanding the distribution of policy incentives is important in evaluating the impact of promotion programmes. This study investigates the allocation of economic subsidies to jatropha cultivation by using adoption models at both the community and household levels in Chiapas. At the community level, we compared socioeconomic and environmental variables of the communities that adopted jatropha to non-adopters. At the household level, 420 farm households were surveyed to analyse both the determinants of adoption and the extent of adoption (i.e. hectares dedicated to jatropha). The variables determining adoption were analysed at both levels using generalised linear models. The extent of jatropha adoption was assessed using ordinary least squares multiple regression. Quantitative data was complemented with key stakeholder interviews and focus groups. Results show that subsidies tend to be allocated to larger, better-connected communities which have access to better services. Within adopter communities, the subsidy is distributed among households that have more resources, better risk-coping strategies, better access to information, more experience with similar technologies and whose attitude towards risk is positive. This study provides lessons that can be useful for the introduction of new energy crops to better reach the target group and ultimately achieve the aims of energy promotion strategies.     

Popularizing household-scale biogas digesters for rural sustainable energy development and greenhouse gas mitigation

Biogas utilization has undergone great development in rural China since the government systematically popularized household-scale biogas digesters for meeting the rural energy needs in the 1970s. In order to comprehensively estimate the significance of biogas utilization on rural energy development and greenhouse gas emission reduction, all types of energy sources, including straw, fuelwood, coal, refined oil, electricity, LPG, natural gas, and coal gas, which were substituted by biogas, were analyzed based on the amount of consumption for the years from 1991 to 2005. It was found that biogas provided 832749.13 TJ of energy for millions of households. By the employment of biogas digesters, reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) was estimated to be 73157.59 Gg CO₂ equivalents (CO₂-eq), and the emission by the biogas combustion was only 36372.75 Gg CO₂-eq of GHG. Energy substitution and manure management, working in combination, had reduced the GHG emission efficiently. The majority of the emission reduction was achieved by energy substitution that reduced 84243.94 Gg CO₂, 3560.01 Gg CO₂-eq of CH₄ and 260.08 Gg CO₂-eq of N₂O emission. It was also predicted that the total production of biogas would reach to 15.6 billion m³ in the year 2010 and 38.5 billion m³ in the year 2020, respectively. As a result, the GHG emission reductions are expected to reach 28991.04 and 46794.90 Gg CO₂-eq, respectively.     

Contrastive study between the biomass energy utilization structure and the ecotype energy utilization structure in rural residences — A case in Hunan province,China

The purposes of this study are to look into the actuality of rural residential energy consumption in Hunan province, China, to improve rural residential energy utilization structures, and to protect the environment. An investigation on rural residential energy consumption was carried out in the villages of Xintian and Jiangwan in the spring and summer of 2005. Biomass energy is used in Xintian while biogas is popularized in Jiangwan. A questionnaire survey covered basic information of residences in the two villages, and energy consumption data of each family in the spring and summer were also recorded continuously. The characteristics of energy utilization structures of the two villages, the one with biomass energy utilization structure and the other with the ecotype energy utilization structure, are contrasted, and seasonal variance characteristics of energy consumption in spring and summer are analyzed. Sequentially, influence factors of rural residential energy consumption are further discussed qualitatively and quantificationally. Environmental benefit is assessed finally when biogas substitutes biomass energy. Conclusions are summarized as follows: In Xintian, a complicated energy structure is still dominant, where biomass energy accounts for a significant proportion and manifold energy resources exist simultaneously; the energy consumption is high; categories of energy resources used by households vary between spring and summer. The energy structure is definitely better in Jiangwan, where the ratios of commercial energy and ecotype energy used are both higher than those in Xintian and the ratio of biomass energy is smaller. Categories of used energy resources are also more constant in spring and summer. The total energy use amount of each season in Xintian is larger than that in Jiangwan respectively, while there is little difference in the efficiency energy use amount of each season between the two villages. Qualitative and quantitative analyses show that the accessibility of local energy resources, the domestic economical level, governmental energy policies, and consumption conceptions of farmers affect energy utilization structures definitely, while the efficiency of cookers, the number of family members, and annual income have effect on energy consumption amounts. Environmental analysis shows that the usage of biogas makes a great contribution in optimizing the energy consumption structure, reducing energy consumption, discharging less harmful gases and keeping the ecosystem in balance. The comparison between biomass energy and ecotype energy provides instructions for future development of rural residential energy consumption in China.     

Knowledge and adoption of solar home systems in rural Nicaragua

Solar home systems (SHSs) are a promising electrification option for many households in the developing world. In most countries SHSs are at an early stage of dissemination, and thus face a hurdle common to many emerging alternative energy technologies: many people do not know enough about them to decide whether to adopt one or not. This study uses survey data collected in Nicaragua to investigate characteristics that predict the knowledge and adoption of SHSs among the rural population. First, a series of probit models is used to model the determinants of four measures of SHS knowledge. Next, a biprobit model with sample selection is employed to investigate the factors that predict SHS adoption, conditional on having sufficient knowledge to make an adoption decision. Comparison of the biprobit formulation to a standard probit model of adoption affirms its value. This study identifies multiple determinants of SHS knowledge and adoption, offers several practical recommendations to project planners, and provides an analytical framework for future work in this policy-relevant area.