Biogas technologies provide organic fertilizer and sustainable energy to increase crop yield, supply households with safe energy and lighting. Previously, Ethiopia experienced energy and environmental crisis due to the sustained reliance on woody biomass to satisfy energy and other needs. Currently, the situation has been improving using biogas technologies.
The biogas energy can be produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste or food waste bio-gas energy that can be produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste or food waste as it renewable energy.
The introduction of biogas technology has benefited more than 25,000 household. Temesgen Tefera, National Biogas Program (NBP) Manager told The Ethiopian Herald that since 2009 nearly 25,000 biogas plants have been installed in various parts of the country. “And it has been helping to improve the living condition of the community, particularly of women and children by reducing domestic workload.”
The use of domestic biogas has been triggered by the energy crisis in Ethiopia and the suitability of the technology with in the physical geography. However, the dissemination has been affected mainly by economic instability, poverty, illiteracy and other factors. Also, many Ethiopian farmers are trapped in a lock-in, where due to their limited purchasing power they cannot afford the niche technology; at least in the way it is being disseminated.
According to Temesgen, within the emerging bio-gas sector, the NBP designated a diverse set of actors to contribute to the implementation of the niche technology. However, their alignment is poor and the private sector involvement is passive. Private sector expectations have had to be lowered because targets were not met. Also, learning processes are not optimal.
In Ethiopia, the largest segment of the population is located in rural areas and their main source of income comes from agriculture. The rural population is the main energy consumer in Ethiopia and satisfies most of their energy needs with woody biomass.
The extensive demand for firewood has caused an energetic and environmental crisis since most of the forest coverage has been depleted over the last 40 years. This undermined firewood availability, soil fertility and the preservation of aquifers. Ethiopian farmers have to spend more resources to have access to fuel wood, but now the situation is improving than ever before.
Recently, the Ethiopian Gove- rnment with the help of the SNV Development Organization from the Netherlands launched the National Bio-gas Programme (NBPE) with the aim to up-scale the use of domestic bio-gas technology in the country. The bio-gas sector has led to the dissemination of over 25,000 bio-digesters so far. The application of bio-gas technology is also contributing to meet the agendas of the green economy.
In the long term the project aimed to strengthen national capacity to tap the renewable energy resources available in the country and encourage technological innovation, optimization and adoption for a green economy.
As bio-gas serves as a source of lighting, clean cooking, organic fertilizer, and emissions reduction, the office has planned to benefit 36,000 householders residing in eight states till 2020, Temesgen stated. Technical problems, absence of coordination & promotion and less engagement of the private actors are some of the hindering factors that contributing for underdevelopment of bio-gas technology in Ethiopia.
Noting the country’s abundant livestock potential, Temesgen said that any farmer who has four and more heads of cattle could be the beneficiary of technology, but it needs water accessibility.
According to surveys, 4.1 million households across the country can access bio-gas. “This is an untapped energy potential,” The promotion and dissemination of NBP will be implemented through the active participation of different stakeholders such as government, private sector, civil society, cooperatives, donors and users.
Bio-gas can also be a source of foreign currency through carbon finance. “For instance, if the country installs bio-gas technologies in 39,000 households, we can earn over 8.1 million USD per year from World Bank as it will enable the country to reduce a significant amount of carbon emission,” he said.
Basically, bio-gas technology has a tremendous health, social, technological and financial importance. The reduction of forest cover was primarily due to use of wood for cooking and heating purposes. This trend is reversed by the introduction of bio-gas technology especially in rural areas where deforestation was the lonely way to obtain energy.
Bio-gas generation not only transforms waste into value added green energy, but also improves hygienic conditions for promoting health, besides generates organic manure for sustainable agriculture.
The Ethiopian Herald September 26, 2019
BY TSEGAYE TILAHUN
