Social Impact Assessment of the Apollonia Model Village Biogas Project

Social Impact Assessment ProgrammeThis study presents the status of biogas usage in Apollonia and discusses the scope for future action on similar projects. The study reveals that the enthusiastic attitude toward the biogas technology among the people of Apollonia has waned considerably in recent times. The reasons for this situation has been examined, a major factor being the need to highlight the link of biogas with the main economic activity of the village. It was also felt that the project did not identify and work with women as the direct users of biogas for cooking. In addition, far from minimising the workload, the technology has increased the time for cooking whereby most of the biogas user households continue to collect the same quantity of firewood in addition to using biogas. Recommendations towards achieving optimum conditions for the development and transfer of the biogas technology are presented. The strategy underlying these recommendations, sees rural development as a total mix within which the energy factory is one aspect