Small-scale biogas technology in Southeast Asian countries: current state, bottlenecks and perspectives

Biogas produced via the anaerobic digestion (AD) of organic waste materials is considered as an important technology in improving the environment because it solves waste management problems and simultaneously produces biogas as a main product and digestate as a by-product, which can also be used as a fertilizer. Within the rising expectations for the substitution of fossil energy with renewable energy as one of the solutions to cope with climate change, the environmental aspects of small-scale biogas plants, as widely used method for energy creation, should be evaluated in a holistic and systematic way. The use of small-scale biogas plants is mostly common for energy creation from waste in Southeast Asia. This source of energy is mainly lauded for its low costs, clean production and high fertilization effects of digested matter for crops. There are number of advantages of small-scale biogas production on farms, including also savings on firewood or fossil fuels and reduction in odour and greenhouse gas emissions from using other fuels. However, biogas plants are often poorly managed and there is lack of proper distribution systems for biogas. That results in methane being release inadvertently through leaks in digesters and tubing, and intentionally when production exceeds demand. As methane has a global warming potential 25 times higher than that of carbon dioxide, environmental advantages of small-scale biogas plants might be compromised. This dissertation intends to provide in-depth understanding about the issue with taking into accounts possible risks. Investigating of such a topic is within continuing concern about small-scale biogas technology in rural areas of developing countries. For this reason technical, social, economic and environmental assessment of small-scale biogas technology will be done. Methods of data collection will consist of questionnaire survey and focus group discussions among randomly selected owners of biogas plants, semi-structured personal interviews with local authorities and facilitators and observation. Furthermore, prediction of future development of this technology will be created