Abstract
Abstract The current status of biogas technology in Ghana, a developing country, was explored focusing on factors affecting dissemination of the technology and the associated challenges. Data collection was by personal interview and physical observations, and was conducted between July and October 2017. Non-probabilistic sampling procedures were used to select 61 respondents from 162 users, while 54 digesters were selected from 120 digester sites. The findings revealed that: initial installation and maintenance costs appear high; the needs of most biogas users had not been fully met, thus, they were only partially satisfied with the outcome of the technology; and 21% of the biogas service providers were engineers and 79% from other disciplines (plumbers, masons, carpenters, and graduates from arts, social sciences, business, etc.). These factors affect technology diffusion. In addition, bottlenecks for more intense use of biogas technology that need to be addressed include lack of government subsidies or financial support, poor or unstandardized digester design, lack of gas production, lack of follow-up, lack of maintenance, lack of monitoring, and market value for bio-fertiliser (digestate). It is recommended that financial institutions support individuals and institutions with soft loans to acquire biogas digesters/plants, and that a regulatory body be formed for the activities of biogas service providers in developing countries.
Highlights
The United Nations in its report (2011) stated that there is a need to provide sustainable energy for all, especially in developing countries, to satisfy rapid energy demand growth due to the rapid population growth and to reduce the negative impacts of climate change
23 household biogas digesters were surveyed in Greater Accra while 11 were identified in the Central region
The major challenges observed with the household digesters include poor digester design, absence of access to digester effluent because they are connected to soakaway, lack of a desulphuriser to clean the gas due to ignorance of its importance by both the service providers and users, failure of gas production even though gas was generated initially, absence of a biogas stove ( LPG stoves were being used), and lack of maintenance
Summary
The United Nations in its report (2011) stated that there is a need to provide sustainable energy for all, especially in developing countries, to satisfy rapid energy demand growth due to the rapid population growth and to reduce the negative impacts of climate change. It is a biological technique employing anaerobic digestion or processing as a means of treating organic or biodegradable matter (biodegradable solid waste, sewage, animal dung, faecal matter). It takes place in the absence of oxygen, to stabilise the organic matter with simultaneous biogas production. Bensah et al (2011) reported that the first period of biogas technology development in Ghana involved the training of local engineers and technicians in the design, construction and management of biogas plants, in a government sponsored project. In Ghana, artisans seem to have taken over the technology and this may be one reason why many biogas plants have failed to perform as expected
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