Abstract
The government of Rwanda through its Ministry of Infrastructure (MININFRA), the authority in charge of energy has initiated different initiatives aimed at finding long term solutions to energy shortage in the country where no investment has been done the last 20 years in electricity generation. Among these solutions, biogas has been identified as one of the sector to be developed. Energy plays a major role in development process of every country. This research is conducted in order to handle energy shortage problems in secondary schools located in rural areas by using a modern biogas. To achieve the aims of this research, the field survey was conducted at G. S de Ntarama and data about numbers of students and teachers, type and amount of waste produced, and impacts of lack of electricity on education were collected through interviews and questionnaires. The data were analyzed and the size of digester was estimated to be 118.524 m<sup>3</sup>. In addition to reducing the emission of carbon dioxide to 7 times lesser than which is emitted by firewood, it was also found that the use of biogas proves to be economical by covering the cost of firewood consumed in one month to five months. The produced energy allocated both in lighting for 4 hours and cooking for 3 hours was proved to be more advantageous and cost effective. The use of modern biogas contributes to the quality of education, environmental protection, agriculture productivity, and improve the lives of Rwandan people in general.
Highlights
The Government of Rwanda is landlocked with few natural resource and minimal industry
The dependence on fossil fuel as primary energy source has led to global climate change, environmental degradation and human health problems [3]
126 Marie Judith Kundwa et al.: Contribution of Modern Biogas Plant to Energy Source and Environment Protection in Rwanda cooking and lighting reduces the strain on the environment by decreasing the use of biomass and the production of greenhouse gases
Summary
The Government of Rwanda is landlocked with few natural resource and minimal industry It is increasing looking at alternative sources of energy to power the country given the energy deficit. Today due to global efforts of displacing the fossil fuels used for energy production and the necessity of finding environmentally sustainable solutions for the treatment and recycling of animal manure and organic wastes [4]. 126 Marie Judith Kundwa et al.: Contribution of Modern Biogas Plant to Energy Source and Environment Protection in Rwanda cooking and lighting reduces the strain on the environment by decreasing the use of biomass and the production of greenhouse gases (as methane that is produced normally from manure is captured and used). Traditional firewood cooking causes faster depletion of biomass resources and increases the time that women require in collecting firewood. The modern uses of biomass take the advantages of modern biomass conversion technologies (combustion, pyrolysis, gasification, fermentation, anaerobic digestion) for production of heat and electricity, liquid and gaseous transportation fuel, biogas for cooking etc. [11]
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