Determinants of biogas technology adoption in southern Ethiopia

Lemma Shallo,Mitiku Ayele,Getachew Sime

doi:10.1186/s13705-019-0236-x

Abstract

BackgroundRenewable energies such as biogas are considered as clean sources of energy that minimize environmental impacts and are sustainable with regard to current and future economic and social needs. Biogas offers an attractive option for replacing the unsustainable usage of traditional energy sources such as firewood, cow dung, and charcoal in developing countries. In Ethiopia, these energy sources have been in decline. To address these challenges, mainly in rural areas, biogas technology has been domesticated since 2009, as seen in the National Program. The purpose of this study is thus to examine factors that influence households' decisions of adopting biogas technology in rural areas in southern Ethiopia.MethodsA sample of 268 households with 134 biogas adopters and 134 non-adopters were surveyed using simple random and purposive sampling techniques, respectively. The data were collected through individual interviews of households using a semistructured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and a binary logistic regression model were used for the data analysis. The binary logistic regression model was applied to identify determinant factors affecting the adoption of biogas technology.ResultsThe results of the study indicated that biogas adopter and non-adopter households had significant mean differences in education level, cattle size, household income, farmland size, number of planted trees as well as the distance to water sources, market places, and firewood sources. Level of education, level of income, access to credit, distance to firewood sources, and access to electronic media had a significantly positive influence on the adoption of biogas technology. Conversely, distance to water sources and access to electricity had a significantly negative influence on the adoption of biogas technology.ConclusionsBiogas technology mostly appears in privileged households having a better socioeconomic status and other resource endowments. The beneficiaries are thus households that can afford the higher initial investment costs for bio-digester installation, maintenance services and purchasing bio-digester spare parts; as well as households that have access to credit facilities, water sources for adequate water supply, markets for purchasing spare parts and electronic media for information, and also households residing far away from firewood sources.

Highlights

Renewable energies such as biogas are considered as clean sources of energy that minimize environmental impacts and are sustainable with regard to current and future economic and social needs
Energy plays a central role in the national development process as a domestic necessity and a major factor of production [1]
This study shows that socioeconomic factors such as the education level of the household head, family income, farm size, and cost of the dairy cattle and farming system have significantly influenced the decision to adopt biogas technology

Summary

Introduction

Renewable energies such as biogas are considered as clean sources of energy that minimize environmental impacts and are sustainable with regard to current and future economic and social needs. In Ethiopia, these energy sources have been in decline To address these challenges, mainly in rural areas, biogas technology has been domesticated since 2009, as seen in the National Program. Energy plays a central role in the national development process as a domestic necessity and a major factor of production [1]. In Ethiopia, the National Biogas Program (NBP) has domesticated small size (4–10 m3) Chinese fixed dome-shape digesters. Such bio-digesters are usually constructed underground and, are suitable for rural households and less vulnerable to damage [6, 7]

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