DIFFUSION OF BIOGAS TECHNOLOGY: A COMMUNITY BASED APPROACH

Abstract

The scarcity of energy in rural Bangladesh is already acute and bears little sign of improvement. Energy from commercial sources accounts for only 8.6% of all energy used in the domestic sector and again which is not uniformly distributed. Only a small number of villages have access to electricity. Complete rural electrification will entail high transmission and distribution costs. Biomass is used recklessly. Irrational and unplanned exploitation of biomass resources is resulting in environmental degradation. Biogas technology can be a partial but significant solution to these and many other problems of energy. It is a simple technology generally referred to as ‘intermediate’, which has every prospect to have an extensive use in Bangladesh. But adoption of biogas technology does not end with the construction of a plant, rather it requires proper planning with respect to creation of social and economic acceptability apart from technology diffusion. At present the Government of Bangladesh is encouraging only the ‘single-owner’ plants, where only a segment of population (specifically the rich who have 5-6 cows) have the access to derive its benefit. But it would be comparatively economic to construct larger plants for community use as well as to bring a large group of population under its’ benefit. But adoption of community approach, by its’ very nature and because of the intended use, will require such activities as mobilisation of community supported by, awareness building, supervised credit, training of users regarding operation and maintenance etc. Before undertaking such activities, decisions regarding technical details, institution-building etc. should be arrived at the national level. Thus since biogas technology is a ‘new arrival’ to the traditional way of living, some planned activities will have to be taken initially. Mass adoption of the new technology will not only be a significant step forward to meet the challenge of acute energy crisis but will also be an affective measure to environmental protection.