Energy Planning and Sustainable Biogas Production Prospect Within Residential Quarters in Developing Countries

Abstract

The prospects of biogas as a major energy option to alleviate the energy needs in Africa is huge based on its teeming population. However, the main source of biogas i.e. human excretal is being neglected, thereby loosing resource worth 500 MW of electricity. This research is geared towards estimating the accruable biogas that can be harnessed in a typical student hostel in a developing country. The data was collected at the main chamber of the hostel. The estimation of the optimized state of methane, hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide is given as 12%, 0.94% and 4.42% respectively. It was also affirmed that the algae growth on the walls of the sewage line is responsible for the low carbon dioxide values. Also, it was reported that the production of hydrogen sulphide gas is predictable, as it is not directly related to the concentration of microorganism in the sewage chamber. This research gives an eye-opener on biogas wastage in developing countries.