Pilot Project for the Installation of Domestic Biogas in Peri-Urban Zones of the city of Bamako

Abstract

In Mali, approximately 92% of household and small industry energy needs are met with wood and charcoal. In peri-urban regions, where small farmers supply cities with food products, wood resources are especially over-exploited. Bamako, Mali’s capital, has doubled in size in the past 20 years, and has placed a huge strain on the wood resources of this area. Loss of vegetation cover, leading to desertification in a country that is already one-third desert, is a major problem in this area. Biogas offers one possible solution to this energy problem in farming regions, since it converts livestock waste into a combustible gas, and also produces high-quality fertilizer. However, prior to this project most efforts to promote biogas systems have failed. This was primarily because these biodigestor models were made of metal, which requires skilled metalworkers and access to electricity to operate the tools, needed to produce them. In addition, the metal would rust in due to the wet weather. The government has made numerous efforts to address the situation since 1970, but these projects were not well coordinated. In 1990, the government formulated a new, National Domestic Energy Strategy, and gained international financial backing. It is in this context that the Mali Folkecenter, an offshoot of the Danish renewable energy organization called the Folkecenter, began its biogas project