Potential Use of Biogas to Initiate Low Carbon Society in Thekelan Village-Indonesia

Abstract

Thekelan Hamlet is one of the tourist hamlets in Kopeng District, Semarang Regency, Indonesia, which is near the Gunung Merbabu National Park area. Furthermore, the potential of biomass from the livestock and agricultural sectors in this village has not been well utilized. The purpose of this study is to determine the amount of energy use in the Thekelan hamlet, and analyze the potential use of renewable energy (biogas) to substitute conventional electricity. The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative combined with IPCC default methods based on a questionnaire from 40 respondents taken randomly. The result of the research shows that the use of energy sources from fuel wood is 9, 830 kg and LPG is 215.5. The number of cattle in the hamlet of Thekelan is 70 heads and 34 goats. The largest GHG emissions are generated from the use of fuel in animal husbandry activities with a value of 0.206 Gg CO2e/year while the lowest GHG emissions from LFG utilization activities are 0.008 Gg CO2e/year. The total emissions of all activities are 0.599 Gg CO2e/year. The use of biogas as an alternative energy is known to be able to reduce GHG emissions by 34.3% because the substitution of fuel wood and LPG is transferred to the use of biogas. This research is expected to be a stimulant and basic data for the realization of low carbon energy conscious villages.