Abstract
BackgroundEngineers face increasing pressure to manage and utilize waste (whether of animal, human or municipal origin) in a sustainable way. We suggest that a solution to the problem of organic waste in rural communities lies in their being able to convert it to biogas technology. This would offer smallholders and farmers a long-term, cheap and sustainable energy source that is independent of the national electricity grid. However, although the technology involved in making biogas from waste has already been fully developed, there are obstacles impeding its adoption. First, there is a general ignorance about this source of energy among the very people who can most benefit from using it. Second, at present, South Africa has no regulatory framework to support the installation of biodigesters.MethodsThe research focused on the current gap between knowledge and need. The two objectives were raising general awareness of the many and varied benefits that biodigestion can offer, especially to rural communities, and demonstrating how it works. Using science events as a platform, the team introduced the concept of biodigestion, its functioning and uses, to their audiences, and then invited informal responses, which were recorded. The second stage, the case study, entailed the setting up of a small-scale (10 m3) household biodigester in the Muldersdrift community in Gauteng, South Africa. It was put into operation, using fresh cow dung as the feed. Members of the community were invited to watch every step of the process and afterwards were asked to participate in a more formal survey, which sought their opinions on whether biodigestion offers a power source the individual farmer could (and would) use.ResultsThe results presented in this paper were derived from a comparison of the ‘before-and-after-installation’ responses of the persons interviewed. We found that the members of the Muldersdrift community who had been involved in both phases of the case study (explanation followed by experience of a hands-on educational example) had become more willing to adopt the technology.ConclusionsThe results justified our contention that, to ensure a greater adoption of biogas technology in South Africa, it is necessary to provide targeted communities with educational programmes and exposure to pilot plants.
Highlights
Engineers face increasing pressure to manage and utilize waste in a sustainable way
We looked at demographics concerning race, age and their rating according to the Living Standards Measure (LSM), which is commonly used in South
Results of surveys from Science Expos The survey conducted at the science events revealed that less than 10% of the high school pupils interviewed had any knowledge of biogas technology
Summary
Engineers face increasing pressure to manage and utilize waste (whether of animal, human or municipal origin) in a sustainable way. We suggest that a solution to the problem of organic waste in rural communities lies in their being able to convert it to biogas technology This would offer smallholders and farmers a long-term, cheap and sustainable energy source that is independent of the national electricity grid. The authors reasoned that in order to introduce biogas to South Africans who lack access to a power supply, the first requirement must be to introduce them to the concept of biogas, and the second to teach them how the technology works They started the process by identifying rural communities that did not have access to electricity, with a view to introducing them to the nature and functioning of biodigesters. A collaborative approach was applied throughout, and community members were asked for their views and queries about biodigestion both before and after the pilot digester had been commissioned
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