International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 4, Issue3, March-2013 1
ISSN 2229-5518
Dissemination of Domestic Biogas Plants in
Bangladesh - Current State, Problems faced and
Barriers
Muhammad Riazul Hamid, Mohammad Nazmul Haque, M.A. Rouf, M.S.Islam
Abstract— The aim of this research is to evaluate the state of the dissemination drives for biogas plants in Bangladesh. The dissemination drive was initiated by a number of organizations long ago. For the last few years, Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) established in 1997 is playing the central role for dissemination of biogas plants in concert with other stakeholders. The number of installations per year has risen significantly during the last five years. In this article, current state of success is assessed. As on December
31, 2012 total number of installed plants has reached 65,317. This article also identifies major barriers to dissemination and problems faced by the people. According to a report published by Institute of Fuel Research and Development (IFRD) under Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) which inspected 429 plants in 29 districts to evaluate the conditions of biogas plants installed by them. Among the installed plants 64.31% were found to be in operation.
Index Terms— Bangladesh, Barriers, Biogas, Biogas plants, Dissemination, Renewable energy
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Bangladesh is predominantly an agrarian economy. Agricul- tural sector still dominates the economy accommodating ma- jor rural labor force. Traditionally biomasses have been used as fuel in rural communities but prevailing situation is putting huge pressure on already diminishing forest resources in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has limited proven natural gas re- serve but for its energy need it hugely depends on imported fossil fuel. With the increase in the fuel price in the interna- tional market and reduction of gas reserve in the country, Bangladesh is forced to look for alternative sources of energy i.e., renewable energy resources. The government of Bangla- desh has recently taken some renewable energy friendly poli- cies to accelerate rapid dissemination of renewable energy technologies.
Although investment costs of renewable are generally higher compared to fossil fuel alternatives, this option becomes eco- nomically viable when all externalities (e.g. environmental cost, health hazards etc.) and lower operating cost are taken into consideration. Biogas mainly from animal and municipal wastes may be one of the promising renewable energy re- sources for Bangladesh. It is a potential source to harness basic biogas technology for cooking, rural and peri-urban electrifica- tion to provide electricity during periods of power shortfalls [1]. However with the agricultural base and cattle population
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Mohammad Nazmul Haque is an Assistant Director IDCOL and Senior
Programme Manager, National Domestic Biogas and Manure Programme.
M.A. Rouf is a Principal Scientific Officer at Institute of Fuel Research &
Development, BCSIR, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
M.S. Islam is a Senior Scientific Officer at Institute of Fuel Research &
Development, BCSIR, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
in Bangladesh, generation of biogas for use in cooking, light- ing and generation of electricity looks promising.
Currently biogas is being used mainly for cooking and light-
ing purposes in rural areas. There have been some experi- ments on the use of biogas to generate electricity or drive irri- gation water pumps.
Traditionally, censuses on livestock in Bangladesh usually show the total number of cattle instead of household-wise number of cattle. It makes difficult to find out number of bio- gas plants that could be built. At least four cows are required in a household for the smallest size of plant with production capacity of 1.2 m3 which will be feasible. As on 30th June 2011, there were approximately 23.12 million cattle in Bangladesh and the annual growth rate is 0.3% [2].
However, a feasibility study in 2005 carried by SNV (Neder- land’s Development Agency) shows that as per the 1996 cen-
sus by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), holdings with 3-
4 heads was 2,111,498 and with holdings with 5 heads and
above was 952,872 [3]. So, the total number of plant that could
be built as per SNV report was 3,064,370.
Major organizations like Infrastructure Development Compa- ny Limited (IDCOL), Grameen Shakti (GS), and BCSIR are currently engaged in dissemination of domestic biogas plants in Bangladesh.
IDCOL a government owned company, established in 1997 is playing the central role for dissemination of biogas plants in Bangladesh. In 2006, IDCOL launched a large scale extension program on domestic biogas plant through 30 partner organi- zations. Starting from 2006 to December 31, 2012, they have so
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 4, Issue3, March-2013 2
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far constructed total 26,311 biogas plants all over Bangladesh. IDCOL is promoting biogas plants of sizes 1.2 m3, 1.6 m3, 2 m3,
2.4 m3, 3.2 m3 and 4.8 m3 both for cattle and poultry owners. Biogas plants of size 2.4 m3 are most common. Table 1 shows
TABLE 1
SIZE, CATLE/BIRDS REQUERED AND COST OF BIOGAS PLANTS
FINANCED BY IDCOL.
It shows a continuous rise in the number of installations marking the success of this current drive. However, a slight drop in number is observed in 2011. This is due to the pro-
longed rainy season in 2011 which restricted the construction
Plant Size
(m3)
No of
Cattle/Bird
Total
Cost (Tk.)*
Subsidy (Tk.)
of biogas plants.
2.0 4/300 33,000 9,000
2.4 6/350 35,000 9,000
3.2 8/450 39,000 9,000
Grameen Shakti a private company launched its biogas pro- gram in 2005. They have constructed around 7,000 biogas
4.8 12/700 45,000
* Exchange rate as on January 2013, Tk. 1 = US$ 0.012
9,000
plants in the country under their own program. Recently, Grameen Shakti is providing technical and financial support
the costing and cattle requirements for different sizes of plants.
The cattle farm owners are using biogas mostly for cooking and lighting, whereas layer chicken farm owners having over
6,000 birds are encouraged to use biogas for generating elec- tricity as well. Table 2 shows plant capacities and hours of
TABLE 2
CAPACITY OF BIOGAS PLANTS (COW DUNG BASED) FOR COOK- ING (SOURCE: IDCOL)
for the generation of electricity using biogas.
GS also works as a partner organization of IDCOL for con- struction of small family size biogas plants i.e. 1.6 - 4.8 m3 of gas production per day. They have so far constructed over
11000 biogas plants as partner organization under IDCOL’s
program.
Under various programs BCSIR has been engaged in the in- stallation of 22,334 domestic biogas plants across the country. Institute of Fuel Research and Development (IFRD), BCSIR has started a biogas dissemination project called “Mitigation of
Number of Cattle
Daily Requirement
of cowdung (kg)
Productin
Capacity (m3)
Hours of
Operation
Carbon Emission and Extension of Alternative Energy usage through dissemination of Biogas Plant and Improved Cook
4 30-35 1.2 2-3
5 40-45 1.6 3-4
6 50-55 2.0 4-5
7 60-65 2.4 5-6
10 80-85 3.2 6-8
14 120-130 4.8 10-12
operation of cooking stoves for small scale farmers rearing 4 –
14 cattle.
Fig. 1 shows year-wise number of installed biogas plants un- der IDCOL program.
Stove” funded by Climate Change Trust Fund, Climate
Change Unit under Ministry of Environment and Forest. IFRD is to disseminate 2800 domestic biogas plants in seven districts by seven agencies.
As on 31 December 2012, a total of around 65,317 biogas plants
TABLE 3
ORGANIZATION-WISE INSTALLATIONS
Organization Number
IDCOL 26,311
BCSIR 22,334* GS (outside of IDCOL) 7,000** NGOs and Others 9,672
Total 65,317
*This figure does not include BCSIR’s latest ongoing project
**Approximate figure
have already been installed in Bangladesh. Table 3 shows the number of domestic biogas plants installed by major organiza- tions in Bangladesh as of December 2012.
Fig. 1 Year-wise installations by IDCOL
Fig. 2 shows the total numbers of biogas plants installed in each five year period starting from 1981 up to 2010. We ob-
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ISSN 2229-5518
serve a rapid growth from 1995. It may be attributed to the rise in price of kerosene and fire woods.
Fig. 2 Five-yearly installations of biogas plants in Bangladesh
Furthermore, due to the increased participation of woman in development activities in the rural areas, finding time for col- lection of branches of tree, twigs and leaves became difficult. These are the major reasons for farmer turning to biogas plants as an alternate source of energy. The Fig. 3 shows cu- mulative number of biogas plants from 1985 to December 2012 in Bangladesh.
Fig. 3 Cumulative number of biogas plants installed in Bangla- desh
Key barriers of biogas technology dissemination included un- certainties about post-warranty services, high initial costs, technical difficulties, scarcity of feedstock and the general re- duction in the number of domestic animals, particularly cows. Inadequate gas production was one of the most common prob- lems facing biogas users. As a result of inadequate gas supply, household’s often resorted to use traditional cook stoves to meet their cooking needs [4].
Although large-scale plant production appears economically and financially feasible, several key issues must be addressed. First, it is unclear whether the subsidy culture that character- ized past programs will create future difficulties. Second, it is likely that biogas plants will benefit better-off households
more than the poor [5]. Third, the number of potential plants is unknown. The daily amount of cow-dung required for cook- ing three meals a day is known, however reports conflict re- garding the number of cattle owned by rural households [6]. Sometimes, the rainy season prolongs in Bangladesh and high water table limits the construction season to six to seven months per year. The idea of attaching the latrine to the biogas plant is not getting social acceptance among the rural people due to unawareness of health and environmental benefits.
IFRD, BCSIR has inspected 429 plants in 29 districts to evalu- ate the present status of biogas plants installed by them. Among the installed plants 64.31% were found to be in opera- tion, 21.80% were non-functioning due to lack of raw materials and rest 13.89% had some technical and other problems such as availability of natural gas, migration of the plant owners to other places etc. [7]. Frequent complaints have been pointed out in the IFRD report; such as masons not using good-quality raw materials during plant construction, incorrect plant di- mensions. Some other technical problems, such as the cow dung not making into the digester and frequent breakdown of the mixing device. After-sales support was not adequate in many cases, and as a consequence the users stopped paying their monthly installments. Some also sold off their cows due to financial problems. As per this report, it may be concluded that 35.69% of installed plants are not functioning. If this find- ing is taken into consideration and considered as the case countrywide then the operating plants may amount to approx- imately 42,000.
For the last three years, IDCOL has succeeded to build around
5,000 - 5800 plants per year. Unless the capacity of the partner organizations of IDCOL is increased significantly, it will take much longer time to realize the full potential biogas plants in Bangladesh. In November 2011, IFRD of BCSIR has taken up a project for setting up 2,800 new plants. If other organizations like LGED, DLS etc. having previous experience of running similar projects, also join this drive with uniform approach of design, construction technology and subsidy, then the process of dissemination will get a significant boost.
Technology behind biogas plants has now reached a matured stage in Bangladesh. A large number of technical personnel for construction and maintenance of domestic biogas plants have already received training over the past 30 years. Farmers are beginning to appreciate the manifold benefits from biogas plants. The role of IDCOL as the leading organization in the dissemination of biogas plants has been highly appreciated by all stakeholders in Bangladesh. It is right time to engage other government and nongovernment organizations who are work- ing in this field with IDCOL to promote this technology at the rural level, so that the whole potential of biogas generation can
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be realized and also the dependency on imported fossil fuel can be reduced.
The support from Noora Farhana and Rasel Shahriar from IDCOL during compilation of this manuscript is gratefully acknowledged.
[1] Renewable Energy Policy of Bangladesh, 6 November 2008.
[2] Personal communication with Dr. Ruhul Amin, Livestock Statistical Officer, Department of Livestock Services, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock.
[3] SNV, 2005. Feasibility of a national program on domestic biogas in
Bangladesh: Final report.
[4] World Bank, 2011. Improved Cook stoves and Better Health in Bang- ladesh: Lessons from Household Energy and Sanitation Programs.
[5] Ghimire, Prakash C. 2005. “Final Report on Technical Study of Bio-
gas Plants installed in Bangladesh.” Report submitted to National Program on Domestic Biogas in Bangladesh (partnership of Nether- lands Development Organization and IDCOL), Dhaka.
[6] BBS (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics) 2005. Report of the Agricultural Sample Survey of Bangladesh, vol. 1. Dhaka: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
[7] Institute of Fuel Research and Development, 2011, Annual report, BCSIR.
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