ISD presents the active research on Homestead Biogas Technology.

ISD is pleased to invite you to the presentation of an active research on a pilot project of homestead biogas technology conducted by J. Torn( Associate Researcher) on Thursday 6th of May, 2010 from 2 pm to 3 pm.  The venue is the ULAB Auditorium (room 601) in the campus A.
The Research paper is under peer review from experts of the FAO, GTZ, SNV etc...and have been welcomed by them. Please find following the synopsis and executive summary of this research -

Synopsis:
"The goal of the project is to incentivize the use of biogas technology in Tentulia upazila through the implementation of an innovative payment plan. Beneficiaries will receive a biogas plant with no down payment and will reimburse the building costs by selling dry bio slurry from the plants to the Kazi and Kazi Tea Estate (KKTE). KKTE will benefit  from this arrangement as well by receiving competitively priced organic fertiliser to meet the its growing needs. It is hoped through this relationship to build an economically and environmentally sustainable framework for the promotion of biogas in Tentulia."

Executive Summary:
The purpose of this Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD) project is to encourage the use of homestead biogas technology in Tentulia. The ISD provided the possibility to acquire a homestead biogas plant without any cash down-payment and to use cow dung and bio slurry as a reimbursement mechanism. Once the beneficiaries reimburse the plants they can continue to sell slurry and their biogas plant will become an income generating asset.  This is the first time in Bangladesh that domestic biogas plants are built with the express purpose of becoming regular income generating assets (IGA) through the sale of dry bio slurry. The initiative is made possible by KKTE’s the large and constantly growing need for organic fertiliser. It is purchasing the bio slurry for use in its tea gardens. Using private sector (KKTE) needs for fertiliser as a basic premise should offer a more sustainable, long term platform for dissemination of domestic biogas in this area.

The project was implemented with the cooperation of two local partner organisations: Grameen Shakti, for the construction of the plants and Kazi Shahid Foundation for the collection of bio slurry as well as monitoring of the project.

The candidates for biogas plants were selected among the members of KSF. A survey was carried out among a narrowed down selection of 12 KSF members.  Out of those surveyed, 2 members expressed interest in acquiring 3.2 m3 plants under the ISD scheme.  The cost of the plant will be fully borne and reimbursed by the beneficiaries.  The ISD project contains the following elements:
1) Pre-selection of potential beneficiaries: all must have at least one cow more than necessary to run the biogas plant in order to minimize the risk of underfeeding. In addition, they had to have completed one successful cow loan with KSF as a way of better ensuring they will be reliable partners.
2) The beneficiary does not have to make any cash payment or down payment for the biogas plant.
3) The beneficiary has the option of reimbursing the plant using solely dry bio slurry and/or cow dung.
4) Once the plant is reimbursed the beneficiary can keep selling dry slurry and start generating income from the biogas plant.

The survey also revealed interesting information regarding attitudes towards biogas. This information sheds new light on the motivations for acquiring biogas plants; in particular with regards to the barriers to buying biogas plants. In Tentulia the main barriers are: 
1) The availability of free, abundant bio mass
2  The overall high levels of poverty
3) Lack of interest in the technology.
 
The study also hints at why programs aimed at disseminating biogas plants have fallen far short of their targets. This has much to do with identifying which households are really potential candidates for biogas.  It would seem that having sufficient cows is not a reliable indicator of whether a household can buy a biogas plant. This study found that farmers, who only have irregular seasonal incomes and often have outstanding loans, were never interested in acquiring a biogas plant. Invariably, those who expressed interest had some outside source of regular income. This seems to be the decisive factor and is correlated by an earlier IDCOL/SNV survey where 97% of biogas plant owners had at least one household member with an outside source of income.

This pilot project has sought to learn from past errors to create a sustainable basis for biogas dissemination in Tentulia. It is hoped that by creating a nexus where private sector needs for bio-fertiliser is the driving force, the ISD can create a synergistic relationship between the different stakeholders in the area whereby organic agriculture, green energy and social development are all mutually reinforced. The fact that this project has facilitated the building of the first two homestead biogas plants for individual households in the area is very encouraging. If the reimbursements are completed on schedule and all the partners are satisfied with the arrangement, there is great potential for expansion of this program.