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Scaling and commercializing mobile biogas systems in Kenya: A qualitative pilot study

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  • Sovacool, Benjamin K.
  • Kryman, Matthew
  • Smith, Taylor

Abstract

This study investigates the benefits and challenges facing an innovative biogas system being commercialized in Kenya by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Biogas International. From 2011 to 2014, IFAD and Biogas International have distributed 500 flexi-biogas system (FBS) units to rural Kenyan households. Based on a comprehensive review of project documents and the peer-reviewed literature, supplemented with in-country research interviews, this study details the history, benefits, and challenges facing the dissemination of these FBS units. We highlight how FBS devices have the potential to address climate-energy-agriculture vulnerabilities and also generate income and improve social resilience. We conclude that although the benefits of FBS adoption cut across dimensions, scales, and sectors, the policies needed to support them must be concomitantly synergistic and multidimensional.

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  • Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Kryman, Matthew & Smith, Taylor, 2015. "Scaling and commercializing mobile biogas systems in Kenya: A qualitative pilot study," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 115-125.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:76:y:2015:i:c:p:115-125
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2014.10.070
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    2. Constantin Stan & Gerardo Collaguazo & Constantin Streche & Tiberiu Apostol & Diana Mariana Cocarta, 2018. "Pilot-Scale Anaerobic Co-Digestion of the OFMSW: Improving Biogas Production and Startup," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-15, June.
    3. Karanja, Alice & Gasparatos, Alexandros, 2019. "Adoption and impacts of clean bioenergy cookstoves in Kenya," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 285-306.
    4. Hamid, R.G. & Blanchard, R.E., 2018. "An assessment of biogas as a domestic energy source in rural Kenya: Developing a sustainable business model," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 368-376.
    5. Wekesa, David Wafula & Wang, Cong & Wei, Yingjie, 2016. "Empirical and numerical analysis of small wind turbine aerodynamic performance at a plateau terrain in Kenya," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 377-385.
    6. Zhang, Quanguo & Hu, Jianjun & Lee, Duu-Jong, 2016. "Biogas from anaerobic digestion processes: Research updates," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 108-119.
    7. Edwina Fingleton-Smith, 2022. "Smoke and mirrors—the complexities of cookstove adoption and use in Kenya," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 3926-3946, March.
    8. Khalid Zaman & Aqeel Ahmad & Tengku Adeline Adura Tengku Hamzah & Mariney Mohd Yusoff, 2016. "Environmental Factors Affecting Health Indicators in Sub-Saharan African Countries: Health is Wealth," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 129(1), pages 215-228, October.

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