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Review of biogas digester technology in rural Bangladesh

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  • Khan, Ershad Ullah
  • Martin, Andrew R.

Abstract

Bangladesh has been facing severe energy crises (lack of electricity and gas supply network) during the last three decades, especially in rural areas. These areas are characterized by their often inefficient use of woody biomass, mainly for cooking purposes. To avoid the resulting environmental degradation and achieve sustainable development, access to clean and affordable energy is essential. Upgrading existing biomass resources (i.e., animal manure, crop residues, kitchen waste and green wastes) to biogas shows significant promise in this respect. This article presents a review of the current status of biogas digester technology in Bangladesh with focus on households in rural areas, covering 75% of the total population. Currently there exists a substantial gap between technical and cost-effective potential and the achievable potential due to lack of technical knowledge, high installation and operation costs, feedstock availability and limited end user applications. As a result only one percent of the overall biogas potential, estimated at 14.5millionm3/yr, has been achieved despite government programs for promoting digester installation. Via in-field surveys this review has identified problems in the construction, maintenance and operation of biogas digesters, particularly in overall performance of household digesters. Based on these results a number of operational and technology improvements are suggested. Three digester implementation scenarios are introduced, and performance and cost estimates are projected to 2040. The most ambitious scenario leads to a five-fold increase in biogas output as compared to today׳s levels; levelized energy costs can be halved with proper choice of digester technology.

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  • Khan, Ershad Ullah & Martin, Andrew R., 2016. "Review of biogas digester technology in rural Bangladesh," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 247-259.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:62:y:2016:i:c:p:247-259
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2016.04.044
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    11. Islam, KM Nazmul & Sarker, Tapan & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad & Atri, Anashuwa Chowdhury & Alam, Mohammad Shafiul, 2021. "Renewable energy generation from livestock waste for a sustainable circular economy in Bangladesh," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    12. Bipasyana Dhungana & Sunil Prasad Lohani & Michael Marsolek, 2022. "Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Food Waste with Livestock Manure at Ambient Temperature: A Biogas Based Circular Economy and Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-16, March.
    13. Abbas, Tahir & Ali, Ghaffar & Adil, Sultan Ali & Bashir, Muhammad Khalid & Kamran, Muhammad Asif, 2017. "Economic analysis of biogas adoption technology by rural farmers: The case of Faisalabad district in Pakistan," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 431-439.
    14. Muhammad Azizuddin & Ahm Shamsuzzoha & Sujan Piya, 2021. "Influence of Circular Economy Phenomenon to Fulfil Global Sustainable Development Goal: Perspective from Bangladesh," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-16, October.
    15. Azevedo, Susana Garrido & Sequeira, Tiago & Santos, Marcelo & Mendes, Luis, 2019. "Biomass-related sustainability: A review of the literature and interpretive structural modeling," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 1107-1125.
    16. Roubík, Hynek & Mazancová, Jana & Rydval, Jan & Kvasnička, Roman, 2020. "Uncovering the dynamic complexity of the development of small–scale biogas technology through causal loops," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 235-243.
    17. Ahmad, Munir & Wu, Yiyun, 2022. "Household-based factors affecting uptake of biogas plants in Bangladesh: Implications for sustainable development," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 858-867.
    18. Jegede, Abiodun O. & Gualtieri, Carlo & Zeeman, Grietje & Bruning, Harry, 2020. "Three-phase simulation of the hydraulic characteristics of an optimized Chinese dome digester using COMSOL Multiphysics," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 530-544.
    19. Sarker, Swati Anindita & Wang, Shouyang & Adnan, K.M. Mehedi & Sattar, M. Nahid, 2020. "Economic feasibility and determinants of biogas technology adoption: Evidence from Bangladesh," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).

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