IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/enreec/v72y2019i3d10.1007_s10640-018-0224-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Waste Not: Can Household Biogas Deliver Sustainable Development?

Author

Listed:
  • Robyn Meeks

    () (Duke University)

  • Katharine R. E. Sims

    () (Amherst College)

  • Hope Thompson

    (University of Michigan)

Abstract

Household biogas systems are a renewable energy technology with the potential to provide sustainable development benefits by reducing pressure on forest stocks and by shifting household time allocation towards higher value activities or long-term investments in human capital. We estimate the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of biogas expansion in Nepal using an instrumental variables approach that exploits conditional variation in access to biogas installation companies. We confirm prior evidence that biogas use significantly reduces collected fuelwood, estimating changes of approximately 800–2000 kg per year per household. We find new evidence that biogas saves time in fuelwood collection (23–47%), and results in reallocation of time away from home production and wage labor towards agricultural labor and education. We find that biogas reduced forest cover loss in the Hill region and when combined with other forest protection policies. Together the results suggest that biogas can contribute modestly to sustainable development, particularly in combination with complimentary opportunities or policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Robyn Meeks & Katharine R. E. Sims & Hope Thompson, 2019. "Waste Not: Can Household Biogas Deliver Sustainable Development?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 72(3), pages 763-794, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:72:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s10640-018-0224-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10640-018-0224-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10640-018-0224-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jeremy Greenwood & Nezih Guner & Georgi Kocharkov & Cezar Santos, 2016. "Technology and the Changing Family: A Unified Model of Marriage, Divorce, Educational Attainment, and Married Female Labor-Force Participation," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 1-41, January.
    2. Rema Hanna & Esther Duflo & Michael Greenstone, 2016. "Up in Smoke: The Influence of Household Behavior on the Long-Run Impact of Improved Cooking Stoves," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 80-114, February.
    3. Christine Piette Durrance, 2010. "Noneconomic Damage Caps and Medical Malpractice Claim Frequency: A Policy Endogeneity Approach," Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 26(3), pages 569-591.
    4. Catherine Wolfram & Orie Shelef & Paul Gertler, 2012. "How Will Energy Demand Develop in the Developing World?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(1), pages 119-138, Winter.
    5. Yergeau, Marie-Eve & Boccanfuso, Dorothée & Goyette, Jonathan, 2017. "Reprint of: Linking conservation and welfare: A theoretical model with application to Nepal," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 229-243.
    6. Taryn Dinkelman, 2011. "The Effects of Rural Electrification on Employment: New Evidence from South Africa," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(7), pages 3078-3108, December.
    7. E. Somanathan & Randall Bluffstone, 2015. "Biogas: Clean Energy Access with Low-Cost Mitigation of Climate Change," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 62(2), pages 265-277, October.
    8. Chen, Ling & Zhao, Lixin & Ren, Changshan & Wang, Fei, 2012. "The progress and prospects of rural biogas production in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 58-63.
    9. Molly Lipscomb & A. Mushfiq Mobarak & Tania Barham, 2013. "Development Effects of Electrification: Evidence from the Topographic Placement of Hydropower Plants in Brazil," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 200-231, April.
    10. Tiago V. de V. Cavalcanti & José Tavares, 2008. "Assessing the "Engines of Liberation": Home Appliances and Female Labor Force Participation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(1), pages 81-88, February.
    11. Jennifer Alix-Garcia & Craig McIntosh & Katharine R. E. Sims & Jarrod R. Welch, 2013. "The Ecological Footprint of Poverty Alleviation: Evidence from Mexico's Oportunidades Program," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(2), pages 417-435, May.
    12. Rema Hanna & Paulina Oliva, 2015. "Moving Up the Energy Ladder: The Effect of an Increase in Economic Well-Being on the Fuel Consumption Choices of the Poor in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(5), pages 242-246, May.
    13. Nguyen, Ngoc Anh & Pham, Quang Ngoc & Nguyen, Dinh Chuc & Nguyen, Duc Nhat, 2007. "Innovation and Export of Vietnam’s SME Sector," MPRA Paper 3256, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Adams, Renée & Almeida, Heitor & Ferreira, Daniel, 2009. "Understanding the relationship between founder-CEOs and firm performance," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 136-150, January.
    15. Christiaensen, Luc & Heltberg, Rasmus, 2014. "Greening China's rural energy: new insights on the potential of smallholder biogas," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(1), pages 8-29, February.
    16. Jean-Marie Baland & Pranab Bardhan & Sanghamitra Das & Dilip Mookherjee & Rinki Sarkar, 2010. "The Environmental Impact of Poverty: Evidence from Firewood Collection in Rural Nepal," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(1), pages 23-61, October.
    17. J. Luis Guasch & Jean-Jacques Laffont & Stéphane Straub, 2007. "Concessions of infrastructure in Latin America: Government-led renegotiation," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(7), pages 1267-1294.
    18. Yergeau, Marie-Eve & Boccanfuso, Dorothée & Goyette, Jonathan, 2017. "Linking conservation and welfare: A theoretical model with application to Nepal," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 95-109.
    19. Jennifer M. Alix-Garcia & Katharine R. E. Sims & Patricia Yañez-Pagans, 2015. "Only One Tree from Each Seed? Environmental Effectiveness and Poverty Alleviation in Mexico's Payments for Ecosystem Services Program," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 7(4), pages 1-40, November.
    20. Gosens, Jorrit & Lu, Yonglong & He, Guizhen & Bluemling, Bettina & Beckers, Theo A.M., 2013. "Sustainability effects of household-scale biogas in rural China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 273-287.
    21. Florencia Devoto & Esther Duflo & Pascaline Dupas & William Parienté & Vincent Pons, 2012. "Happiness on Tap: Piped Water Adoption in Urban Morocco," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 68-99, November.
    22. Andreas Madestam & Daniel Shoag & Stan Veuger & David Yanagizawa-Drott, 2013. "Do Political Protests Matter? Evidence from the Tea Party Movement," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 128(4), pages 1633-1685.
    23. Arnold, J.E. Michael & Kohlin, Gunnar & Persson, Reidar, 2006. "Woodfuels, livelihoods, and policy interventions: Changing Perspectives," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 596-611, March.
    24. Towa Tachibana & Sunit Adhikari, 2009. "Does Community-Based Management Improve Natural Resource Condition? Evidence from the Forests in Nepal," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 85(1), pages 107-131.
    25. Karthik Rajendran & Solmaz Aslanzadeh & Mohammad J. Taherzadeh, 2012. "Household Biogas Digesters—A Review," Energies, MDPI, Open Access Journal, vol. 5(8), pages 1-32, August.
    26. Robin Burgess & Rohini Pande, 2005. "Do Rural Banks Matter? Evidence from the Indian Social Banking Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(3), pages 780-795, June.
    27. Jeanet Sinding Bentzen, 2012. "How Bad is Corruption? Cross‐country Evidence of the Impact of Corruption on Economic Prosperity," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(1), pages 167-184, February.
    28. Coen-Pirani, Daniele & León, Alexis & Lugauer, Steven, 2010. "The effect of household appliances on female labor force participation: Evidence from microdata," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 503-513, June.
    29. Bishnu Prasad Sharma & Subhrendu Pattanayak & Mani Nepal & Priya Shyamsundar & Bhaskar S. Karky, "undated". "REDD+ Impacts: Evidence from Nepal," Working papers 98, The South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics.
    30. Price V. Fishback & Ryan S. Johnson & Shawn Kantor, 2010. "Striking at the Roots of Crime: The Impact of Welfare Spending on Crime during the Great Depression," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(4), pages 715-740.
    31. Nepal, Mani & Nepal, Apsara & Grimsrud, Kristine, 2011. "Unbelievable but improved cookstoves are not helpful in reducing firewood demand in Nepal," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 1-23, February.
    32. Anh Ngoc Nguyen & Ngoc Quang Pham & Chuc Dinh Nguyen & Nhat Duc Nguyen, 2008. "Innovation and exports in Vietnam's SME sector," The European Journal of Development Research, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 20(2), pages 262-280.
    33. Robyn C. Meeks, 2017. "Water Works: The Economic Impact of Water Infrastructure," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 52(4), pages 1119-1153.
    34. Sims, Katharine R.E. & Alix-Garcia, Jennifer M., 2017. "Parks versus PES: Evaluating direct and incentive-based land conservation in Mexico," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 8-28.
    35. Surendra, K.C. & Takara, Devin & Hashimoto, Andrew G. & Khanal, Samir Kumar, 2014. "Biogas as a sustainable energy source for developing countries: Opportunities and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 846-859.
    36. Solow, Robert, 1993. "An almost practical step toward sustainability," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 162-172, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. He, Ke & Zhang, Junbiao & Wang, Anbang & Chang, Huayi, 2020. "Rural households’ perceived value of energy utilization of crop residues: A case study from China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 286-295.
    2. Garg, Teevrat & Shenoy, Ajay, 2020. "The Ecological Impact of Place-Based Economic Policies," IZA Discussion Papers 13075, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Deforestation; Double dividend; Environment; Renewable energy technology; Sustainable development; Time use;

    JEL classification:

    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:72:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s10640-018-0224-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Sonal Shukla) or (Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.