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REN-D-16-01337R1 accepted version.pdf (398.87 kB)

An assessment of biogas as a domestic energy source in rural Kenya: Developing a sustainable business model

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journal contribution
posted on 2018-01-17, 11:55 authored by R.G. Hamid, Richard BlanchardRichard Blanchard
Energy poverty in the majority of the rural households in Kenya is a threat to economic and social development; hence the availability of an affordable and reliable domestic energy source is important. This study investigated: the potential resources for biogas for cooking, suitable anaerobic digesters that could be deployed in rural households, and also the viability of a small community biogas business model. Conservative estimates of the business model parameters and sensitivity analysis revealed that there was adequate biogas potential in central and western Kenya while water scarcity affected other regions’ opportunities. Cattle manure was the predominant feedstock, although crop waste has possibilities to contribute to biogas production. Economically and technically, the inflatable tubular digester was found to be the most suitable type for biogas production in rural Kenya. Discounted cash flow analysis of the business model proved a profitable business to supply an affordable household energy at 0.55€/Kg of biogas, with projected household savings of 249€ annually. Labor cost was found to have high significance on the feasibility of the business model which was also sensitive to changes in biogas revenues. Kenya’s rural areas have significant biogas potential to reduce energy poverty, generate income and aid social development.

History

School

  • Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering

Published in

Renewable Energy

Citation

HAMID, R.G. and BLANCHARD, R.E., 2018. An assessment of biogas as a domestic energy source in rural Kenya: Developing a sustainable business model. Renewable Energy, 121, pp. 368-376.

Publisher

© Elsevier

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Publisher statement

This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Acceptance date

2018-01-12

Publication date

2018-02-09

Notes

This paper was accepted for publication in the journal Renewable Energy and the definitive published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2018.01.032

ISSN

0960-1481

Language

  • en