The Vietnam Domestic Biogas Programme
From 2003-2008, the Biogas Programme in Vietnam, with technical assistance from SNV, contributed to the construction of 57,000 biogas plants and provided training for about 500 technicians, 700 biogas mason teams and nearly all owners of biogas plants. Currently, 99% of the plants installed are fully operational and 48% of the plants have toilets attached.
In the second phase, which is currently operational and will be completed in 2012, the Biogas Programme aims to have built 164,000 biogas plants, reaching 800,000 people. By this time, women will have their workload reduced by 110 million hours per year, and biogas households will have their energy costs reduced by 65%. On average, 67% of households will increase their number of livestock because of the sanitary solution to animal manure that biogas plants provide.
On the 21st of December 2010 a milestone was reached, the 100,000th biogas digester was constructed under the programme supported by the Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and SNV.
In 2010 the National Biogas Programme in Vietnam was rewarded with the prestigious Ashden Award for its innovation in tackling the twin problem of dangerous cooking practices and untreated animal waste. In 2006, this programme was also recognised with the Energy Globe Award for its significant contribution to the reduction of “global warming”.
The programme continues to be instrumental in reducing poverty as well as aiding and sustaining the development of animal husbandry in Vietnam.
Read more about our Domestic Biogas Programme:
Other Renewable Energy (RE) initiatives
New initiatives that will start up in 2011 are:
· Medium scale biogas solutions for livestock farmers
Medium sized farms (more than 300 pigs) are the fastest growing segment of the livestock production sector in Vietnam. They generate significant levels of waste; pollute waterways and produce millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Medium scale biogas digester (100m3-500m3) will solve the manure management problem of medium size farms, whilst providing gas and electricity, and reducing carbon emissions.
· Improved cook stoves, both fixed and portable, for rural households
Cooking, as part of household energy use, is a large part of total energy consumption in Vietnam. Currently 80% of households are thought to use low-efficiency traditional stoves. This consumes large amounts of biomass, which is one of the causes of deforestation and depletion of all local biomass resources. The burning of coal and wood considerably contributes to green house gasses in the atmosphere. Furthermore, these traditional, open cook-stoves in combination with poor ventilation in the kitchen increase the indoor air pollution (IAP). IAP is one of the main causes of acute and chronic lung and respiratory diseases, secondary heart diseases and eye inflammation. Women and children are particularly affected by these negative side effects.
In order to mitigate these adverse effects and to reduce GHG emissions SNV Vietnam, together with partners is developing a programme to increase market share for high-efficiency improved cook stoves in Vietnam.