Domestic biogas

SNV’s support for national programmes on domestic biogas spreads across three continents: Asia, Africa and Latin America. In our multi-stakeholder sector development approach, we aim to optimise organisational and institutional capacities already available in the country.

SNV started supporting biogas activities in Nepal in 1989 and in Vietnam in 2003. Since 2006, domestic biogas programmes have also been established in Bangladesh and Cambodia, while a pilot programme in Lao PDR took off in 2007. Pakistan and Indonesia launched biogas programmes in 2009; Bhutan in 2011. By the end of 2012, 500,000 households (2.9 million people) have been equipped with biogas plants. At the invitation of the Asian Development Bank, SNV is now leading a working group on domestic biogas in the framework of the ‘Energy for All Partnership’. Through this initiative, an additional one million biogas plants are planned across the Asian region by 2015.

SNV’s biogas activities have been expanded to include Africa. Rwanda is the first country of engagement, with another five countries (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya) targeted in the framework of the ‘Africa Biogas Partnership Programme’. This Programme took off at the end of 2008, in cooperation with Hivos, and aims to reach 70,000 households by 2013. Cameroon is developing its programme since 2009; Benin since 2010.

The experiences and lessons learned from Asia and Africa are underway to Latin America. Nicaragua conducted a feasiblity study in 2010 and initiated a biogas programme in 2012. Peru and Bolivia are in an exploratory phase.

Learn more about domestic biogas