Many people in developing countries lack access to clean energy for cooking and must rely on traditional biomass fuels like firewood, agricultural residues and dried dung. This depletes environmental resources and forces women to spend hours gathering traditional fuels. Burning biomass fuels also generates in-house fumes that are a serious health risk. Therefore, SNV supports the formulation and implementation of national programmes on domestic biogas. For the user, biogas provides clean cooking energy, contributes to health improvement and reduces the time needed for biomass collection, especially for women.

In these programmes, clients cooperate in the form of institutional arrangements that provide access to sustainable energy and organic fertiliser for households raising livestock. SNV assists clients in developing a commercially viable, market-oriented biogas sector and in maximising the multiple benefits of domestic biogas at household, local, national and global levels. With this intervention SNV has targeted 2.2 million people in Asia over the period 2005 to 2012 and contributes to human development, especially income generation, environmental protection, health improvement and gender equality.

SNV is active in the field of domestic biogas in a number of countries within Asia and Africa: Nepal, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Rwanda. All these countries qualify for the setting-up of national biogas programmes as climatic conditions are favourable, livestock is kept at farms in an integrated manner, biomass fuels for cooking are becoming scarce (except for Laos) and (potential) stakeholders show a clear will and interest for participation. As per the end of 2007, more than 220,000 quality biogas plants have been installed and about 1.35 million people do benefit. In other countries like Ethiopia, Senegal and Tanzania, national programmes are under preparation.

SNV begins its programme development services by first carrying out participatory assessments of the potential demand for biogas plants and the possible constraints faced by service suppliers. We then help outline a national programme on domestic biogas. Based on a positive decision for intervention, a detailed proposal for a national programme including output targets, costs and financing is formulated in cooperation with the potential clients and partners.

National and local governments as well as donors are then invited to co-finance the programme and SNV maintains close contacts with them. During the implementation of a national programme, we follow an integrated approach in strengthening the capacities of all required clients in the sector and in optimising institutional arrangements.

We aim to involve a maximum of organisational and institutional capacities already available in the country and to strengthen these capacities through local capacity building organisations rather than implement activities by ourselves. As a result, we hope to see in the end a fully developed, sustainable sector in which farmers with livestock purchase and install biogas plants on a commercial basis.
A similar approach is being applied for the dissemination of improved watermills in Nepal. Using hydro-power to grind grain makes sense in a region where there are plenty of streams and access to basic energy supplies is limited. The traditional water mills are, however, extremely inefficient, producing just enough energy (less than 0.5kW) for the simple task of grinding the grain. As a result the mills are unable to satisfy local demand resulting in a rise in the number of diesel powered mills. Since 2003, over 2,400 mills benefiting around 96,000 families have been successfully upgraded. Most of the upgrades, which involve replacing wooden parts with metal ones, simply increase grinding efficiency. Others, however, have been upgraded to do more such as generate electricity or use other mechanical equipment for rice hulling and oil expelling. Mill improvements have increased grinding capacity by more than 100%. Because the grain is ground more quickly and more can be supplied, water-millers have found that their income has increased by at least 25%.