About 2.5 billion people and innumerable enterprises in developing countries are facing serious problems in terms of their energy supply. The availability of traditional fuels such as wood is declining, while commercial fuels are too expensive and their availability unreliable. Provision of renewable energy has the potential to keep or lift households out of poverty and to develop small businesses.
However, the provision of renewable energy technologies is not always accompanied by capacity development support to local actors, and therefore hampering the sustainability of initiatives. Here lies the main challenge for SNV. Our main focus is on domestic biogas, but we also have experience with local use of biofuels and improved water mills.
Domestic biogas
SNV’s support for national programmes on domestic biogas spreads across three SNV regions: Asia, East and Southern Africa and West and Central Africa. 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. By the end of 2009, 300,000 households (1.8 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 six countries (Senegal, 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.
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Learn more about SNV’s approach in domestic biogas
Biofuels
SNV is involved in biofuels activities in a number of countries including Zambia, Vietnam, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Peru and Mali, tackling diverse problems including lack of energy, unemployment and migration. Again, the main challenge for SNV lies in ensuring sustainability and encouraging pro-poor development. SNV is using two main approaches in biofuels development, namely: Value Chain Development and Inclusive Business.
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Learn more about SNV’s approach in biofuels
Improved Water Mills
In Nepal, SNV has supported the dissemination of improved water mills since 2003 through a sector development approach. 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. By the end of 2009, over 5,800 water mills had been successfully upgraded, benefiting around 290,000 families. Water mill improvements have increased grinding capacity by more than 100% and improved the income of millers.
Learn more about Improved Water Mills
Learn more about SNV’s approach in Improved Water Mills