Publications

This report presents the results of a biogas user survey designed to assess the effect of domestic biogas installations on energy, agriculture, health and sanitation, and environment.

The two main reasons for constructing biogas plants found by the survey were to reduce negative environmental impacts, and cooking time and costs. The economic, health, and environment benefits derived from biogas were also evident. Households saved 1-3 hours per thanks to using biogas for cooking and they managed to save 4,000VND per day. Further, flies and mosquitoes were substantially less after the installation. Biogas plants installation has also positively impacted animal raising as households managed to increase its scale substantially. As far as husbandry is concerned, it appeared that the role of project technicians was not clear and it needed further improvement. Households were also aware of the main benefit of slurry as a fertiliser-it not only helped them to increase crop productivity and product quality, but also to replace chemical fertilisers such as nitrogen and potassium. However, it is important to note that additional slurry benefits such as food for husbandry and aquatic product rearing were unknown to 60% of the households surveyed.

The survey also revealed the high potential of biogas in reducing green house gasses but it also admitted that more data were needed to build an emission baseline for reference. Based on the analysis of survey results, detailed recommendations for the improvement and further advancement of the programme are provided in the report.

This report provides an assessment of the progress of the Biogas Programme (BP) for Vietnam Livestock, according to social, economic, environmental impacts of biodigester use, products and services rendered by BP, as well as a cross section of households’ profiles (desk and filed study).

Survey results indicated that, in general, the BP livestock has achieved very promising results, where more than 70% of users have reported that because of the biogas plants raising livestock has substantially increased. Appreciation of the plant was also very high because of the obvious benefits of cooking and lighting. Further, the benefits and drawbacks of the programme as perceived by users on technological, organisational and implementation, and management level are also obtainable in the report, where some of the important advantages were the reduced environmental pollution from livestock activities and the well-organized and functioning management system. However, the weak link between implementing agencies and local authorities appeared to be one of the main challenges, as well as the high costs of the biogas plants.

Based on the progress of the programme and the difficulties identified, thorough recommendations are made available in the report. The need for a well developed loan system to finance plants construction, strengthening of technician and mason groups, development of practices in dissemination and persuasion activities, and close coordination with authorities on all levels, are only some of the key references.

The goal of this survey is to provide a more specific and integral perspective in which niches, relevant policy development by the Vietnamese government, legislation and sustainability criteria are clearly addressed to benefit both the Dutch Private sector as well as to stimulate Dutch-Vietnamese cooperation and support the Vietnamese government in its search for tangible options to develop the desired enabling environment for a sustainable biomass/biofuel market.

The goal of this survey is to provide a more specific and integral perspective in which niches, relevant policy development by the Vietnamese government, legislation and sustainability criteria are clearly addressed to benefit both the Dutch Private sector as well as to stimulate Dutch-Vietnamese cooperation and support the Vietnamese government in its search for tangible options to develop the desired enabling environment for a sustainable biomass/biofuel market.

This study explores the possibilities for establishing a sustainable financing scheme for a biogas programme in Vietnam.

The household survey conducted revealed that 78% of households would like to build biogas plants, while the ones who did not want to build the plant were relatively poor and lacked knowledge of biogas. 75% of households have an already existing bank credit. The Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (VBARD), the Vietnam Bank for Social Policy (VBSP) and the People’s Credit Fund (PCF) were the three formal institutions operating the microcredit programs.

It appeared that very few of the already constructed plants have been financed by loans from financial institutions, due to various constraints described in the report (e.g. investment in biogas does not bring direct benefit in terms of cash income). As a response, specific criteria for financing biogas users framework were created and several options were presented for the management and operations of a biogas fund (e.g. an independent biogas facility is set up by FMO, etc.). The
framework for setting up the credit scheme did not involve creating new institutions but instead MFIs extending credit to rural households.

Based on the comprehensive analysis of the credit system and on evaluating the proposed options, wide-ranging recommendations in terms of organisational framework, loan terms, piloting the scheme, general administrative procedure, strengthening bank and MFI institutional capacity, as well as formalizing biodigester construction teams were designed and presented in the report.

The International Workshop on Inclusive Planning and Financing of National Programmes on Domestic Biogas in Asia was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from 10-12 November 2010.

The objective of the workshop was to provide a dedicated forum for the exchange of knowledge and experience on the inclusive planning and financing of national programmes on domestic biogas between international practitioners, experts and policy makers.

This workshop report provides an overview of the sessions and the following key questions discussed:
• What is required to execute the programmes in a qualified, integrated and sustainable manner?
• What will be the required budgets for biogas plants installation, sector development and international technical assistance?
• What are the short and medium term funding sources?
• What are the opportunities to establish a regional basket fund?
• Is carbon financing truly feasible?
• Which investments are required from the side of the farmers?
• To what extent can national and local governments provide financial support?

The report includes a programme schedule, list of participants and brief country reports resulting from the sessions.

SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, in association with the Dutch Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS), organised a two-day international workshop on 'Use of Bio-slurry from Domestic Biogas Plants' during the period 27-28 September, 2006.

The workshop was conducted in Bangkok, Thailand and attended by 51 participants from 13 different countries in Asia, Africa and Europe. The objective was to create an organised platform for experts working in domestic biogas sector in different  countries to share best practices on the use of bio-slurry at micro level and to identify potential stimulus as well as barriers to further optimise the use of bioslurry.

This workshop proceeding is intended to transfer the ideas and views of those attending the workshop to a wider audience of bio-slurry practitioners.

It is expected that this proceeding will contribute to the broader ongoing discussions about programmes and activities that will facilitate the inclusion of effective use of bio-slurry in initiatives on promotion and development of biodigester technology in different parts of the globe.

This workshop proceeding includes:

• Summary of country presentations of China, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Vietnam on the status of bio-slurry application;
• Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis carried out by the participants on the different aspects of use of bio-slurry;
• Country action plans prepared by respective participants on popularising the use of bioslurry as an organic fertiliser.

As much as possible, the issues raised by the participants during different sessions have been presented in their own words.

Workshop report of the regional inception workshop 'learning by doing: capacity development approaches at the local level, which took place on 26-27 November 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand, and was organised by UNDP and SNV (Netherlands Development Organisation), with support from the UNDP Asia Regional Governance Programme (ARGP). The primary workshop objectives were 1) to share lessons learned on capacity development strategies and development efforts aimed at contributing to the MDGs at the sub-national/local level; and 2) identify critical knowledge gaps that need to be addressed to support sub-national/local capacities for reaching the MDGs.

The seventh meeting of the experts’ network was organised in Hanoi, Vietnam, during the period April 8-9, 2009. This meeting of experts followed the internal Biogas/Renewable Energy Team Meeting of SNV Asia Region.

The overall objective of the meeting of the network of experts was to share the lessons learned, and to discuss possibilities for improvement on the training activities related to domestic biogas programmes. The discussion focussed particularly on the weaknesses/problems or evident successes of the training activities conducted so far by the different biogas programmes, and the possible solutions to overcome the problems, as well as prospects to share the success. The key
question was: how to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of all biogas and bio-manure related training activities?

This external network meeting on domestic biogas consisted of a field visit to provincial biogas office and biogas households in Ha Tay Province near Hanoi (8th April), and a working meeting on biogas training activities (9th April 2009). An overview and evaluation of training activities under biogas programmes in China, Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia and Bangladesh was given. Further, there were group discussions, presentations and plenary discussions held.

First meeting of experts on domestic biogas promotion: a brief report of activities and outcome of discussions (2006).

The ABP visualizes the establishment and operation of a regional network of experts working in the field of biogas technology. The first meeting of the network of 16 experts was organised in Hanoi, Vietnam, This brief report summarises the purpose, schedule, country presentations and outcome of discussions of the meeting.

The objective was to enhance knowledge on promotion of domestic biogas plants through presentations and experts discussion. The key question for this meeting was: How to create a market for domestic biogas plants?

Activities of the meeting:
• Day 1: Overview of the Phase-I and the proposed Phase-II of the Vietnam biogas programme, field visit to Hai Duong Province, visit of under-construction biogas plant and two
biogas plants under full operation, a cultural excursion and in general observation and discussion.
• Day 2: Dr. Nguyen Thanh Son, Director of Biogas Project Division of MARD, Vietnam, Mr. Wim van Nes, Mr. Son, Mr.Reindert Augustijn, Sr. Renewable Energy/Biogas Advisor from SNV Vietnam, Mr. Hu Qichun from the Biogas Institute, Chengdu, Mr. C.V. Krishna from CREAT, India, Mr. Saroj Rai, Executive Director of BSP-Nepal, Mr. Auke Koopmans, Sr. Renewable Energy Advisor from SNV Laos, Mr. Douangchanh Sirivonga from Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Laos, Mr. Jan Lam, Sr. Biogas Advisor from SNV Cambodia, Mr. Md. Zahidul Islam, Investment Officer from IDCOL, and Mr. Guy Dekelver, Biogas/NRM Advisor from SNV Rwanda, all presented a paper.

The outcome revealed that the stage of development of biogas technology differs significantly among the participating countries.

“Support Project to the Biogas Program for the Livestock Husbandry Sector in Vietnam” is a cooperation between the government of Vietnam and the government of the Netherlands. The project aims at developing a commercially viable and market oriented biogas industry and to contribute to avoiding the use of fossil fuels and biomass resource depletion. Until April 2010, 80,000 biogas plants have been installed. With the development of the project, the loan demand of households to build a biogas plant is increasing.

This report presents the findings on two main questions (i) What are the households’ demands for loans for construction of biogas works in 2010 and 2011; and (ii) What are the financial institutions’ capacities for providing loans for constructions of biogas works. The methodologies used are desk study, questionnaires and in-depth interviews. The report consists of 3 parts. Part I gives an overview of the study with a background, objectives, methodology and implementation process. Part II elaborates on the results of the survey with information of the households interviewed, findings and analyses on the understanding of biogas, the household’s demands for loans to construct a plant, and the capacity of financial institutions to provide loans. Part III consists of conclusions and recommendations.

This document reviews the existing DGIS/DMW/KM programme implemented under the PPP-JI called “Support Project to the Biogas Programme for the Animal Husbandry Sector in some Provinces of Vietnam”. The intention of this mission is to get acquainted with the progress of the programme towards its objectives, to compare it with the experience in Nepal, and to learn more about the possibilities for a future biogas regional programme. The report is a result of a three-day mission in Vietnam, during which the consultant assigned conducted meetings with several people and spent most of the time on field visits.

The document provides a description of the programme with the project objectives, main actors and responsibilities. The findings are organised according to the project activities and their relation to the project objectives. The recommendations designed are presented per project activity. The project activities elaborated on are: promotion and marketing activities, provision of subsidy, subsidy level, credit schemes, quality control mechanisms, R&D and standardisation, training activities, extension activities, and institutional support. Other findings include: suppressed demand, GHG reduction and possible credits, commercially viable and market oriented, and contribution of the Provinces. The report concludes with a comparison of the technology and the institutional and market approach in Nepal.

This study presents the set-up and progress of the Support Project to the Biogas Programme (BP-I) for the Agricultural Sector in some Provinces in Vietnam. Despite the favourable biogas conditions in Vietnam and the numerous biogas programmes launched through the years, success in large scale dissemination has not been achieved which is why BP-I has been established with the objective of further developing the commercial and structural deployment of biogas.

The Department of Livestock Production (DLP) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV-Vietnam) were chosen as implementation partners. Although the project proved to be successful in some provinces at its early stages, many more provinces were not granted participation in the project.

BP-I operated through a comprehensive programme establishment to improve results of the early stages. Activities included marketing/promotion, investment subsidy, quality control, etc., where the specific goals and achievements of each activity are comprehensively presented in the report (see section 2.4). Further, BP-I has gone through 5 external evaluations (review of BP-Vietnam, mid-term evaluation by interministerial delegation, biogas user survey, evaluation of the management and implementation by the Asia Institute of Technology Centre in Vietnam-AITCV, and an audit by STT Company) which showed large positive outcomes of the programme, where the main quantitative achievements of the project can be examined in the report. Because of the overall success of the programme, MARD, SNV, and Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS) have initiated a second phase of BP (outlined in the report).