Economic Viability of Biogas Energy Systems in Uganda: A Case of Households.
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2024-10-14
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Makerere University Business School
Abstract
Ensuring access to clean cooking solutions remains a critical global challenge, with more severe difficulties faced by sub-Saharan Africa, specifically Uganda. Over 2.3 billion people worldwide lack access to clean cooking facilities, leading to over reliance on traditional solid biomass and other unclean fuels. Lack of access to clean cooking facilities results in approximately 3.7 million premature deaths annually due to indoor air pollution. In Uganda, where approximately 94% of households primarily depend on biomass for cooking, indoor pollution presents significant health risks, especially for vulnerable populations. Despite Uganda's abundant bioenergy resources, transitioning to cleaner cooking solutions, such as biogas energy systems, is essential. This study aimed to examine the economic viability of biogas energy systems at the household level. It highlights the benefits of adopting biogas energy systems, promoting cleaner, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly energy solutions as a sustainable and economically viable alternative to traditional fuels like firewood and charcoal. The study considered biogas digester systems with and without heating to undertake experimental simulation and ascertain their performance and viability. The heated biogas digester system, which included a solar thermal system to maintain the digester slurry in the thermophilic regime, produced 0.764 m³ of biogas per day at 48.60°C. In contrast, the unheated digester, operating in the mesophilic regime, produced 0.576 m³ of biogas per day at 24.30°C for cow dung feedstock. An economic analysis of over 25 years indicated that biogas digesters with and without solar heating have total present value costs of UGX 24,659,616 and UGX 20,231,045, respectively. In contrast, traditional biomass fuels like firewood and charcoal had total present value costs of UGX 56,550,265 and UGX 56,341,517, respectively, making them the more expensive fuels when compared to biogas. This cost disparity is attributed to increasing population and deforestation rates, escalating demand, and prices for firewood and charcoal. Environmentally, a household utilizing biogas emits only 0.006 kgCO2eq per year, significantly less than the emissions from firewood and charcoal, which are 3.033 MtCO2eq per year and 1.996 MtCO2eq per year, respectively. The study finds that transitioning to biogas can significantly reduce harmful emissions, making it a superior choice for sustainable household energy consumption in Uganda.
Description
This is a master's thesis.
Keywords
Citation
Nabaggala, K. N. (2024) Economic Viability of Biogas Energy Systems in Uganda: A Case of Households. (Unpublished master's dissertation). Makerere University Business School, Kampala, Uganda.