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Biogas Africa Initiative

Biogas for Better Life, An African Initiative aims to provide cleaner and safer cooking facilities for at least two million households; improve family health; create jobs; and improve the position of women. The Initiative will be promoted using a market approach, working with audit and intensive marketing programmes. Construction and manufacturing companies, civil society, media, and the public and private sectors will be involved.

Launched in May 2007, the iniative aims, by 2020 to achieve a number of specific targets:
  • two million biogas plants installed (90% operation rate)
  • 10 million Africans benefiting in daily life from the plants
  • 800 private biogas companies and 200 biogas appliance manufacturing workshops involved or established
  • 100,000 new jobs created
  • comprehensive quality standards and quality control systems developed and in use
  • one million toilets constructed and attached to the biogas plant
  • 80% of the bio-slurry used as organic fertilizer
  • agricultural production raised by up to 25%
  • health and living conditions of women and children improved, and the deaths of women and children reduced by 5000 each year
  • drudgery reduced by saving 2–3 hours per household each day in fetching wood, cooking and cleaning the pots
  • health costs saved of up to US$80–125 per family, per year
  • 3–4 million tonnes of wood saved per year
  • greenhouse gas emissions annually reduced by 10 Mtonnes of CO2 equivalent.

The total financing required is $2 billion, out of which $800 million is to be expected from public funding (national and donors) and the sale of carbon credits. For the latter, the Initiative developed a proposal for a new methodology specifically aiming at the trading of emission reductions from household digesters.

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[top] [end]See also


[top] [end]For more information

  • Wim J. van Nes is the Biogas Practice Leader of the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV)
  • Tinashe D. Nhete is the Programme Team Leader for Infrastructure Services of Practical Action Southern Africa



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Page created: 14 September 2007; Last edited: 14 September 2007; Version: 0
Knowledge Bank text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

Pagename: BiogasAfricaInitiative @HEDON: WGHA