Factors influencing the usage of Biogas in Kenya: A case of Ndaragwa constituency, Nyandarua county

Abstract

Rising global challenges of energy generation, sustainability, cost, environmental concerns among others have triggered immense research on alternative energy sources and technologies in the recent past. Such previous works includes research into use of biogas as a substitute for traditional fuels-coal, charcoal, firewood and kerosene. This research project report focuses on why despite a lot of promotion on biogas technology and the high potential it has in Kenya its uptake still remains low. One such place is Nyandarua which previous reports indicate has high potential like Kiambu, Nakuru, Muranga and Nyeri yet the uptake has been very low (Biogas for Africa Initiative and shell foundation 2009). The study sort to investigate to what extent the size of land, the cost of installation, the respondents knowledge of biogas and the alternative sources of energy influenced the decision to use biogas. Descriptive survey was conducted on the target population of 3500 dairy farmers in Nyandarua by the use of questionnaires that was administered to a sample population of 346 respondents then data was analyzed using SPSS. The results show that the majority of the population in Ndaragwa still relies heavily on traditional sources of energy because they cannot afford the cost of installation. It also showed that most of the respondents knew about biogas but they did not fully understand the many benefits of using biogas . There is therefore need for enhanced education on benefits of biogas and sensitization of financiers on the need for biogas credit or subsidies. Another finding was that due to land subdivision, some homes had small pieces of land and this acted as a hindrance to biogas usage. This calls for further research to remedy the situation. Further findings indicated that availability of other sources of fuel like firewood, charcoal and kerosene that do not need a lot of capital affects biogas usage. Though these fuels seem cheaper to the users, in the long run they are very expensive and pose a lot of danger to health and environment. If the lessons learnt from this study can be replicated in other counties with similar geographical characteristics, they will spread the benefits and improve the lives and livelihoods of many households