Consequence of biogas: A case study of Dhaijan VDC of Jhapa District, Nepal

Abstract

The study entitled ‘consequence of biogas’ is the study to find out the extent to which biogas has substituted the use of firewood and petroleum products in household use and the contribution of biogas to time saving through the qualitative information in Dhaijan VDC of Jhapa district. This study aims to examine the socio-economic and environmental impact of biogas on household use and also to calculate the payback period for the biogas installation.. The field work was based on structured questionnaire and focus on group discussion in Dhaijan VDC of Jhapa District among representative biogas households. Mostly the primary data was used for finding overall impact of biogas. The methodology also incorporated the processing and analysis of data.. Most of the households get benefits by installing the biogas plant and the major purpose of using biogas is for cooking. The non burning of fuelwood due to use of biogas provided an annual saving of NRs 8476 per household and similarly saving of NRs 2392.5 in terms of LP gas. Less time required for cooking food, smokeless technology for cooking , saving of 1.5 hour time and increase social status of the biogas households are noticeable benefits of biogas plant installation. Almost all biogas plants were operational and incurred less repair and maintenance cost, however the knowledge about appropriate use and not included bio-slurry calculation causing a high payback period of the biogas plant installation (7.91years). Based on the study, the installation of biogas plant as an alternative energy source could be best option for rural community of Nepal . Slurry utilization prospects and use of biogas for lighting should be promoted to enhance beneficial aspect of biogas and reduce payback period of biogas installation.