Biogas plant dissemination: success story of Sirsi, India

Dissemination of alternative energy technologies such as biogas in various parts of the world has rarely led to a success rate of 90%. This study in Sirsi block, Karnataka, south India, revealed that 43% of rural households (HH) had dung resources to operate biogas plants and 65% of them had already built biogas plants. 100% of the plants built were functioning satisfactorily and 85% of HH with biogas plants met all their cooking energy needs with biogas, improving the quality of life of women. The presence of multiple agencies in the dissemination network, participation of entrepreneurs competing to assist households in all aspects of biogas plant construction, commissioning, procuring subsidy, guaranteed performance and free servicing contributed to the high rate of success (of 100% of biogas plants being functional). Most biogas plants built had excess plant capacity, with cost implications. An observed shift in the design choice from mild steel floating drum design to fibre reinforced plastic-based floating drum design and then to a less expensive fixed dome model shows that rural households respond quickly to technological developments. The paper discusses the roles of various factors and their implications for future dissemination programmes.