Benin rural electrification program gives green light to biogas
Benin's Centre Songhai in Porto-Novo is specialized in offering courses about sustainable agriculture to local farmers, while doing research on appropriate rural renewable technologies. It is here that Raymond Ahinon, a technician at the centre, is experimenting with biogas which, he thinks, will 'conquer' the African country soon because it can provide electricity, lighting and gas for cooking to rural households in a decentralized and affordable manner. The smallest biogas systems he's working with can provide energy for 8 persons - the average household size in the country. And exactly one such family in rural Benin produces enough biodegradable matter to satisfy its own energy needs.
The technology Ahinon is working with (premixing chambers, digesters, effluent discharge ponds, storage tanks) comes from China, where 10 million such small units already exist.
Ahinon sums up the advantages of decentralised biogas plants for his country:
But Benin is thinking bigger. Like many 'non oil and gas producing countries' in Africa, the country is dependent on outside forces for its energy. In this case, neighboring Nigeria is in control, with Benin importing natural gas to power the upper classes of its society and its industries. Supply disruptions have lead to frequent blackouts and forced rationing, with the government openly speaking of an energy crisis:
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: electrification :: biogas :: Benin ::
The Beninese government was forced to invest in big diesel generators to back up the electricity from the natural gas plants. But they don't come close to offering enough, and this rudimentary back up strategy still keeps the country dependent on imported fossil fuel (diesel), says Raoufou Badarou, Director-General of the ministry of energy. Benin is therefor looking at producing its own biogas on a grand scale, and to introduce it directly into the urban natural gas networks. First estimates show that the country could substantially cut its energy bill, and prevent the most damaging effects of current supply disruptions.
In Benin, biomass is primarily used as an energy source in households for cooking and heating, but a vaste waste-stream exists in the industry and agro-alimentary sectors (with Benin's most productive sectors being the production of cassava flour, palm oil, soap, alcohol and ethanol, bread and dried fish). Tapping this waste-stream could relieve Benin of much of its current energy worries.
The technology Ahinon is working with (premixing chambers, digesters, effluent discharge ponds, storage tanks) comes from China, where 10 million such small units already exist.
Ahinon sums up the advantages of decentralised biogas plants for his country:
- biogas is a very affordable energy solution both in rural areas as well as in small towns, where enough biodegradable waste is available from households
- biogas digesters can play a role in the 'sanitary education' ('éducation sanitaire') of rural households, who often find it difficult to dispose of their waste-streams in an appropriate way
- biogas plants can be installed in regions where the national grid will never come; in towns where grid-electricity is available, it is cheaper than the electricity offered by the SBEE (national utility)
- unlike other gas types used by households, such as propane and butane, biogas poses no risk of explosion because if the small digester unit's storage tank is full, the excess gas that builds up, simply escapes
- biogas is climate-neutral
But Benin is thinking bigger. Like many 'non oil and gas producing countries' in Africa, the country is dependent on outside forces for its energy. In this case, neighboring Nigeria is in control, with Benin importing natural gas to power the upper classes of its society and its industries. Supply disruptions have lead to frequent blackouts and forced rationing, with the government openly speaking of an energy crisis:
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: electrification :: biogas :: Benin ::
The Beninese government was forced to invest in big diesel generators to back up the electricity from the natural gas plants. But they don't come close to offering enough, and this rudimentary back up strategy still keeps the country dependent on imported fossil fuel (diesel), says Raoufou Badarou, Director-General of the ministry of energy. Benin is therefor looking at producing its own biogas on a grand scale, and to introduce it directly into the urban natural gas networks. First estimates show that the country could substantially cut its energy bill, and prevent the most damaging effects of current supply disruptions.
In Benin, biomass is primarily used as an energy source in households for cooking and heating, but a vaste waste-stream exists in the industry and agro-alimentary sectors (with Benin's most productive sectors being the production of cassava flour, palm oil, soap, alcohol and ethanol, bread and dried fish). Tapping this waste-stream could relieve Benin of much of its current energy worries.
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