Abstract
Energy is an essential part of our daily life, often taken for granted by populations which enjoy the comforts of modern society. Despite the continually rising energy demands reported globally, however, millions of communities and households, mainly in developing countries, still lack access to basic energy services such as electricity, liquid fuels, and natural gas. Biogas technology use in Ethiopia has been relatively infant stage compared to other African countries.
There is insufficient empirical evidence about the impact of demographic, socio-economic, and environmental factors on biogas technology installations in the Gozamin District. This study was conducted with the objectives of assessing peoples’ awareness towards biogas technology, examining the involvement of government institutions in promoting household biogas technology adoption, and identifying factors affecting household biogas technology in the study area. A total of 212 households were taken as a sample size but only 207 were interviewed. Among these 45 were biogas technology adopters and 162 were non-adopters. Interview (survey) and focus group discussion methods were used as data collection tools. Collected data were entered into SPSS software version 20. Descriptive analysis like frequency distributions, bar charts, and binary logistic regression analysis was used as data analysis methodologies. The result of the study showed that the majority of adopters (94%) installed biogas either with full sponsors or subsidy from the biogas project or government. Education level at least to grade seven and above, livestock keeping and both farming and livestock keeping, number of cattle, and use of firewood and charcoal as the main source of energy were positively affecting adoption. However, the age group (36-45 years) and the use of alternative sources of energy were negatively affecting biogas adoption. Furthermore, the involvement of government institutions to promote biogas technology, to give technical services and training was low. Therefore, it is recommended that government institutions should create awareness, actively participate in promoting biogas adoption, ensure technical support as well as training, and create a conducive environment to access loans from financial institutions.
Keywords: Gozamin District, biogas, bioenergy, adoption.
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