The Potential for Bottled Biogas for Clean Cooking in Africa
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The potential for bottled biogas for clean cooking in Africa The potential for bottled biogas for clean cooking in Africa Working Paper 11/Feb/2020 Authors: Edson Twinomunuji, Francis Kemausuor, Mairi Black, Amitava Roy, Matthew Leach, Richard Oduro Jhuma Sadhukhan, Richard Murphy Contact: Professor Matthew Leach, [email protected] This material has been funded by a QR GCRF grant from Research England to the University of Surrey; the Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) programme; and Engas UK ltd. This includes funding by UK Aid from the UK government; however the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the UK government’s official policies. The potential for bottled biogas for clean cooking in Africa Authors: Edson Twinomunuji, Francis Kemausuor, Mairi Black, Amitava Roy, Matthew Leach, Richard Oduro Jhuma Sadhukhan, Richard Murphy Abstract This paper is the outcome of an initial scoping study on the potential for bottled biogas as a clean cooking option for Ghana and Uganda. The study seeks to understand the opportunities for bottled biogas for cooking in Africa, and asks why it has not already taken off, and the key issues to be addressed to enable this. The paper starts by outlining the nature of the multiple challenges being addressed in the pursuit of clean and modern solutions for cooking, including the health impacts from combustion of solid biomass fuels but also the emissions of GreenHouse Gases. In parallel, developing regions face issues in managing residues and wastes from agro-industry and small-scale farming. Using residues to produce biogas for cooking has a long history in Asia, including at micro scales, typically in household-scale bio-digestors. Biogas is also seen as a bioenergy opportunity for Africa, but many millions of families live in peri-urban areas or for other reasons have insufficient bio-resources to fuel their own digestor. Bottling of biogas has been suggested as on option for providing accessible, renewable, clean energy to individual households. Research and some pre-commercial trials have taken place in India and parts of Africa, but there is limited evidence in the public domain, and it is evident that bottling has not yet taken off at scale. This study sought to understand the opportunities and the barriers to implementation of bottled biogas for cooking in Africa, with a focus on Ghana and Uganda. Section 2 of the report reviews anaerobic digestion and biogas production and highlights the technical issues which must be overcome to achieve a bottled biogas product. The current status and potential opportunities for biogas production are reviewed for Ghana (Section 3) and Uganda (Section 4) along with country specific policy support mechanisms. Section 5 reports on field visits to biogas producing sites in Ghana and Uganda in August 2019. Section 6 gives an outline of a workshop and conference organised under this study in October 2019. Section 7 provides overall conclusions of this scoping study and suggests next steps Acknowledgements: This study would not have been possible without the engagement of numerous individuals and institutions in Uganda and Ghana who supported the field visits, and some of whom travelled to the project workshop in the UK. We also thank the wider group of participants in the UK conference, who shared their expertise and views with enthusiasm. Finally, we thank the donors, Research England and the University of Surrey for the main QR GCRF grant, Engas UK for match funding their specialist input and the Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) programme, funded by UK Aid, for match funding the workshop and conference. Attribution: Please cite this work as “Twinomunuji E, Kemausuor F, Black M, Roy A, Leach M, Oduro R Sadhukhan J and Murphy R (2020). The potential for bottled biogas for clean cooking in Africa - February 2020 Working Paper. University of Surrey, KNUST, UCPC, Engas UK and MECS. Available at https://www.mecs.org.uk/working-papers/. 2 Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................................... 2 Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................................. 6 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 7 2. Summary of biogas production .............................................................................................................. 10 2.1 Anaerobic Digestion – feedstock and biogas outcomes ..................................................................... 10 2.2 Anaerobic Digestion process ............................................................................................................ 11 2.3 Anaerobic Digestion facilities ........................................................................................................... 13 2.4 Biogas Upgrading and Bottling Technology ....................................................................................... 14 2.4.1 Biogas Purification and Upgrading Technologies ................................................................................ 15 2.4.2 Compression and Bottling Techniques ................................................................................................ 17 2.4.3 Biogas Upgrade, Compression and Bottling Case Studies ................................................................... 17 2.4.4 Engas UK biogas purification technology – an opportunity for Ghana and Uganda ........................... 19 3. Biogas Technology Mapping in Ghana .................................................................................................... 24 3.1 Feedstock Resources ....................................................................................................................... 24 3.1.1 Residue from crop production ............................................................................................................ 24 3.1.2 Residues from food processing industries in Ghana ........................................................................... 25 3.2 Business Opportunities in the Ghana Biogas Sector .......................................................................... 28 3.3 Stakeholders in the Ghana Biogas Industry ....................................................................................... 29 3.4 Policy and Other Support of the Biogas Sector In Ghana ................................................................... 30 3.4.1 Biogas Management, Policies and Regulations ................................................................................... 30 3.4.2 Institutional Framework ...................................................................................................................... 30 3.4.3 License Procedure under the Energy Commission .............................................................................. 31 3.5 Case Study ...................................................................................................................................... 31 3.5.1 Ghana Oil Palm Development Company (GOPDC) biogas plant ......................................................... 31 4. Biogas Technology Mapping in Uganda .................................................................................................. 32 4.1 General Overview of Feedstock Potential for Biogas Production in Uganda ....................................... 32 4.1.1 Biogas feedstock potential from agricultural crop residues ............................................................... 32 4.1.2 Livestock production ........................................................................................................................... 32 4.1.3 Biogas feedstock potential from agro-processing industries in Uganda ............................................ 34 4.1.4 Biogas feedstock potential from municipal solid waste ..................................................................... 35 4.2 Overview of Current Biogas Applications in Uganda ......................................................................... 36 4.3 Business Opportunities in the Ugandan Biogas Sector ...................................................................... 37 4.4 Stakeholders in the Ugandan Biogas Industry ................................................................................... 37 4.5 Biogas Technology Policy and Regulation in Uganda ......................................................................... 38 4.6 Case Studies .................................................................................................................................... 39 5. Field Visits – 19th-30th August 2019 ...................................................................................................... 40 5.1 Ghana ............................................................................................................................................. 40 5.1.1 Guinness Brewery, Kumasi (20th August 2019) .................................................................................. 40 5.1.2 HPW Fresh and Dry (21st August 2019) .............................................................................................. 41 5.1.3 Aglow Poultry processing facility (22nd August 2019) ........................................................................ 42 5.1.4 Safisana AD facility (23rd