Professional Documents
Culture Documents
4.6 CONCLUSION
If biogas technology can stand up to its potentials it can, probably, make a real difference
for rural people. At present little is known of the performance in general nation-wide and
over a longer time span. As of today one of the major constraints to further interest in the
technology is its history, as strange as it might sound. During the 80's there were many
people involved in the extension and dissemination of biogas technology, The experiences
from this time were often disappointments. The projects ended in failures and aims not
reached. Much of information on biogas available is based on the experiences made in the
80's. Today many of the international organisations, with some exceptions, are hesitant of
further work with biogas. The strong dependence on state subsidies can be seen as an
indication that the technology cannot live on its own merits. Today the policy seems to be
to slowly phase out the direct subsidies, which could be a step in the right direction to make
the technology prove its merits. It is not clear that letting biogas technology compete on
market terms will bring about increasing numbers of installed units. One important factor is
whether or not this technology will compete on the same terms as for example LPG or
kerosene, which have subsidized prices.
Looking at the history of biogas technology, many of the aspects that were taken up to
advocate the technology in the past are still seen as valid arguments for the technology. The
argument that biogas technology would meet the problems of deforestation is still seen as a
valid point, even found in the Ninth Five Year plan. The same goes for the allegedly good
quality of the effluent as a fertiliser and soil conditioner. We could call these 'dogmas of
biogas technology' and they are similar to development narratives. During the years biogas
technology has fit in the main stream development ideas. Biogas could be used for rural
development in the 70's and also fit perfectly in the integrated rural development ideas.
When eco-development came along biogas was adopted as a perfect technology to achieve
the desired aims. From the appropriate technology side biogas technology can be seen as an
almost perfect technology, easy to use and with high benefits, locally manageable and
profiting the rural households. In the late 80's and 90's when biogas technology could be
seen as means to implement sustainable development. Research on various aspects of
biogas technology has throughout the history been carried out, but it was often hard to
transfer to any practical use on the grassroots level. Technical innovation, like coming up
with new designs, was basically done outside the conventional research institutions. The
Deenbandhu model, for example, was an APPRO innovation, and KVIC model was the
innovation of Mr Patel and later taken up by KVIC. Even though there is one part of the
NPBD, which is devoted to research, little seems to have come out of it. There is definitely
a need for new innovations and designs within the field. Today basically one design, the
Deenbandhu, is disseminated throughout the whole country. It is a 'one design fits all1 type
of approach.
Development of biogas technology has to a large extent been initiated by a group of highly
educated scientist with backup from research and development infrastructure (Moulik
1985). This seems still valid to some extent. Life in rural areas has changed during the
years that biogas technology has been diffused, but little notice has been taken of this. In all
the applications where biogas teclinology could fit it is mainly the potential benefits that
have been considered. But I would argue that there exist few linkages between the potential
benefits and practical experiences from biogas technology. Most of the argumentation
relies on theoretical cause and effect considerations, which might not at all be valid in
reality. Biogas can provide positive results if managed correctly, but it is not an automatic
or mechanical process.