Objective of the project:

Background:

Throughout the rural areas in the Lao PDR, the main domestic cooking fuel is firewood collected from the immediate surroundings of a community. In addition to the visible damage caused to the local environment, this practice represents a significant challenge to the development of a community for two reasons:

1.) Cooking with firewood encumbers family members with the health difficulties associated to smoke inhalation, giving rise to reduced household productivity and increased costs for medication;
2.) The time attributed to collecting firewood is a burden to members of households who could otherwise pursue educational or income-generating activities. In the Lao PDR this is a role typically given to women, and thus a significant gender issue is also to be addressed.

Domestic biogas digesters that produce a combustible fuel gas from manure can offer an alternative to firewood for small holder farmers. A typical household can meet its cooking needs with the biogas produced from a modest amount of livestock, providing they are kept in stables for a significant portion of each day. The digester additionally produces fertilizer as a by-product, which is also a valuable commodity for the end user. With no movable parts, the systems require relatively low maintenance, and brick and mortar digesters have a proven life time of around twenty years.
In brief, the benefits of domestic biogas include:

• clean, safe and convenient cooking
• time savings of 1.5 hours per day ¹
• cost savings of $89 per year¹
• healthier family members due to less smoke inhalation
• improved sanitation around the house
• a supply of free organic fertilizer to boost crop yields

Biogas technology offers various advantages and other countries such as Nepal (220.000 installed systems) or Vietnam adapted this technology intensively. In the table below, basic information of domestic biogas plants are given.

Important stakeholder in the biogas sector in Laos

The Lao Biogas Pilot Program (BPP) aims to reduce poverty and improve the lives of rural households in the Lao PDR.  It does so by creating a commercial and sustainable market sector for domestic biogas technology. 
The program is being implemented by the Department of Livestock and Fisheries within the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, with support from SNV Netherlands Development Organization and with funding from the Government of The Netherlands.
For more information, please visit the local BPP homepage.

LIRE’s recent activities:

GIS mapping of potential biogas sites

The general objective of this study was to identify areas in Laos with a high potential demand for domestic digesters. This information can be used to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of BPP's promotion and management activities.
The assignment focused on four provinces: Savannakhet, Xiengkhouang, Vientiane and Khammouan, with particular emphasis on the latter two as the regions wherein BPP is expanding its activities in 2009. These regions have been be mapped for the potential market by incorporating existing data on relevant parameters. The definition of ‘high potential villages’ was developed through discussions between SNV BPP and LIRE during the course of the study.

Biogas User Survey 2008