BOTTLENECKS AND DRIVERS IN ETHIOPIA'S DOMESTIC BIOGAS SECTOR

摘要

Ethiopia experiences an energy and environmental crisis due to the sustained reliance on woody biomass to satisfy its energy needs. A sustainable innovation that can improve this situation is domestic biogas. This paper analyses the current status of the domestic biogas sector in Ethiopia and identifies barriers and drivers that influence its development and further growth. The analytical framework used for the analysis combines the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) and Strategic Niche Management (SNM). The MLP consists of three levels: landscape, which contains national and global factors and trends; regime, which contains the current, traditional agriculture and energy sectors; and niche, in which the new innovation is being introduced. SNM looks into the niche level and investigates three processes: network formation, dynamics of expectations and learning processes. The information sources are threefold: (1) desk study through literature and internet research; (2) online interviews and questionnaires with Ethiopian stakeholders; (3) an extensive field study including an extensive number of interviews with stakeholders inside and outside Ethiopia. The biogas sector in Ethiopia started with the launch of the National Domestic Biogas (NBPE) programme in 2008, which has led to the dissemination of over 8,000 biodigesters up until now, about 60% of what was initially intended. At the landscape level, the use of domestic' biogas has been triggered by Ethiopia's energy crisis as well as the suitability of the technology with the physical geography. However, the dissemination has been affected by factors such as economic instability, poverty and illiteracy. At the regime level, the inability of the traditional practices to solve the energy crisis has created a window of opportunity to provide alternative solutions that replace the use of firewood. However, many Ethiopian farmers are trapped in a lock-in, where due to their limited purchasing power they cannot afford the niche technology; at least in the way it is being disseminated. At the niche level, the NBPE designated a diverse set of actors to contribute to the implementation of the niche technology. However, their alignment is poor and the private sector is not involved. Expectations have had to be lowered because targets were not met. Also, learning processes are not optimal. Bottlenecks that were already identified in 2006, for example lack of involvement of the private sector, still remain unsolved. The current research is innovative because (1) it is the first case study into biogas in Ethiopia; (2) it analyses multiple regimes (the energy and the agriculture regime) and their interaction with the landscape and niche levels; and (3) it shows more insight in how the SNM and MLP frameworks can be applied to a sustainable innovation in a developing country and what can be done to overcome bottlenecks. Such insights in possible bottlenecks and how to overcome them contribute to sustainable growth.