Biogas Technology in China, India and Nepal
The projects set up in China, India and Nepal continued effectively in different
ways.
The technical weaknesses of the early Chinese project were overcome by setting up
the Biogas Research Centre in Chengdu. The basic Chinese concept was refined and
quality standards defined. This allowed technicians to be trained to supervise the
building of plants to a good quality. Many local agencies were still involved in
the building of plants, but they had to used trained people. The programme has since
developed at a slower rate, but there seems to have been a much lower failure rate.
The Indian programme became much less centralised, as different groups adapted the
fixed dome design so it could be built in India. KVIC adapted by developing glass
reinforced plastic floating drums as an alternative to steel drums, but the price
was still higher. Several designs of fixed dome plant, based on the Chinese designs
were developed such as the Janata and Deenabandu designs. As different NGOs and private
companies manufactured these designs, quality became more variable.
In Nepal, the single company that had been set up to make biogas plants was replaced
by several smaller ones (between 40 and 50). However, quality control was maintained
by BSP (Biogas Support Programme, set up under SNV). The plants that were built mainly
used the fixed dome design developed by DCS. BSP did careful follow-up work and has
evidence that 98% of plants were still working 5 years afer they were built.
The three programmes were successful, because the respective governments offered
subsidies. This allowed the government to have central control of quality. The biogas
training institute claims over 12 million plants in China, based on thorough records.
The numbers in India are less clear, but there must be more than 2 million plants.
BSP (now Biogas Sector Partnership) in Nepal has thorough records for over 172,000
plants (with a claim of having more per head of population than anywhere else in
the world).
