Sustainability Issues of Household Biodigesters in Nepal

Excessive use of solid biomass and fossil fuels is a global concern due to its adverse environmental impact and household air pollution. Household biodigesters are key to meet clean cooking transition goals and a range of sustainable development goals (SDG) including SDG 7, 3, and 13. This paper provides an overview of household biodigesters performance, significance of users’ technical and operational knowledge on biodigesters performance and issues pertaining to sustainability of household biodigesters (HBDs) in Nepal. A set of structured questionnaire and visual inspection of the HBDs were employed during field survey in two hilly districts of the country. The survey revealed that very poor post installation maintenance service, less or no institutional support, heavy reduction of biogas production in winter, lack of basic technical knowledge and decreasing trend of livestock rearing are some of the major causes that threatens the sustainability of HBDs in rural communities. Although the findings are based on survey in specific sites of two districts of Nepal and should not be generalized for the country, it will definitely be a representative indicator and the information would be a valuable input to local government, relevant stakeholders and policymakers. The outcome of this study could be useful to other communities and districts of Nepal and other countries with similar socioeconomic and climatic context.