Biogas technology adoption and its potential of replacing biomass fuels, kerosene, and chemical fertilizer in rural Gonder, Northern Ethiopia

Figures & data

Figure 1. Physical map of study area.

Table 1. Livestock holding size in study Districts

Livestock holding size	Misrak Este District	Mirab Este District
Cattle	78,964	89,608
Sheep	58,529	125,241
Goat	33,348	25,107
Donkey	8,111	8,835
Mule	4,539	974
Horse	7,958	886
Poultry	61,371	73,440
Total	252,820	324,091

Figure 2. Conceptual framework showing the technical potential of biogas energy systems, adapted from Wamuyu (2009).

Figure 3. Biogas technology energy operating system, sourced from https://www.bing.com/images/search

Table 2. Study Districts and Kebeles, and their corresponding number of installed biogas plants

Misrak Este District		Mirab Este District
Kebele plants	Number of installed biogas	Kebele plants	Number of installed biogas
Agona Kositet	4	Deriba Betanisa	5
Debir Zewana	9	Gishina	4
Mekane Eyesus	3	Merji Tenikot	4
Goshiberet	4	MesiBekilo Filega	4
Licha Arida	6	Sheme Mosha	5
Liwaye Ashama	7	Simet Sholaye	3
Mikrie Kuskuam	4	Yedi Digmegn	3
Jibasra Mariam	5	Total number	28
Ziguara	4
Total number	46

Note: The number of installed biogas plants is the same as the number of biogas user households

Table 3. Sex and age of household heads

Gender	Category	Frequency (N = 74)	Percent	One sample t-test
Sex Age	Male	67	90.5	P-value = 0.00 P-value = 0.00
	Female	7	9.5
	Total	74	100.0
	26–36	4	5.4
	37–46	20	27.0
	47–57	36	48.6
	>57	14	19
	Total	74	100.0

significant at P-value ˂ 0.05 (CI = 95%)

Table 4. Household size of adopters

Household family size	Frequency	Percent
1–3	12	16.2
4–6	48	64.9
7–9	14	18.9
Total	74	100.0

Table 5. Educational status of adopters

Education level	Frequency	Percent	One sample t-test
Illiterate	21	28.	P-value = 00.00
Read and write	32	43.2
Primary complete	19	25.7
Secondary complete	2	2.7

significant at P-value ˂ 0.05 (CI = 95%)

Table 6. Association between biogas technology adopters’ knowledge and selected demographic variables before adoption

Knowledge statement	Gender X^2 = (P-value)	Age X^2 = (P-value)	Education X^2 = (P-value)
Field defecation can pose challenge to human and environmental health if not properly managed Field defecation may foster disease transmission, if not properly managed Possibility for biogas and bio-slurry production from other sources than from cow dung and toilet waste	0.250 (0.882a) 2.468(0.291a) 1.92(0.383a)	4.052(0.670a) 3.657(0.723a) 6.183(0.403a)	7.167(0.305a) 5.053(0.537a) 7.471(0.280a)

statistically significant at the P-value ˂ 0.05 (CI = 95%)

Table 7. Cattle holding size of biogas user households

Number of cattle	Frequency	Percent	One sample t-test result
1–3	41	55.4	P-value = 0.00
4–5	24	32.4
6–7	4	5.4
7	5	6.8
Total	74	100.0

Significant at p-value ˂ 0.05

Table 8. Grazing types and dung collection

Variable	Type of grazing	Frequency	Percent
What grazing type do you use for feeding your cattle?	Free grazing on open field Controlled grazing Free grazing on open field and controlled grazing Total	23 30 21 74	31.1 40.5 28.4 100.0
Do you have sufficient cattle dung for biogas plants?	Yes No Total	44 30 74	59.5 40.5 100.0
Do you collect cattle dung from various sources?	Yes No Total	30 44 74	40.5 59.5 100.0
If Yes, from where do you collect cow dung?	Field Stall (Beret) Both field and stall Total	8 13 9 30	26.6 43.3 30.0 100.0

Figure 4. Biomass and kerosene use pattern before installation of biogas plants.

Table 9. Number of bundles of firewood consumption per household per month before and after adoption of biogas technology

	Before adoption					After adoption
Number of bundle	Frequency		Percent	Number of bundle		Frequency	Percent
3–5 6-7 8–9 Total Average = 4.8	52 17 5 74		70.3 23.0 6.8 100.0	1–2 3–4 5–6 Total Average = 2.0		60 8 6 74	81.1 10.8 8.1 100.0
How much is the price of one bundle in your local market (ETB)?				Price		Frequency	Percent
				80–90 91-100 101–110 Total Average = 89.6		42 31 1 74	56.8 41.9 1.4 100.0

Table 10. Number of dung cake consumption of household per month before and after adoption of biogas technology

	Before plant installation					After plant installation
Number of dung cake	Frequency		Percent	Number of dung cake		Frequency	Percent
60–65 66-70 71–75 Total Average = 65.4		42 24 8 74	56.8 32.4 10.8 100.0	15–20 21–25 36–30 Total Average = 18.6	61 10 3 74		82.4 13.5 4.1 100.0
How much is the price of one dung cake in your local market? Average price of one dung cake is three ETB				Price (ETB)	Frequency		Percent
				1–2 3-4 5–6 Total	17 55 2 74		23.0 74.3 2.7 100.0

Table 11. Quantity of charcoal consumption (in sacks) per household per month before and after biogas plant installation

	Before adoption			After adoption
No. of sack	Frequency	Percent	No. of sack	Frequency	Percent
1 1.5–2 2.25–2.5 Total Average = 1.4	44 25 5 74	59.4 33.7 6.7	0.25 0.5 1 Total Average = 0.5	52 21 1 74	70.3 28.4 1.4 100.0
How much is the price of one sack of charcoal in your local market?			250–260 261-270 271–280 Total Average = 266	17 34 23 74	23 45.9 31.1 100.0

Table 12. Time requirement before and after adoption of biogas technology

Time requirement	Hour per week	Frequency	Percent
How long does it take you to collect firewoodand cattle dung before biogas plant installation? Hour per week Average time = 12 hours/week	8–9 10-11 12–13 Total	43 17 14 74	58.1 23.0 18.9 100.0
How long does it take you to collect firewood and cattle dung after biogas plant installation? Hour per week Average time = 4.5 hours/week	3-4 5-6 7–8 Total	48 14 12 74	64.9 18.9 16.2 100

Table 13. Consumption of kerosene per household per month before and after adoption of biogas technology

Question				Variable	Frequency		Percent
Do you purchase kerosene?				Yes	66		89.2
				No	8		10.8
				Total	74		100.0
If yes, at what price do you buy one liter of kerosene? Average price was 19 ETB per liter
				16–18	26		39.4
				19–21	33		50.0
				22–23	7		10.6
				Total	66		100.0
	Before adoption						After adoption
Liter	Frequency		Percent		Liter		Frequency	Percent
1-2 3-4 >4 Total Average = 2.7	29 30 7 66		43.9 45.5 10.5 100.0		0.25–0.5 0.75–1.0 1.5–1.75 Total Average = 0.7		34 18 14 66	51.5 28.3 21.2 100.0

Table 14. Fertilizer use pattern before and after adoption of biogas technology

Question	Fertilizer type	Frequency	Percent
What type of fertilizer do you use before biogas adoption?	Chemical fertilizer only	31	41.9
	Compost	5	6.8
	Manure	2	2.7
	Chemical fertilizer and manure	35	47.3
	Chemical fertilizer and compost	1	1.4
	Total	74	100.0
What type of fertilizer do you use after biogas adoption?	Fertilizer type	Frequency	Percent
	Chemical fertilizer only	2	2.7
	Bio-slurry and compost	26	35.1
	Manure and compost	6	8.1
	Chemical fertilizer and manure	3	4.1
	Chemical fertilizer and bio-slurry	37	50.0
	Total	74	100.0

Table 15. Amount of chemical fertilizer used before and after biogas technology adoption

Question	Amount and type of fertilizer	Frequency	Percent
How many sacks of chemical fertilizer do use before biogas technology adoption per hectare per season? Average = 4.5 sack DAP and 1.5 sack urea	4 sack DAP and 1 sack urea	46	62.2
	5 sack DAP and 2 sack urea	28	37.8
	Total	74	100.0
How many sacks of chemical fertilizer do use after biogas technology adoption per hectare per season? Average = 1.5 sack DAP and 0.37 sack urea
	1 sack DAP and 0.25 sack urea	34	45.9
	2 sack DAP and 0.5 sack urea	40	54.1
	Total	74	100.0
How much is the price of one sack (50 kg) chemical fertilizer in your local market? Average = 755 ETB DAP and 695 ETB urea	Price	Frequency	Percent
	750 ETB DAP and 690 ETB urea	51	68.9
	760 ETB DAP and 700 ETB urea	23	31.1
	Total	74	100.0

NB: The US Dollar (USD) to Ethiopian Birr (ETB) average exchange rate at the time of data collection was 27.6677 ETB

Table 16. Access and sources of water

Access to water source	Source of water	Frequency	Percent
Do you get water at your home/residence? or		22	29.7
away from residence area?		52	70.3
	Total	74	100.0
If you do not get water in the nearest, from where do you fetch?	River	30	62.5
	Water well	4	8.3
	Water tap	8	16.7
	Rainwater	6	12.5
	Total	48	100.0

Table 17. Trend of using toilets and connecting toilets to biogas system

Trend of using toilet	Before adoption		After adoption
	Frequency	Percent	Frequency	Percent
Good	8	10.8	30	40.5
Very good	6	8.1	27	36.5
Poor	29	39.2	11	14.9
Very poor	31	41.9	6	8.1
Total	74	100.0	74	100.0
Is your toilet connected to biogas operational system?		Variable	Frequency	Percent
		Yes	66	89.2
		No	8	10.8
		Total	74	100.0

Data Availability Statement

All the processed data are contained within the manuscript itself. The raw data, whereas are deposited with Hawassa University database.www.hu.edu.et