Status of Biogas Technology in Swaziland: Challenges and Opportunities
Shiri T1, Makota T2
1Mr. Tariro Shiri, Harare Institute of Technology, Harare, Zimbabwe.
2Mr. Tigere Makota, Faculty of Social Studies. University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Manuscript received on November 02, 2016. | Revised Version Manuscript Received on November 14, 2016. | Manuscript published on November 20, 2016. | PP: 10-16 | Volume-2 Issue-1, September 2016.
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© The Authors. Published by Lattice Science Publication (LSP). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: This paper serves to investigate the status of biogas energy including challenges and opportunities in the Kingdom of Swaziland. Increasing regional energy demand coupled with increased climatic challenges against depleting fossil fuels has seen a number of countries turning to renewable sources of energy to augment the current supply. These include solar, wind power, biomass, geo-thermal and hydro electric power. Swaziland has adopted some of these renewable energy interventions to meet its own energy needs and curb climatic issues. During the study period, it was discovered that there are less than twenty biodigesters across sectors at national level. Despite a strong biomass base, positive regional experiences and favourable climatic factors, the growth of biogas technology industry remains partially stagnant primarily due to shortage of local skilled, experienced project developers and weak policy emphasis. This paper recommends the relevant stakeholders in the renewable energy sector to establish a national biogas programme by exhausting regional experiences. This will help to immediately reduce over reliance on wood fuel, paraffin and LPG, improve energy security, reduces electricity costs to the consumer and lower the energy import bill.
Keywords: Biogas, challenges, opportunities, status