Carbon Markets and Biogas Strategy in Indonesia

Abstract

In Indonesia, the world’s 4th most populated country, over 40% of the population continue to lack access to reliable energy sources. These ca. 28 million households then rely on the harvest and combustion of firewood to meet their daily cooking needs, contributing to deforestation, eutrophication, and respiratory diseases from breathing smoke in poorly ventilated households, one of the nation’s leading causes of premature death. One promising energy alternative to address these issues is biogas. Produced by the anaerobic digestion of organic matter (kitchen/farm waste, livestock dung) in a digestion chamber, biogas is a clean and renewable energy that can be produced at no cost by the households. Several programs have been initiated to disseminate this technology in Indonesia, however they have continuously failed to meet their distribution and compliance goals. Two national biogas programs initiated by the clients Su-re.co (Bali) and Hivos (Jakarta) using different digester models were investigated to determine the flaws and successes of each through water boiling tests, household air quality measurements, financial analyses, and conversations with end users. Recommendations were made to increase success through design changes, monitoring enhancements, and tailored sizing/model selection and financing strategies. A final recommendation for the most scalable and sustainable programs and digester designs was delivered to the Indonesia Domestic Biogas Program (IDBP) to allow a fully market-based solution to scale Indonesia’s biogas strategy.