Cooking with gas: Policy lessons from Rwanda's National Domestic Biogas Program (NDBP) Matthew Landi, Benjamin K. Sovacool ⁎, Jay Eidsness Vermont Law School, Institute for Energy & the Environment, PO Box 96, 164 Chelsea Street, South Royalton, VT 05068-0444, USA abstract article info Article history: Received 22 August 2012 Revised 25 March 2013 Accepted 25 March 2013 Available online 20 April 2013 Keywords: Biogas Rural energy access Energy poverty The Rwandan government, in partnership with international donors, began its National Domestic Biogas Program (NDBP) in 2007. The NDBP, with an initial budget of $14.1 million, was to develop a commercially viable Rwandan biogas sector and build 15,000 family sized biogas plants throughout the country by 2011. As of August, 2012, however, the NDBP had installed only 2600 units. This study explores what happened. It introduces readers to the rural energy situation in Rwanda, describes the history and benefits of the NDBP, and then discusses the barriers that explain its limited success. These barriers include lack of familiarity with biogas technology, and minimal institutional capacity following the Rwandan genocide. Other challenges include inadequate suppliers and maintenance personnel, limited financing and the bulk of biogas digester costs befalling households, and an inadequate marketing and awareness campaign. The study concludes by noting that government support and collaboration with all relevant stakeholders and the development of private sector capacity is vital to the suc- cessful implementation of renewable energy technology. It also notes that market-oriented approaches to re- newable energy sector development require consistent and sustained efforts on behalf of the international community and the public sector, and that promoting and extolling the benefits of a new technology can be es- sential to overcoming societal resistance. © 2013 International Energy Initiative. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Introduction Emerging from the horrors of their civil war and genocide in the early 1990s, the small country of Rwanda, located in the Great Lakes region of Africa, is committed to societal improvement. Though it is not free from setbacks, the Rwandan government is determined to afford the Rwandan people a better, sustainable future. Toward that end, in June 2003 the Rwandan government began enacting a plan called Vision 2020, which calls for “[r]ational and sustainable manage- ment of national space, of the environment, and natural resources, land, water, energy sources and biodiversity” (Dekelver, 2008: 7). While lofty and ambitious in its aspirations, an incredible array of social and technological obstacles is impeding its implementation. Rwanda's energy sector arguably faces the largest hurdles to over- come. Unlocking the potential of this small African nation lies largely in finding a way to provide consumers and industry access to adequate, reliable, and affordable energy services. Currently, electric power gener- ation capacity in Rwanda is minimal and access to energy is limited; a current total capacity of only about 100 MW serves mainly the urban area of its capital at Kigali. Nationally, the electric grid provides access to only 16% of the total Rwandan population, though essentially all dis- tricts in Rwanda are connected. Since Rwanda is landlocked, surrounded by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Tanzania, and Uganda, Table 1 shows that energy prices in Rwanda are one of the highest in East Africa, at approximately 22 eurocents per kWh as of 2007. This high price is reflective of Rwanda's geographical position, since all imported fuels must be driven across land (UNEP, 2009: 13; Fernstrom, 2009: 19). Combined with its small size of 24,950 km 2 (roughly the same size as Vermont) and there- fore a smaller natural resource base, Rwanda faces immense challenges in expanding its energy portfolio in an economically and environmen- tally sustainable way (Kanigwa, 2009; MININFRA, 2008). Due to a combination of its overreliance on biomass, lack of modern affordable energy services, and growing population and rapid urbaniza- tion, Rwanda is indeed facing an energy crisis—both in terms of access to electricity and use of unsustainable sources to satisfy domestic ener- gy needs. For example, an increasing population and a corresponding need for more agricultural production have caused massive deforesta- tion across the country. The problem is exacerbated when Rwanda's rural population harvests fuelwood to create charcoal, which degrades the soil and creates public health problems when combusted, producing significant indoor air pollution (van der Plas, 2009: 5). Fig. 1 illustrates a common coppicing practice in Rwanda. Rwanda relies heavily on state, district, and private Eucalyptus forest planta- tions to supply its domestic energy needs. These plantations account for 240,708 ha of land in Rwanda, yielding a conservative estimate of approximately 1.63 million m 3 of fuelwood per year (van der Plas, 2009: 20–23). This reliance has significant implications for the Energy for Sustainable Development 17 (2013) 347–356 ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 802 831 1053; fax: +1 802 831 1158. E-mail addresses: Bsovacool@vermontlaw.edu, sovacool@vt.edu (B.K. Sovacool). 0973-0826/$ – see front matter © 2013 International Energy Initiative. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2013.03.007 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Energy for Sustainable Development