Low cost tubular digesters as appropriate technology for widespread application: Results and lessons learned from Bolivia

Abstract

This paper presents the results and lessons learned from four and a half years of implementing low cost tubular digesters in Bolivia. The selection of this technology is justified in comparison with other popular technologies such as fixed dome or floating drum digesters. The highlighted weakness of the tubular model (its short life expectancy), is transformed into a strength, making the low cost tubular digester an appropriate technology for widespread application. The experiences in Bolivia show that the success of biogas programs depend more on socio-economic factors than on the validated technology selected, suggesting that local circumstances are a critical, and often underestimated, factor to be taken into consideration in the praxis. Finally, some testimonies of the use of biol (bio-slurry or effluent) are reported, identifying the high potential of this anaerobic digestion product that provides a food sovereignty approach, reduced expansion of the agricultural frontier, increased agricultural productivity and hence family income, that other household energizing systems do not have. A brief report of lessons learned is also included.