Towards fair, just and equitable energy ecosystems through smart monitoring of household-scale biogas plants in Kenya

Clifford, M. J.; Robinson, B. L.; Selby, Gareth

Abstract

Anaerobic biogas digestors offer a technological solution to facilitate modern, sustainable, and equitable energy access, efficiency, and transition pathways to achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 – affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. In this paper we create critical evidence, through documenting insights from the Smart Biogas (SB) II project, that contributes to the introduction of (low cost) smart metered biogas energy systems at the household level. Our research objectives were to 1) understand and analyse the lived experience of key SB project stakeholders, and 2) create evidence that can contribute to the widespread adoption of smart biogas meters for household-scale applications. In early 2022 13 semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with key SB II project stakeholders (biogas end-users, system specialists, carbon finance professionals, research partners, and general experts). These semi-structured interviews followed a phenomenological approach focusing on the lived experience of study participants. Our results showed that biogas is particularly suited to live monitoring and the SB system unlocks significant benefits to both the end-user and energy supplier. These benefits are realised through improved user experience, unlocking biogas-as-a-service delivery models and seamlessly integrating remote monitoring capabilities for carbon credit programs, as well as identifying a series of future work pathways across these themes. Ultimately, we show the SB meter enables an accessible and low-cost approach to decentralised energy for households across the globe and a potentially scalable pathway to achieve SDG7.

Citation

Clifford, M. J., Robinson, B. L., & Selby, G. (2023). Towards fair, just and equitable energy ecosystems through smart monitoring of household-scale biogas plants in Kenya. Energy Research and Social Science, 98, Article 103007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103007

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 15, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Feb 22, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023-04
• Deposit Date: Feb 16, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 23, 2024
• Journal: Energy Research and Social Science
• Electronic ISSN: 2214-6296
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 98
• Article Number: 103007
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103007
• Keywords: SDG7; Uganda; Kenya; Smart Energy Systems; Biogas; Carbon Finance; Pay-As-you-go Energy
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/17381946
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629623000671
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Towards fair, just and equitable energy ecosystems through smart monitoring of household-scale biogas plants in Kenya; Journal Title: Energy Research & Social Science; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103007; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.