ESTIMATING THE POTENTIAL FOR BIOGAS PRODUCTION AND APPLICATION IN MOROGORO REGION, TANZANIA

About 87% of Tanzanian households rely on energy from fuel-wood and charcoal for cooking. This threatens sustainability as annual deforestation currently stands at about 500,000 hectares. Biogas can be an alternative source, especially where there is potential, like in Morogoro region. Biogas is however not widely applied in Morogoro region and reliable data to show this effect quantitatively do not exist. This paper therefore attempts to fill the gap. The authors observe that up to 1.8 Giga m(3) of biogas could be produced daily, surpassing by far the 93,000 m3 regional requirement for cooking. Considering corresponding calorific values of wood versus biogas and respective stove efficiencies, each household can realise up to US$ 724 by replacing wood use with biogas, apart from other positive impacts to the environment. Sensitisation should therefore be enhanced, and support services provided towards optimisation of the biogas production process so that potential benefits are realised.