NEW CONCEPT FOR THE EVALUATION OF RURAL BIOGAS MANAGEMENT IN DEVELOPING-COUNTRIES

In rural sectors of developing countries, the development and manageme nt of biogas technology have not been entirely satisfactory in recent years. The usual economic analyses cannot give an appropriate assessme nt of this phenomenon. The present work develops a new concept, the Bi ogas Producer-Consumer Combination Problem (BPCCP), that gives an inte grated explanation of the nature of this particular situation. The key role played in the real acceptance of the rural digester is the adopt er's motivation which is influenced by different kinds of factors: The BPCCP concept further entails some suggestions and recommendations fo r future development and management of biogas technology. (C) 1996 Els evier Science Ltd.