Biogas Replacement of Fuelwood: Clean Energy Access with Low-Cost Mitigation of Climate Change

Abstract

The research reported in this brief examines the potential for financing a switch from wood and other solid fuels to biogas using a carbon offset market. We use a nationally representative survey of households in Nepal from 2011-2011 (the third round of the National Living Standards Survey conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics) to estimate the reduction in firewood use that can be expected when a household acquires a biogas plant. We then use recent estimates of the “Global Warming Potentials” of emissions from traditional wood stoves to calculate the size of the subsidy to biogas plants that could be financed with carbon offsets at a conservative carbon price