Nepal: Biogas Support Programme

In late 2006, Nepal was recovering from a decade long conflict and was one of the poorest countries in the world. About 82 percent of its population of around 26 million lived in rural areas and depended almost exclusively on agriculture. Rural households, which accounted for about 90% of total energy use in Nepal, lacked access to modern energy sources and used biomass (a mixture of wood, dung, and agricultural residue) for cooking and heating.  GPOBA to promote biogas plants in rural areas and enhance the sustainability of the energy sector provided funding to help increase the number of households sustainably using biogas plants under the government’s existing Biogas Support Program. The project resulted in the installation of 27,139 biogas plants in low-income households, including more than 16,000 disadvantaged families.