Biogas plants in animal
Uli Werner/Ulrich Stöhr/Nicolai Hees
A Publication of the Deutsches Zentrum für
Entwicklungstechnologien GATE , a Division of
the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische
Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH - 1989
Biogas plants have become something of a permanent fixture in Technical Cooperation between
the Federal Republic of Germany and partners in developing countries. Dating back to 1977, the
first such projects were incorporated into cooperative efforts with Indian and Ethiopian
organizations. At about the same time, the first GTZ project dealing solely with the transfer of
biogas technology and the construction of biogas plants was launched in Cameroon.
In the meantime, GTZ has assisted in building and commissioning several hundred biogas plants in
Asia, Africa, South and Central America. While most of the systems, in question are on a small
scale intended to supply family farms with energy and organic fertilizer, some large-scale systems
with the capacity to generate more than 100 m³ of biogas daily have been installed on large stock
farms and agroindustrial estates.
In general, biogas technology is for rural areas. In addition to generating energy, biogas systems
help stimulate ecologically beneficial closed-loop systems in the agricultural sector while serving to
improve soil quality and promote progress in animal husbandry. Consequently, the promotion of
biogas technology is regarded as an integral part of technical cooperation in rural areas and, hence,
as a key sector of development cooperation on the part of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Within the GTZ, biogas activities center on
- the Biogas Extension Program (GATE), with interdisciplinary teams of extension officers
presently working in four different countries:
- the Special Energy Program (Mineral and Energy Resources Division), with rural energy-supply
projects now ongoing in ten countries, and
- projects engaged in by Division 14(animal production, animal health and fisheries), within which
the importance of biogas technology as a flanking measure in animal husbandry is steadily
By concentrating the engineering and operational experience gained in numerous biogas projects,
this handbook is intended to serve project practicians and advisors as a valuable practical guideline
with regard to technical, agricultural and socioeconomic aspects.
Deutsche Gesellachaft fur Technische
Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH