Factors Determining the Stability and Productivity of Small Scale Anaerobic Digesters

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

Biogas as a technology and the factors that affect its productivity have both been well studied. Research has previously been done to look at the impact of temperature, pH, organic loading rate, carbon-to-nitrogen ratios, microbial populations and hydraulic retention time on different scales of biogas operations. Small scale biogas installations, of which many millions have been constructed and seem to be performing well, have been chosen as the area of focus for this paper. Such systems allow energy generation on site, thereby eliminating the need for energy intensive transport.

Energy

Biofuels Can Have a Win-win Outcome that Improves Smallholder Productivity and Increases Household Welfare

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Rising prices of fossil fuels, together with apprehension about the environmental harm created by them, have resulted in increasing efforts to search for alternative energy sources such as biofuels. Biofuels production is still a debatable issue regarding the opportunities it creates and the challenges it poses.

Climate Change, Conservation, Energy, Forestry

Adaptation to climate change in Sub-Saharan agriculture: assessing the evidence and rethinking the drivers

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EfD Authors:

In this paper, after a review of the evolution of the literature on climate change economics in agriculture, I present some evidence of the impact of different moments of the distribution of rainfall on farmers risk aversion.

It is found that while more rainfall is negatively associated with the probability of observing risk aversion, rainfall variability is positively correlated. This result highlights an important behavioural dimension of climatic factors.

Climate Change

Managing Environmental Risk in Presence of Climate Change: The Role of Adaptation in the Nile Basin of Ethiopia

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This study investigates the impact of climate change adaptation on farm households’ downside risk exposure in the Nile Basin of Ethiopia. The analysis relies on a moment-based specification of the stochastic production function. We use an empirical strategy that accounts for the heterogeneity in the decision on whether to adapt or not, and for unobservable characteristics of farmers and their farm.

Climate Change

Prospects and Challenges for Urban Application of Biogas Installations in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Cities around the world generate substantial quantities of municipal solid waste, including organic residues. These organic residues can be managed productively and given value, or they can simply be wasted.

Conservation, Energy

Climate Change Can Have Significant Negative Impacts on Ethiopia’s Agriculture

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Except for the lowlands and pastoralist areas, mixed crop-livestock farming is the dominant farming type in Ethiopia. However, there have been few attempts to look into the economic impacts of climate change in the context of Ethiopia. Particularly, the role of livestock was disregarded in the previous studies.

Agriculture, Climate Change

While Biofuels Expansion Can Help Improve Economic Growth, It Can be Harmful to the External Sector

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Biofuels have received a great deal of attention globally, and many countries have embarked on producing biofuels, given the volatility and the recent all-time high of world oil prices.

Energy